EU Elite Backs New Anti-Musk Social Media Platform
Senior EU officials including Ursula von der Leyen are joining W Social, a new Swedish platform marketed as a European X alternative, prompting concerns about Brussels' cozy ties with the startup.
W Social, a Swedish-led platform that was unveiled at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, officially launched its public beta on June 17, according to Brussels Signal. The platform has already secured the participation of some of the EU’s most powerful figures, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa, and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde.
The launch event took place at the Press Club Brussels, just blocks from the European Commission headquarters, and featured company executives alongside representatives from the United Nations and media outlets. The guest list and venue choice underscored the institutional backing the platform enjoys from the Brussels establishment.
António Costa openly celebrated his arrival on W, praising its European data hosting, emphasis on fighting disinformation, and verification requirements that ensure users are “real people.” His enthusiasm reflects a broader pattern of EU officials championing a platform whose core features align closely with Brussels’ regulatory priorities.
The European Commission itself actively promoted W on social media, posting an invitation for users to join the platform and describing it as a freshly launched independent social media network. That institutional endorsement has drawn criticism from observers who question why EU bodies are so eager to boost a private startup.
Regulatory Alignment Raises Eyebrows
W Social presents itself as distinctly European in character and operation. Built on the same AT Protocol that powers Bluesky, the platform emphasizes verified human interaction, compliance with EU digital regulations, and data infrastructure hosted entirely within Europe.
CEO Anna Zeiter made the European credentials explicit during the Brussels launch, stating that the company is based in Europe, operates under European law, hosts its data centers in Europe, and restricts share ownership to Europeans only.
Transparency records reveal that W Social has already established contacts at the highest levels of the European Commission, including with the cabinet of Henna Virkkunen, the Executive Vice-President responsible for technological sovereignty, security, and democracy. These connections suggest coordination between the platform and Brussels regulators that goes beyond typical startup-government relations.
Anna Zeiter emphasized during the launch that W has been working with European regulators from the outset, citing cooperation with the Swedish Media Authority, Sweden’s Data Protection Authority, and the European Data Protection Board. Advertising on the platform will comply with GDPR, the Digital Services Act, and European advertising guidelines, she said.
Identity Verification and Content Control
The platform’s approach to user identity reflects broader EU regulatory concerns about online anonymity. While users can browse W anonymously, posting and interacting require verification that the user is human through a separate system. Those who attach their real identities to their accounts receive preferential treatment from the platform’s algorithm compared to anonymous users.
W executives justify these measures as necessary to combat bots, fake accounts, AI-generated manipulation, and coordinated disinformation campaigns. The emphasis on verification and content moderation mirrors the EU’s own regulatory push against US social media companies, which Brussels officials have spent years criticizing over alleged failures to combat illegal content and disinformation.
Brussels Backing for Anti-Musk Platform
W executives celebrated the fact that major EU institutions have joined the platform, including the European Commission, European Parliament, European Council, and European Central Bank. The coordinated institutional adoption suggests a level of orchestration that contradicts the platform’s claims to independence.
W Social joins several other European social media platforms launched in recent years, including Bulle, Eurosky, Monnett, and eYou, as well as chat applications like the Latvian BirdyChat. The proliferation of these alternatives reflects European officials’ determination to reduce dependence on American technology companies and create digital infrastructure under Brussels’ regulatory control.
The close relationship between W Social and EU institutions raises fundamental questions about whether taxpayer-funded bodies should be promoting specific private companies, particularly when those companies align so closely with the political and regulatory preferences of the Brussels establishment.
With information from Brussels Signal
