Post
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.
@_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..."
@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
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.
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