The European Commission has moved its profiles to W Social. That's a terrible decision.
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
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?
Europe's W Social Bet Tests its Vision of Digital Sovereignty
The European Commission has joined W Social, a closed-source platform. Megan Kirkwood asks what that reveals about Europe's digital sovereignty agenda.
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.
Commission accused of promoting European social media platform | Euractiv
The Commission announced it will join W social during its beta launch
Commission accused of promoting European social media platform | Euractiv
The Commission announced it will join W social during its beta launch
EU praises open source for tech sovereignty — then backs W, a private for-profit microblogging platform
To fundamentally understand why it's strange the EU Commission is throwing its weight behind this new for-profit social platform, you need to understand what lies beneath.
EU praises open source for tech sovereignty — then backs W, a private for-profit microblogging platform
To fundamentally understand why it's strange the EU Commission is throwing its weight behind this new for-profit social platform, you need to understand what lies beneath.
W Social, Public Institutions and the Theater of European Digital Sovereignty
European public institutions are betting big on digital sovereignty and open source software. And yet they recently moved their Bluesky accounts to W Social, a private, for profit network owned by Swedish entrepreneurs that has quietly gone closed-source.
W Social Isn't New. It Isn't Truly European. It Isn't Even Theirs. - Ewan’s Blog
Another rant on this “European” alternative
W Social is TruthSocial with a European accent. - We Can Just Do Things
The establishment always wants its own internet. Different politics, identical structure: wealthy insiders, community infrastructure they didn't build, and openness performed just long enough to matter.
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
I get the impression that the people at @wsocial.eu haven’t grasped the principle of a free and open social network protocol. They look a bit like venture capitalists turning up at Wikipedia and wondering how they can make a fortune there. Poke @anna.wsocial.eu
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.comI get the impression that the people at @wsocial.eu haven’t grasped the principle of a free and open social network protocol. They look a bit like venture capitalists turning up at Wikipedia and wondering how they can make a fortune there. Poke @anna.wsocial.eu
W Social and the European Commission
The “Quit W Social” collection was previously covering both problems with W Social itself and the subject of the European Commission’s endorsement of W Social. I’ve decided to separate the latter because I think it’s more of the EU’s problem than W Social’s
We have exciting news: the 🇪🇺 State of the Union speech will be broadcast live on W. And there’s more coming around live video on W. …
Europäische Alternative W Social: Ist das die ersehnte Lösung?
Decision to join W social network - a Freedom of Information request to Communication
Europe's W Social Bet Tests its Vision of Digital Sovereignty
W-Social: What does sovereignty mean for social media? – Open Future
@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…
