wsocial
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And apologies dear Fedi friends if I continue to write about #WSocial, but I have my reasons:
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The platform is fully endorsed by the European Commission!!! With von der Leyen taking time away from G7 meetings to do a video ad for their launch (!!!)
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The #openweb #privacy destroying #EUKidsAct has been discussed between W and the EC during a meeting in early September. If W Identity is the thing implementing it in Europe, we’re all in trouble as they publish personal details to the open web
Sunday October 18th – 8:40am
15 minute firehose comparison between #WSocial (48.2k accounts) and #Eurosky (36.9k accounts). W has 151 events (likes, posts, follows, re-posts) whereas Eurosky has over 5 THOUSAND events.
Please DO NOT call W a “ghost town”, it really triggers their leaders and MEGA fans, ok? They plan to monetize their platform in 2027, ok? Ok?!?
Hilariously, their co-founder even came up with the hashtag #NOGhostTown 👻
Der Hakendran-Podcast (@hakendran@social.heise.de ) vergibt in diesem Jahr wieder den Negativpreis des “Grauen Hakens”.
Ich habe soeben Ursula von der Leyen vorgeschlagen: für ihren unreflektierten Einsatz für #wsocial , sowie stellvertretend für die EU-Kommission (@EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu ) die mit ihrem #eukidsact daran arbeitet die Ausweispflicht im Netz einzuführen und zugleich am Fundament des #Fediverse sägt.
Außerdem habe ich @elena@aseachange.com für den “Goldenen Haken” (das gute Pendant zum “Grauen Haken”) vorgeschlagen: für ihre Aufklärungsarbeit rund ums Fediverse und die Lobbyarbeit, die sie für das Fediverse verrichtet.
Wollt ihr es mir gleich tun, so sendet eine Vorschlagsmail an grauer@hakendran.org bzw. goldener@hakendran.org .
Falls du User von #WSocial bist, hat der Dienst dir x-mal versichert, wie wichtig ihm deine Privatsphäre sei. Aber: Wie viele deiner personenbezogenen Daten veröffentlicht WSocial im offenen Internet? Einfach so? Finde es jetzt heraus!
wdonthavetime.tngl.io/wsocial-wned
via @Katika@chaos.social
I just published a blog post that explains the latest #WSocial controversy:
W Social is publishing as a permanent record on the open web the full names, nationalities and approximate birthdays of their verified users… who may be unaware all this information is available for anyone to see, outside of the social network.
If you are a @wsocial.eu@bsky.brid.gy user and concerned about your private data being listed publicly, found this link by @wdonthavetime.selfhosted.social@bsky.brid.gy that lets you see what data is visible on the open web
#WSocial #WSocialFacts #Wned
wdonthavetime.tngl.io/wsocial-wned/
RE: bsky.app/profile/did:plc:caoilfvxiz7mue…
Have you been Wned: Has W Soci…
Sascha @pallenberg@mastodon.social just published a powerful exposé about the #WSocial “it’s not a leak if we intentionally publish it” ID data controversy.
I highly recommend you read it. It’s in German, but you could use your browser’s translation tool:
🔗 : metacheles.de/w-social-datenskandal
Sascha did a PHENOMENAL job explaining the GDPR implications.
I wish the @EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu would reconsider their support of #WIdentity and W Social - people’s private data is not safe with them.
Moin #Fediverse - Meine kleine Recherche ist da:
So verstoesst #Wsocial taeglich gegen EU-Recht & damit auch die #DSGVO 👉 metacheles.de/w-social-datenskandal
Und warum? Auszuege aus dem EU-Lobbyregister zeigen Treffen, in denen es u.a. um eine ID-Verifizierungs Infrastruktur in #Europa geht.
Ach und als Bonus ein 1. Einblick in die Struktur von Wsocial, die gespickt ist mit #BigTech Vertreter:innen!
Bitte boostet diese Recherche ordentlich. Danke fuer euren Support🙏
Good morning to everyone except #WSocial people who are forcing me to work on a Sunday.
New article about their latest scandal coming soon (tomorrow or Tue morning at the latest). There is SO MUCH more to unpack that hasn’t been revealed yet - and I’ve got plenty of evidence to share.
The W Social people had a meltdown about this yesterday on the Atmosphere, asking critics “who is funding you?”
This reporting is entirely self-funded, with childcare help from my in-laws and my husband 💁♀️
New #WSocial data fuckup, posted by @_elena@mastodon.social on Bluesky but not on the Fedi?
Apparently, during signup (which requires your real ID) you get an option to “display real name and age publicly”, and if you do, your nationality, real name, and age (offset by < ±1 year) are included in the data that is accessible to anyone, even people without a WS account, and to any scraper bots who care to look.
WS claims this is “public by design” and works as intended.
🤦♀️
#WSocial is posting legal names, nationalities and approx. birthdays of verified users as a public record on the Atmosphere. Confronted, they claim it’s “by design” 🤯
RE: social.heise.de/@hakendran/…
Ueberraschung oder auch nicht?!
Gebt euch unbedingt diese #hakendran Folge mit @gavinkarlmeier@mastodon.social & @martinfehrensen@mastodon.social, denn #Wsocial hat seit mehr als 3 Wochen ein massives Problem den Anforderungen der #DSGVO gerecht zu werden!
