European organizations may soon launch their own social media platform, W, requiring user identification and photo verification to prevent bots.
  • brooke592@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    1·
    7 hours ago

    If it’s not federated then it’s not a good thing.

    Anna Zeiter, CEO of W

    Oh goodie. Useful idiots need scumbags profiting off of their stupidity to get onboard.

      • General_Effort@lemmy.worldEnglish
        8·
        1 day ago

        The basic building block of the Fediverse is the instance, right? Every instance is its own self-contained, centralized social media service that optionally interacts with other instances. EG Trump’s Truth Social is a Mastodon instance that does not federate.

        ATProto takes a more radical approach. Everything is modular. There is no instance or anything that is complete in itself. It’s more like the WWW. You can make websites in different ways. These are made findable through search engines like Google or Bing, which are not affiliated with companies offering web hosting.

        ATProto takes everything apart. It tries to avoid choke points or lock-in as far as possible to thwart monopolies. You have a server that stores your data (posts, etc …), called a PDS. You can move your data to a different server. An identity provider tells others where your account is at any moment. A relay collects all the posts that people make and makes them available for further processing. This can be used to create algorithmic feeds, or moderation (aka labelling). These things are independent of each other and can be independently offered by different parties. You can pick and chose which to use, though there isn’t a whole lot of choice yet.

        ETA: No idea what W wants to offer in that regard.

        • Croquette@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          2·
          1 day ago

          Thanks for taking the time to explain.

          Follow-up question : doesn’t ATProto run into the same issue as Bluesky for example, where even though the protocol allows for decentralization, the vast majority of users are on the same servers, thus negating the pros of decentralization?

          I feel like this would be the case here where one server will contain all the modules.

          • General_Effort@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            13 hours ago

            The company Bluesky Social PBC created the microblogging service Bluesky and the ATProtocol. It’s like the company Mastodon created the microblogging service Mastodon. There are other services built on ATproto that are EG like Reddit/Lemmy. But these have not taken off significantly.

            The ecosystem is mature enough so that you can participate in Bluesky without using services offered by Bluesky Social PBC and without making sacrifices. For the most part, you can move without abandoning your account.

            It is true that the servers are mostly run by the Bluesky company, but so what? Email is mostly run by Google and no one seems to think that’s a problem.

            • Croquette@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              1·
              1 hour ago

              More and more people are moving away from tech giants because of their shitty behaviour. So I think it is important to note how the data is used and stored, thus my follow-up question.

              Thanks for the detailed response.

            • Croquette@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              1·
              2 hours ago

              More and more people are moving away from tech giants because of their shitty behaviour. So I think it is important to note how the data is used and stored, thus my follow-up question.

              Thanks for the detailed response.

        • gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
          1·
          1 day ago

          So, my main takeaway is that ATProto basically splits user authentication and content storage and feed algorithm? Like, these are 3 separate things?

          You can have your own authentication server at home that basically just says that you are you (similar to a cryptographic identity), then you can store your content on google cloud and then use a 3rd-party feed algorithm?

          • General_Effort@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            13 hours ago

            The option to self-host your identity piggybacks on the DNS-system. A certain domain name resolves to the server where you store your ATProto identity. As long as you control the domain name, you control your identity. The ATProto identity is simply a pointer to where you currently store your data that your followers/contacts can use to find your content (IIRC).

            The non-selfhosted alternative is a central identity service run by Bluesky. Unfortunately, the identity cannot be moved for obvious reasons. It would be good if there were some more options there. In principle, if the ATProto identity was tied to the government identity, that would make it moveable and non-hijackable. For some people, celebrities and such, that would be a good option.

            Regardless of whether you selfhost your identity, you can selfhost a Personal Data Server (PDS), which stores your data and makes it available to the network. The PDS can move, cause that’s what the identity is for.

            Feeds and other stuff is again independent.

  • friend_of_satan@lemmy.worldEnglish
    27·
    2 days ago

    I hate X, but good luck with this:

    The new platform, W, will require identification and photo validation to ensure that its users are both humans and who they claim to be,

  • 6nk06@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    108·
    2 days ago

    will require identification and photo validation

    With all the privacy issues in the past few years, it’s “dead on arrival” as they say.

  • yetAnotherUser@lemmy.caEnglish
    21·
    2 days ago

    Isn’t this just some random company trying to cash in a little from controversy surrounding Xitter?

    • EightBitBlood@lemmy.worldEnglish
      102·
      2 days ago

      Oh because people did such a good job the first time?

