This post will address certain imminent legislative changes through the social media industry such as Section 230, The European Copyright Directive and what it means for the people and their experience on social media going forward. We’ll outline the relative important points and explain how such changes are necessary, what they will actually involve and why Shimmy is here to provide an enlightening solution with regard to the current and future state of the industry and the legal and ethical obligations that come with it... 

The Section 230 legislation, is a US Communications Decency Act, which protects internet computer services from being accountable or responsible as the ‘publisher’ with content and activity on their platforms. This means that social media companies haven’t had to legally deal with the repercussions of adverse, harmful or illegal content published across their sites, until now. This immunity from third party content, we believe is what has contributed to the large scale negative impact that these social media channels are having through societies across the world. Without real accountability and effectively taking responsibility for the activity and behaviour on such widely used platforms, we can see quite clearly, that the impact is one of trouble, harm and disruption.

In pre-empting such necessary updates being required for the sake of the people, at Shimmy we began to build the business a while ago, with this as a key element/problem that we set out to tackle. We will do this by ensuring that the post requirements are more refined and clear, obtaining definitive information and context, removing all content that doesn’t align with pre-agreed terms and conditions of the platform and ensuring a safer experience generally. We also give our members more controls and decision making with regard to the information they take in, what they’re exposed to and the accounts that they choose to interact with.

The content on Shimmy must firstly meet certain file format requirements i.e Short Form Video, PNG, JPG, Audio etc. It must also have a clear cut, defined purpose and intent in line with our usability, guidelines and in-app experience. In implementing certain definitive features and imperatives of usage, we ensure that not only do we evade harmful, nonsensical and useless content, we provide an infinitely more rewarding and beneficial experience.

In removing the protections of Section 230, it exposes current channels to deal with the implications of the activity that they facilitate. This means that what people have known as their social media channels will have to adapt to become much more regulated, stricter and less of a war zone. This will fundamentally change the constructs of the channels that people have become used to and may indeed take away from what many users have learnt to accept. At Shimmy, as we are building in the means to navigate such troubles and legislative pressures from the word go, our channel will be more naturally inclined to a more progressive, happier social media experience. We will avoid the rigmarole from day one and provide a friendlier platform, where you won’t see anything that makes you feel sad or anxious.

As far as other legislation that relates to Shimmy. Article 13 from the European Copyright Directive is a controversial article, addressing a re-working of how copyright works on the internet. This means that platforms will also have the duty going forward to ensure that none of their users infringe copyright laws. This will also be evaded by Shimmy by insisting proof of authenticity with content identification on our channel.

All such changes with content liability and monitoring, due-diligence and platform management and regulation, certainly incline toward a more positive direction for the industry. At Shimmy, we believe that we are a step ahead in terms of being adapted to the inevitable legislative updates and setting out to shape the forward shift as far as social media experience. The imminent changes to such laws are being made in favour of the people. This absolutely aligns with our approach as a business, in bringing something truer, more secure and uplifting to those who really matter - those who have been the victim of prior legislation and being taken advantage of to date and deserve much, much more.

To find out more about what makes Shimmy the solution, read on or send us a message!