Warum dafuer der 17. September so wichtig ist & warum auf dem ID-verfizierten Netzwerk 2/3 aller Postings durch Bots generiert werden, darueber spreche ich am Sonntag auf @info@metacheles.de
Haken dran
@hakendran@social.heise.de
W Social verspricht, botfrei zu sein. Dafür muss sich man beim Registrieren mit seinem Personalausweis verifizieren. Wie eine "Einlasskontrolle im Club".
Hej guys, I am sorry to say that I won’t make it to the fabulous Datenspuren in Dresden because I am still sick😢
You creatures have fun & don’t let yourself get lured into any real-name registration systems!
See you in Hamburg - I hope!
All the best!
@datenspuren@c3d2.social
#Datenspuren #Dresden #CCC #40C3 #realnameregistration #wSocial #tech #surveillance #resistance
datenspuren.de/2026
#WSocial state of the network - September 15th, 2026
There is a lot of misinformation regarding W Social and how active/successful it is. So, from time to time, I’d love to share some numbers. The beauty of #opendata!
The network endorsed by the #EuropeanCommission may be the darling of Brussels political circles and European media organizations (who simply rehash PR talking points). But the look behind the curtain is really troubling.
As @pallenberg@mastodon.social often says, this network is #DOA (dead on arrival). A social media graveyard, or rather, a simple moribund database.
There is no way that Zeiter, Rentzhog & co. can start monetizing it in 2027.
Numbers from this morning at 10:30am:
Accounts on their PDS: 37,531Users with verified ID: 7,492Users with 1+ post: 3,388Users who have never posted: 34,143Users with 0 posts and who follow 0 accounts: 26,444% of users with 0 posts, who follow 0 accounts: 70,4%% of users who have never posted: 90,97%So, whenever you hear someone hyping it up, feel free to forward this post or point people to my articles at blog.elenarossini.com/tag/…
The one thing I will give W credit for though is how good they are at lobbying and hyping up their image.
While this playbook may have worked in the past, not anymore. On an open network, with open data, it’s child’s play to expose misrepresentations and show the real, raw data.
sources: pdsls.dev, clearsky.app, atproto.at and the csv of their full PDS that I download daily 💁♀️
Gerade mal einen Test mit dem neuen W Social durchgeführt. Ziemlich unspektakulär. Initial wird man gefragt, für welche Themen man sich interessiert. Diese Eingabe wird dann dafür benutzt, um den Feed zu füllen. Hat bei mir nicht wirklich gut funktioniert. Es wird wohl das AT Protocol (Authenticated Transfer Protocol) eingesetzt.
Bis jetzt sehe ich nichts, was irgendwie spannend oder besonders ist.
From other networks 1
Eigentlich wirbt W Social nur damit, dass es echte Menschen sind und keine Bots. Daher auch die andere App zwecks Login und Authentifizierung.
Ob das gut oder schlecht oder gar nichts ist, muss jeder selbst beurteilen!
Gerade mal einen Test mit dem neuen W Social durchgeführt. Ziemlich unspektakulär. Initial wird man gefragt, für welche Themen man sich interessiert. Diese Eingabe wird dann dafür benutzt, um den Feed zu füllen. Hat bei mir nicht wirklich gut funktioniert. Es wird wohl das AT Protocol (Authenticated Transfer Protocol) eingesetzt.
Bis jetzt sehe ich nichts, was irgendwie spannend oder besonders ist.
From other networks 1
Hej, just got my conformation from the @datenspuren@chaos.social
My talk “Every breath you take: Why real name registration is not for a better web but a better surveillance” will be at 18.09.2026 16:00–16:45, Henny-Brenner-Saal see you in Dresden!
And thanks to all the folks organizing the event 💓
A story in two pictures:
An article from Euractiv from July stating “Von der Leyen is expected to use her annual State of the Union speech to unveil plans for EU-wide age restrictions on social media”. And then a pic of a W Social post announcing the live-stream of the EC state of the Union speech.
This is precisely why I keep speaking up about #WSocial:
We are at a dangerous turning point when it comes to online privacy and it seems that the European Commission has chosen this network because of its built-in age verification.
Truth is: even if their PDS hosts 28k accounts, only 2612 people (as of this morning) have ever published a single post or reply on W.
Their #WIdentity app is so broken, it has mostly one-star ratings on Google Play Store (yes, you read it right, the network of European digital sovereignty requires an app from Google or Apple to verify one’s identity).
Most egregiously, W Social does NOT do any content moderation to rein in hate speech. I find daily examples of racist, transphobic and xenophobic posts that are simply allowed. Thankfully on the ATmosphere, people can subscribe to Bluesky, Blacksky or Northsky labelers to hide hate speech. W Social leaders believe in “free speech absolutism” and keep saying that everyone is welcome. Alice Weidel of AfD too, by the way.
I thought W Social would be in violation of the DSA for allowing these messages to stay up, but apparently they are too small of a platform for this rule to apply.
Lately W Social leaders and power users have defined fact-based criticism as “disinformation” and targeted harassment: aseachange.com/@elena/…
I’m ok with being called a liar and a bully, if my screenshots and video captures of hate speech on the platform can help bring light to this problem.
So be warned, there may be bad news coming at the EC State of the Union in September.
