diff --git a/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/serializers.py b/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/serializers.py
index c4072f1324d569495745ded51ddd4dd84e21c87f..20178b0cb57673a8253350c22fe4739796beef2c 100644
--- a/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/serializers.py
+++ b/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/serializers.py
@@ -67,6 +67,17 @@ class SocialLinkSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
         model = SocialLink
         fields = ("platform", "social_link")
 
+    def validate_platform(self, platform):
+        """
+        Validate that the platform value is one of (facebook, twitter or linkedin)
+        """
+        valid_platforms = ["facebook", "twitter", "linkedin"]
+        if platform not in valid_platforms:
+            raise serializers.ValidationError(
+                u"The social platform must be facebook, twitter or linkedin"
+            )
+        return platform
+
 
 class UserReadOnlySerializer(serializers.Serializer):
     """
diff --git a/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/tests/test_api.py b/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/tests/test_api.py
index f52f5a11132d2233704ecd90dfdc134d788c12b7..9f6a1e9dc9d111f44dcd63168be46ffdc8ff8618 100644
--- a/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/openedx/core/djangoapps/user_api/accounts/tests/test_api.py
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ class TestAccountApi(UserSettingsEventTestMixin, EmailTemplateTagMixin, Retireme
         social_links = [
             dict(platform="unsupported", social_link="https://www.unsupported.com/{}".format(self.user.username))
         ]
-        with self.assertRaises(AccountUpdateError):
+        with self.assertRaises(AccountValidationError):
             update_account_settings(self.user, {"social_links": social_links})
 
     def test_update_success_for_enterprise(self):