      Anything people make, no mater how good, can and has been purchased to be turned to shit and controlled by those that purchase it. In that world, which is the one we live in now, a government made and publicly used social media service is just about the only way to create a resilient and uncorruptable form of social media. Especially compared to current alternatives that are already getting corrupted.

      I’m not saying what they’ll make is perfect. But it’s far better than any other option we currently have. Knee jerk reacting to assuming it’s bad is very much the same crux billionaires used in the US to weaken the government that would otherwise regulate them.

      A government is literally the best suited to creating this tech due to its public utility. Same with electricity, water, Emergency services, roads and more. Everyone uses them, so our taxes should go to making those things better.

      This is a step in the right direction.

      • brooke592@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        2·
        7 hours ago

        Anything people make, no mater how good, can and has been purchased to be turned to shit and controlled by those that purchase it.

        GPL would like to have a word with you.

        • EightBitBlood@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          1 hour ago

          Free software can’t be “purchased,” so it can’t be turned to shit 👍 Good point.

          To clarify mine where needed: the purchasing of what people make is what eventually turns it to shit. (Not just that it’s made, apologies if that was confusing.)

          So I completely agree GPL is fantastic and the way forward for us a civilization.

          Seriously appreciate this point as a great example of what DOES work well for both creators and community.

      • earthworm@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        4·
        2 days ago

        it’s far better than any other option we currently have.

        We have the Fediverse. Brother, you’re literally on it right now.

      • 73ms@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        3·
        2 days ago

        This isn’t actually a government doing it. It’s just some VC backed company that went to Davos to announce it.

        • EightBitBlood@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          2 days ago

          Fair point. But I think you’re burying the promising parts of this article:

          W’s data will be hosted decentrally in Europe by European companies, and the platform will adhere to strict EU data protection laws.

          “We believe there is an urgent need for a new social media platform built, governed and hosted in Europe. With human verification, free speech and data privacy at its core,” she wrote.

          In her LinkedIn post announcing the launch of W, Zeiter emphasized that systemic disinformation is eroding public trust and weakening democratic decision-making.

          I’ve never heard an Elon say that.

          And her background is solid compared to tech bros:

          She earned her PhD in law at the University of Hamburg and later studied at Stanford University.

          W will be legally the subsidiary of “We Don’t Have Time,” a media platform for climate action, but the team is scattered across Europe, with offices in Berlin and Paris planned, Bilanz reports.

          And the whole platform is legally under a company dedicated towards climate action.

          Lot of wins in this article make me think it’s far from the typical VC billionaire babysitting service.

  • Arcane2077@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    112·
    2 days ago

    I know Europe might seem like a country of you’re illiterate, but um it isn’t. W is a Swedish company with a dumb idea at the core of its app

    • bossito@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      23·
      2 days ago

      Oh sorry, I forgot Sweden is in Africa. Or that referring to an app as European implies that Europe is a country. Luckily there are still people like you to educate us all /s

  • PierceTheBubble@lemmy.mlEnglish
    4·
    1 day ago

    So a Mastodon ripoff, but its instances hosted by a single entity (effectively centralized): ensuring all instances residing within the European jurisdiction (allowing for full control over it). I don’t see how they genuinely believe, to have humans do the photo validation, when competing at the scale of X; especially when you run all the instances. Perhaps they could recruit volunteers to socialize the losses, as the platform privatizes the profits. Nothing but a privacy-centric approach however: said the privacy expert…

    Zeiter emphasized that systemic disinformation is eroding public trust and weakening democratic decision-making … W will be legally the subsidiary of “We Don’t Have Time,” a media platform for climate action … A group of 54 members of the European Parliament [primarily Greens/EFA, Renew, The Left] called for European alternatives

    If that doesn’t sound like a recipe, for swinging the pendulum to the other extreme (once more), I don’t know what does… Because can you imagine, a modern social media platform, not being a political echo chamber: not promoting extremism by use of filter bubbles, and instead allowing for deescalation through counter argumentation. One would almost start to think, for it all to be intentional: as a deeply divided population will never stand united, against their common oppressor.

    • 73ms@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      I think they’re automating the photo validation. The CEO mentioned something about giving back by releasing their facial recognition solution or something in the interview at Davos.

  • veee@lemmy.caEnglish
    7·
    2 days ago

    Anna Zeiter, CEO of W, has told Bilanz.ch that W stands for “We.” Meanwhile, the first of the Vs that make up W stands for “Values,” and the second for “Verified.”

    “The fact that W comes before X in the alphabet is certainly also a welcome coincidence,” Zeiter said.

    Was curious if the”W” had a deeper meaning to it. Turns out it’s actually two V’s that form a “W”