Anti Social Media Policy
Anti Social Media Policy
we’re not anti-social. we’re anti-sh#t social.
Created 14th October 2022, and by creating this anti-social media policy we hope to be come more social in a more meaningful way with all of our amazing rebel supporters around the world!
We only use social media platforms and digital tools that allow us to communicate in a kind, safe and meaningful way.
Connecting directly with our global community from our little mill in the Scottish Highlands means everything to us. Digital communication helped bring Prickly Thistle to life in 2017/18, connecting us with amazing people around the world who might otherwise never have found us. We love that technology can make that possible.
But we also believe connection should never come at the cost of people's wellbeing, privacy or safety. If a platform fails to put people first, we reserve the right to rebel and walk away.
Being social is something we LOVE. We just want to do it on our own terms.
Our Promise & Pledge
Kindness comes first. We will always seek meaningful, kind, safe and as-personal-as-possible ways to connect with our customers and community.
We won't play by someone else's rules. We will not use platforms where undue third-party control compromises our ability to communicate freely and directly with our customers.
Transparency matters. We want to know how the platforms we use operate, what their commercial interests are, how their tools work and what they are trying to achieve. We favour platforms that are open and accountable about these things.
People Before Profit
People before profit. We will only use platforms that take their responsibility to protect people from harm, manipulation and harassment seriously.
The tragic death of Molly Russell, who was 14 when she died in 2017, brought the potential harms of online content into sharp focus. Her inquest concluded in 2022 that she died from an act of self-harm while suffering from depression and the negative effects of online content. In 2021, whistleblower Frances Haugen exposed concerns about how Facebook weighed the wellbeing of its users against commercial interests. These cases reinforced our belief that digital platforms must be accountable for the impact they have on people's lives.
Privacy is not optional. We will not use platforms that we believe exploit visitor data in ways that are hidden, unclear or inadequately disclosed.
Real people. Meaningful connections. No algorithm telling us how to behave.
We're here to make cloth, make clothes and build connections that mean something. We want technology to help us do that — not dictate how we behave, what we see or how we treat one another.