Rebuild

Eurosky – The social internet, rebuilt in Europe

Eurosky is a European initiative to build and operate sovereign social web infrastructure

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

Scaling sustainable social networks in the public interest | Heinrich Böll Stiftung | Brussels office - European Union

This policy paper identifies five key challenges for scaling a public-interest social web: infrastructure, governance, funding, attractiveness, and public mandate. It outlines a roadmap for overcoming these challenges and building the Open Social Web Alliance into a relevant force within months — starting in Germany.

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?

W Social Isn't New. It Isn't Truly European. It Isn't Even Theirs. - Ewan’s Blog

Another rant on this “European” alternative

Holding Platforms Accountable Is Not Enough. We Need A ‘Compass’ For Social Technologies

This is the first series in the 21-22 Perspectives on Public Purpose blog.

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

Eurosky dawns – Open Future

The Eurosky initiative is building European social media infrastructure on the ATProtocol, representing a new step in Europe's digital sovereignty agenda as policymakers seek alternatives to Big Tech platforms that serve public interest rather than commercial imperatives.

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

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

Let's fund the open social web

A pro-social approach to building better platforms

The European Social Stack · An open declaration

An open declaration: The European Social Stack. Open Social Platforms and Private Messaging.

The European Social Stack · An open declaration

An open declaration: The European Social Stack. Open Social Platforms and Private Messaging.

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.