@wsocial.eu - I was one of the first to subscribe after Davos, but now I wonder what's the use of WSocial. We had to show our ID to get access, but now it seems there are many backdoors without the need for verification. Maybe I just go back to Mastodon. Nice try, but I feel a little betrayed.
Jul 4, 2026 at 6:57 AM
Wimster9030 🇪🇺 🇧🇪 (@wimster9030.wsocial.eu)
@wsocial.eu - I was one of the first to subscribe after Davos, but now I wonder what's the use of WSocial. We had to show our ID to get access, but now it seems there are many backdoors without the need for verification. Maybe I just go back to Mastodon. Nice try, but I feel a little betrayed.
Elena Rossini 🌈 (@_elena@mastodon.social)
Attached: 2 images I just refreshed the #WSocial website and it's showing a MAJOR redesign... with a label at the top stating "built on the open AT-protocol." This is the first time ever they acknowledge this – I know, as I've been visiting their website for MONTHS and also never heard about this in any interviews. So the claims in my exposé stand (the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine would confirm this). Of note: they changed their URL from wsocial.eu to wsocial.news BTW thanks for all your feedback ❤️
wdonthavetime.selfhosted.social/wsocial-reporting
Scripts for observing public data on the W Social PDS, pds.wsocial.network. They only read what the server already makes public, and none of them need a login.
wdonthavetime.selfhosted.social/wsocial-reporting
Scripts for observing public data on the W Social PDS, pds.wsocial.network. They only read what the server already makes public, and none of them need a login.
W Social (@wsocial.eu)
It is not strange at all. We where among the first users to signed up. As communicated 👇 wsocial.eu/profile/wsoc...
Wimster9030 🇪🇺 🇧🇪 (@wimster9030.wsocial.eu)
I know, Daniel, but that's not the way WSocial "sold" it to us. We could only access trough ID-verification so we know for 100% they are EU and a "real person". That was the whole point. So we went trough that process, but now it seems that the backdoor are the other ATProt platforms to get in too.
Ricardo J. Méndez (@ricardo.bsky.social)
If WSocial sold people on the idea that everyone they would interact with is ID-verified, then indeed, every single open ATProto community would act as a back door of sorts. The only way for them to deliver would be to de-federate entirely. And it's always a bad idea to bet against openness.
WSocial could change everything - matlfb.com
In early 2026, the European Union announced its own Twitter-like platform called WSocial. The most surprising part is that it is expected to be a fork of Bluesk...
Elena Rossini 🌈 (@_elena@mastodon.social)
Do you remember the surprise announcement of a new social network in Davos this past January? Something that promised to be the "first" European social network? Its name is #WSocial and it's a fork of #Bluesky. Its founders have ties with European politicians - but there is no official involvement by the EU. You wouldn't know any of this from media reports because they all rehashed their talking points. So I wrote a post about it, dispelling some myths: https://blog.elenarossini.com/w-social-uncovered-the-reality-behind-the-hype/ #OpenWashing
W Social (@wsocial.eu)
We believe in the need for a global, trusted social media platform owned, run, and hosted in Europe. W is built on verified human users, transparency, privacy, and free speech. https://wsocial.eu/
DavidB (@david.eurosky.social)
"But why so much hostility?" Because WSocial has been dishonest since day one. The first time I heard of you, it was an ad saying that there was no European social media. Which was your first lie of a long series. "We're building a new social media." Another lie, you're a fork of Bluesky. And so on.
If WSocial sold people on the idea that everyone they would interact with is ID-verified, then indeed, every single open ATProto community would act as a back door of sorts. The only way for them to deliver would be to de-federate entirely. And it's always a bad idea to bet against openness.
Wimster9030 🇪🇺 🇧🇪
I know, Daniel, but that's not the way WSocial "sold" it to us. We could only access trough ID-verification so we know for 100% they are EU and a "real person". That was the whole point. So we went trough that process, but now it seems that the backdoor are the other ATProt platforms to get in too.
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.socialThis is a rough draft of a thought, but my sense of #WSocial is that it is an attempt to enclose the commons. By cultivating the idea that WSocial is only humans and bots are the primary drivers of mis/disinformation, they're establishing a framework which accomplishes two things:
Elena Rossini ⁂
Some thoughts on #WSocial, how they have been responding to criticism and why I believe they are showing the limits of free speech absolutism. I agree with @echna.bsky.social that "W Social seems to be on an X speedrun - without ever having been like Twitter." 🔗: aseachange.com/@elena/statuses/01M0SDV98GRDW…
Interesting point: "The only way to make sense of the European Commission's embrace of WSocial is that maybe it sees it as a trial run for MANDATORY age verification for social media across the European Union." @elenarossini.com
![[1 media attachment] Dear Fedi friends,
It may be time for a re-introduction: I'm Elena, an Italian creative (writer, photographer, filmmaker) living in Paris, France.
You may have initially gotten ...](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:v4zpi74gy7enfiwke7hmoxv5/bafkreihfn2sd2mtodvb6smd4ebgggkow2m5ryobxk6gek3uqny7ceul2f4)
Elena Rossini on GoToSocial ⁂ (@elena@aseachange.com)
aseachange.com
