Must see from @euronews
Fact check: Is the EU launching a social media platform called #WSocial?
"A spokesperson for the European Commission told The Cube, Euronews' fact-checking team, that the EU is not launching or funding any social media platform, and that there is currently no EU-backed project called "W"
[...] W is a privately owned social media start-up incorporated in Sweden, backed by private investors mainly from the Nordic region."
Please share widely
@sharan why would anyone want to join a billionaire-owned social media platform? 🫠
@_elena I dunno. I was there, I'm not anymore. But having government as a failsafe for billionaires - I mean, the majority of those are in their pockets.
I think Mastodon is the only viable option at the moment.
@sharan watch out you may draw the ire of Fedi enthusiasts. Maybe we can say that the Fediverse (with all its FOSS software solutions) is the only viable option?
There’s so much good stuff here, from Friendica to Sharkey, GoToSocial, PeerTube. Something for everyone ☺️
@_elena I am deeply sorry for hurting so many people's feelings.
OK, Fediverse, open source, people oriented technology, that's the solution. Probably. We're all humans, we will fuck it up somehow.
BTW, great Sex Pistolesque Fediverse shirt! ❤️
@_elena @euronews This is quite strange, since the EU seems to host a mastodon instance for the officials https://ec.social-network.europa.eu/explore
@renef @_elena @euronews W is not positioning itself as a Mastodon alternative. It's a centrally operated platform with algorithms, fundamentally different from Mastodon's federated model. W requires mandatory identity verification (to reduce bots) while Mastodon prioritizes pseudonymity. Very different beasts.
@inVinnieVeritas @_elena @euronews W still acts as if there is no alternative to US social media, which is just bullshit.
the people behind it are not techies and it shows.
The CEO spoke of a social media network on European cloud infrastructure as if it was a miraculous thing / never seen before.
HELLO? There are thousands of Fediverse instances fully hosted in Europe. And now some Bluesky PDSs too (only mentioning it because W is a fork of Bluesky).
I’d be shocked if W gets any traction / is still around a year from now
@_elena @inVinnieVeritas I think it's fine they're trying, competition never hurts. What I personally dislike is how the media is ignoring Mastodon. I realize it's harder to use than "traditional" social media services, but that is no reason to act as if it doesn't exist.
@renef @inVinnieVeritas I thought you meant « Mastadon » right?
Terrible joke but that’s how the media usually spell it… it’s as if they either ignore it on purpose or completely fumble their coverage (like Radio France yesterday that ran with a piece that claimed Eugen had quit his own network out of frustration with user behavior). Excuse me, what? It’s unbelievable
@_elena there's a comment section 😈
@davey_cakes wait until you read what I found... publishing something early next week right after FOSDEM 🍵
☀️ CEO of W, Anna Zeiter, was #eBay Chief Privacy Officer and VP #AI and Data Responsibility:
"... [eBay's AI] policies have recently come under regulatory scrutiny, particularly in Europe where privacy authorities in Germany have raised concerns about [eBay training AI with user data after users complained]."
"Sellers have also raised transparency concerns around ways that eBay may be using AI to alter their listing information without their explicit permission and without clear disclosure to them or to consumers..."
@crecente thanks Drew! she was (is?) also on the board of Flo and well https://www.classaction.org/news/combined-56m-google-flo-settlement-ends-class-action-lawsuit-over-allegedly-illegal-health-data-sharing
Ouch! Also involved with Flo? Such a terrible, distasteful invasion of health privacy. Who would trust those involved with user data?
Thanks for sharing this Elena!
@crecente yes! someone sent me this tip and Zeiter still has a page on Flo's website: https://flo.health/about-us/anna-zeiter
I couldn't find the message (I had pretty much a hundred mentions a day this week) but I will look for the source to credit them in my article.
My Fediverse sources / researchers are THE BEST 😊
@sunnythesheep yes and I'm NOT surprised one bit 🫠
@_elena
isn't running their own instance at https://ec.social-network.europa.eu/about kind of launching/funding a social media platform 😉
(i know, an instance doesn't make a whole platform...)
Have fun at #FOSDEM
@euronews
@UlrikeHahn it works. But W does not 😉😅
@sunnythesheep @pink @_elena @euronews now I see what you were trying to say ….. ;-)
https://bingx.com/en/news/post/eu-backs-million-launch-of-w-to-rival-x-beta-slated-by-february
„EU backs €500 million launch of W to rival X; beta slated by February“
@luca they should have come out publicly to clarify the confusion. They didn’t. And it speaks volumes, showing their moral compass. Of course the ambiguity added to the hype.
It took 9 DAYS to get the first news report that was fact-checked. Unbelievable.
