#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 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:

🔗: blog.elenarossini.com/w-social…

#FOSS #DigitalSovereignty #BigTech

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-so…

^{Elena Rossini}

@johnnythan

Hi,
she says that they're a #network of #tolerance & #AliceWeidel & other #rightwingers are more than welcome & they don't want to be a #leftist #bubble

And that #bluesky is boring bc of blocklists

She claims they have no #bots on #wsocial - which is not true

And they are onto your #ID by #realnameregistration - which is pictured as a protective measure for the user

And… they spin the story that #Twitter was great before #Musk bought is 🙄 & that we need a #european #Alternative

#Wsocial : We don't do #ElonMusk. #Nazis are very welcome on our platform but they must be European.

@EUCommission President: Yay, we'll join Wsocial the new European unicorn or something! 🎉

#BuyEuropean #DigitalSovereignty

#wsocial was announcing a top-down approach to get their #network working & they are doing it

In the #Blick article #AnnaZeiter explains why #AliceWeidel & other #Nazis are welcome to her #socialmedia #platform blick.ch/digital/anna-zeiter-b…

wSocial tries to become a new #Tech #empire by pulling on their personal networks & riding the problematic term of #European #Sovereignty

#Lobbying the #rich & #powerful seems to pay out in the #EuropeanUnion ¯\(°_o)/¯

#SocialMedia of #realnameregistration , oh sorry, they call it real #humans , that advertises with " #AI " #slop

#wsocial is more than problematic

And already has #bots crawling it's #network

Now they show that they are problematic concerning #aesthetics as well & advertise with tasteless #aislop

@bildoperationen

#realnameregistration is highly dangerous & if the company that wants to have your most private data can't save there net from bots they're not very trustworthy, are they?
#tech

Dear Fedi friends, I need your help.

If by any chance any of you have saved the video of #WSocial CEO Anna Zeiter's presentation at the Monaco AI conference (uploaded to YouTube on May 21) I would be ETERNALLY grateful.

OG URL: youtu.be/xDNGHaISqs4

The 35 minute video included priceless quotes like: "Yes we have a business model, it's not a philanthropy, we are not a B corp, we actually want to make money."

Following the publication of my exposé, the video has been removed from YouTube!

Oh wow! That clearly doesn't make this WSocial case any better... ^

Since you've said you'll be writing about it, but I've not yet seen an article about it from you, I think this could be of interest to you, @adfichter

#WSocial

- I don't get why #wsocial and not #eurosky
- Or even better, to bridge their #fediverse accounts with #bridgyfed

The best thing I could find about this news, is to spread the concept of different federated servers, to the european people on #atproto
They will see in action that an account they follow could simply migrate, and they could also

cc @hpod16

⚠️ More shocking news! 🚨

Christine Lagarde and the European Central Bank have just migrated to #WSocial too!!!

(For context, see the beginning of this thread).

I'm at a loss for words today. Truly.

What a world.

If you missed my exposés on this controversial, problematic company, here they are:

🔗 : blog.elenarossini.com/tag/w-so…

File under: #WSocial shenanigans

I was alerted by @usti that the video of the Monaco AI conference presentation by W Social CEO Anna Zeiter was removed from their YouTube channel. You know, the video that I referenced in my second exposé about W Social, quoted extensively (because some of her statements were truly shocking).

This is the only video that was removed from their channel. I thought I had downloaded a copy to my computer... but hey, proof from the Wayback Machine of its existence

For context, my two articles on #WSocial didn't include some explosive things I found out in my research because:
- I was given some information on background, confidentially
- I found a particular thread to be a bit distracting (aka the MEGA hats sold on a website with far right paraphernalia)

Plus there are so many white lies... a pattern of misrepresentation that makes it really hard for me to trust them.

Do I have to write a THIRD article about W now? 🫠

Dear Fedi friends,

Apologies for another toot about #WSocial but I am genuinely shaking right now.

The @EUCommission and its president Ursula von der Leyen have recently migrated their ATproto (Bluesky) accounts to W Social.

I cannot fathom why they would pick a private enterprise whose leaders didn't even have ATproto accounts 3 months ago... and who are so open to having their users' data mined to train European AI models.

My articles on them:

🔗 : blog.elenarossini.com/tag/w-so…

Wow. Just wow.

« #WSocial 's beta program will open on June 17th and it will be interesting to see how many people will be willing to give W their government IDs to set up an account - when #Eurosky and #Bluesky exist, plug into the same network, and do not have such a requirement. »

... and @france-atmosphe.re is actively pushing Bluesky accounts verification

My top 3 "favorite" (aka juicy) discoveries about #WSocial, which I discuss on my blog:

🔗 : blog.elenarossini.com/the-unto…

1) The co-founders picked #ATproto but only started using the network WEEKS after their Davos launch

2) The CEO said "we also want to keep European data in Europe to maybe train European AI models with our data because we also have amazing AI companies in Europe" 🤯

3) W Social user "homersimpson"

If you enjoy the article please boost it 🙏

The Untold Story About W Social: Unconventional Beginnings, Strategic Pitches and Conflicting Signals

A deep dive into the origin story of W Social, an analysis of the strategic arguments they have been using to appeal to government officials, media companies and advertisers... and the discussion of conflicting signals they have been sending

^{Elena Rossini}

🚨 New post alert 📝

A deep dive into #WSocial with some fascinating findings: candid statements about their motives, a Greta Thunberg connection, potential AI plans (!!!)

Why write about it again? I still had so many questions after publishing my first article.

I spent 3 weeks watching every interview I could find and connecting the dots.

I hope you'll enjoy this piece:

🔗 : blog.elenarossini.com/the-unto…

#blog #longread #privacy #DataMining #Europe

The Untold Story About W Social: Unconventional Beginnings, Strategic Pitches and Conflicting Signals

A deep dive into the origin story of W Social, an analysis of the strategic arguments they have been using to appeal to government officials, media companies and advertisers... and the discussion of conflicting signals they have been sending

^{Elena Rossini}