Elena Rossini 🌈 (@_elena@mastodon.social)
#WSocial will open up their beta program today… and I have a SCOOP for you: it appears that they have quietly gone closed-source! This is ironic, considering that the @EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu just unveiled their Tech Sovereignty Package, emphasizing the importance of #OpenSource. And yet they have migrated their main ATproto accounts to W Social - whose code can no longer be inspected! My full article - with a great analysis by @aral@mastodon.ar.al: 🔗: https://blog.elenarossini.com/w-social-public-institutions-and-the-theater-of-european-digital-sovereignty/ #FOSS #DigitalSovereignty #BigTech
Elena Rossini 🌈 (@_elena@mastodon.social)
Attached: 1 image This was definitely NOT on my bingo card for this year: European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen taking a moment between G7 meetings to promote the launch of the closed-source, for-profit network #WSocial. 🔗 : https://web.archive.org/web/20260617083436/https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rentzhog_kind-of-cool-to-see-ursula-von-der-leyen-ugcPost-7472769475885461504-hwct/ I fear this may be a harbinger of things to come: MANDATORY AGE VERIFICATION for social media across Europe. I hope I'm wrong on this. #privacy #SurveillanceCapitalism #EUBigTech
W Don't Have Time (@wdonthavetime.selfhosted.social)
#WIdentity is the real product. @wsocial.eu is just a testing ground. #WSocialFacts
W Social – Public Beta Launch
EU drops sponsorship of disinformation conference at Trump officials’ request
Lithuania and Canada were also pressured to withdraw, and days before #Disinfo2026, logos were wiped off website
The EU Inc. Proposal: how far does it really go?
A post by Gillis Waelkens and Stéphanie De Smet (Clifford Chance)
W Social, public institutions and the theater of European digital sovereignty | Hacker News
And weirdly, there was never a peep about this in the press - while the W Social launch was on national news and a bunch of high-profile EU politicians immediately joined. What's going on here?
Fact check: Is the EU launching a social media platform called 'W'?
Viral posts claiming the EU is launching its own social media platform to counter X, in the wake of various scandals, are misleading.
What Hungary’s Election Means for Europe
@leafplaza.eu got an answer. The @ec.europa.eu says our claim about the promotion for @wsocial.eu by several EU leaders is out of scope and asks us to redirect it to the DG CNECT. We will do that, but also we disagree and are escalatinh this matter to the EU Ombudsman.
LeafPlaza • EU-sovereign social platform compatible with the ATP
This is our blog article explaining why @leafplaza.eu filed a complaint against the @ec.europa.eu after their public endorsement of @wsocial.eu and missing transparency in the process. We hope @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu takes this matter seriously. leafplaza.leaflet.pub/3moxlxlfl2s2a
@leafplaza.eu got an answer. The @ec.europa.eu says our claim about the promotion for @wsocial.eu by several EU leaders is out of scope and asks us to redirect it to the DG CNECT. We will do that, but also we disagree and are escalatinh this matter to the EU Ombudsman.
LeafPlaza • EU-sovereign social platform compatible with the ATP
This is our blog article explaining why @leafplaza.eu filed a complaint against the @ec.europa.eu after their public endorsement of @wsocial.eu and missing transparency in the process. We hope @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu takes this matter seriously. leafplaza.leaflet.pub/3moxlxlfl2s2a
@cristinacaffarra.bsky.social FYI you are listed as one of a list of "European public voices choosing W" on this web page: europetalking.wsocial.news. Is that correct? Thanks!
W Social: Where is Europe talking?
europetalking.wsocial.newsThis is our blog article explaining why @leafplaza.eu filed a complaint against the @ec.europa.eu after their public endorsement of @wsocial.eu and missing transparency in the process. We hope @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu takes this matter seriously. leafplaza.leaflet.pub/3moxlxlfl2s2a
LeafPlaza filed a complaint against the European Commission. Here is why.
leafplaza.leaflet.pubLeafPlaza • EU-sovereign social platform compatible with the ATP
@leafplaza.eu just presented an official complain. Also, setup a whole chain of official follow ups on this complain. We know our rights, no other European ATP project has been giving the advantage W Social received and that goes against Commission Decision (EU) 2024/3083 - Art. 4.
European Commission @ec.europa.eu removed the Bluesky logo from its social links and replaced it with the dubious closed fork of Bluesky called “W” which has privacy issues 😬
Nicolas Hénin
They removed it quickly 😳 Hurry up, let’s have a common logo for all the microblogging apps in the Atmosphere!
It looks like W Identity, the part of @wsocial.eu that checks your papers before you go in, has a very basic XSS on its admin backend, found hours after launch. This seems almost too predictable... Cyberfriends, any thoughts on how bad? 23.social/@kantorkel/116767220594438841
kantorkel (@kantorkel@23.social)
23.socialIt's official! I'm *permanently* banned from X for tweeting "TLDR: Fascism." (appeal denied) What an honor—and a sign that the Silicon Valley billionaires feel threatened by my book. (One of my final viral posts featured this cover.) Pre-order here! simonandschuster.com/books/The-Nerd-Reich/Gil-Dura…
Gil Durán
The CEO of Palantir posted a fascist manifesto on X. I pointed out that it was fascist—which resulted in a permanent suspension from X (my second time!). So, when you hear the tweeters complaining that BlueSky is intolerant, remember why many of us came here in the first place.
