FR#162 – EU Regulation Won’t Save Open Social Networks

FR#166 – No Change

Many people in Europe see the open social web as a path to digital sovereignty. This week demonstrated a problem: the assumption that European governments actually want to be sovereign.

W-Social: What does sovereignty mean for social media? – Open Future

The European Commission’s move to W-Social frames it as a European alternative to X, but its closed-source code and reliance on Bluesky’s infrastructure show that sovereign social media requires open infrastructure—not European ownership alone.

Why the EU age-verification tool does not solve privacy concerns

An EU legislative proposal for a social media ban will be presented at the State of the European Union annual address, but the tools which are pitcd as “ready” and “privacy-preserving” fail on both counts.

EU copyright reform: the facts – Open Policy & Advocacy

Ahead of the crucial EU copyright vote on 12 Sept., we set the facts straight and explain exactly what the new rules will mean for the internet in Europe.

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

The European Commission falls for openness theater by working with W Social

The European Commission has moved its profiles to W Social. That's a terrible decision.

Banning under-16s won’t fix social media

The toxic ecosystem we have today can be better addressed with competition than regulation

🇪🇺🌐 The future of social media may be decided in Europe

A survey of European AT Protocol projects, including 4 mini case-studies

Zuckerberg Op-Ed: New Rules Would Hurt Everyone But Facebook

The social network has the right to air its views on tech regulation — but the public would be wise to ask questions.

European Commission (@EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu)

Attached: 1 image A strong Europe needs independent digital spaces. We believe true digital sovereignty thrives on a competitive, contestable, open ecosystem where diverse platforms co-exist. Today, we’re expanding our presence to W, the new social media. By being on W, we want to boost alternatives and support all efforts toward a decentralised web. And we continue to invest into our presence on the Fediverse!

Digital Omnibus: What Would it Mean for Competition and Privacy in Advertising? - The Platform Law Blog

In November 2025, the European Commission (“Commission”) proposed a “Digital Omnibus” regulation to amend several EU legislations.[1] Although presented as a simplification exercise to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness, the proposal revisits key provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the e-Privacy-Directive concerning the use of personal data, including for advertising purposes. The changes could […]

Today, Europe Lost The Internet. Now, We Fight Back.

Today, in a vote that split almost every major EU party, Members of the European Parliament adopted every terrible proposal in the new Copyright Directive and rejected every good one, setting the

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

FR#167 – Change

On coordination in a decentralised network, and the European Social Stack declaration.