Has W Social switched to closed source?
The microblogging platform W Social is facing scrutiny over its transparency and technical choices, particularly regarding the migration of high-profile European government accounts. Critics point to discrepancies between the platform's public image and its closed-source, for-profit nature.
Why it matters
The debate highlights concerns over digital sovereignty and the governance of decentralized social media protocols like ATproto.
In the past few months I have unwittingly become an expert on all things W Social : the microblogging platform that is a fork of Bluesky and bills itself as Europe’s alternative to X, with identity verification “to fight bots and misinformation” and data hosted in Europe “to promote European digital sovereignty”. Why am I fascinated by this topic? I find the discrepancies between their public image and the reality behind the scenes truly striking.
The author expresses skepticism toward a for-profit enterprise and favors open-source, non-profit alternatives.
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