W Social
| File:W Social logo.png Logo as of January 2026 | |
Type of site | Social media |
|---|---|
| Founded | January 20, 2026 |
| Headquarters | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Country of origin | Switzerland |
| Area served | Worldwide, especially Europe |
| CEO | Anna Zeiter |
| Website | wsocial |
| Launched | TBA |
| Current status | Pre-launch |
W Social, also known simply as W, is a proposed Eurocentric social media platform by Swiss data protection expert & former Ebay executive Anna Zeiter, announced at the 56th World Economic Forum.[1] It is designed to combat political disinformation, particularly that spread on Elon Musk's X.[2] It will reportedly have mandatory photo verification for its users. It is speculated that the platform is being developed in collaboration with the European Union. It is currently in its pre-launch stage and is only accessible via invitation.[3]
Etymology
CEO & founder Anna Zeiter has stated "the W stands for 'we' and the big questions in investigative journalism; 'Wer wie was wann wo warum?'" ('Who, how, what, when, where, why' in English). In addition, she stated "in English the first V that makes up the W stands for Values, and the second for Verified" and that "the fact that W comes before X in the alphabet is also a welcome coincidence".[2]
History
W Social was announced on January 20, 2026 at the 56th World Economic Forum in Davos.[4] Its announcement came shortly after an open letter to the president of the European Commission signed by 54 MEPs criticizing social media platform X, comparing it to "a deepfake pornography website" in reference to abuse of its AI chatbot Grok's image manipulation feature, as well as "a one-way broadcast system for Elon Musk."[5][6] As of January 2026, few details are known about the platform, however it is understood that users will be required to verify their identity with a government-issued photo ID or through photo verification to prevent abuse, especially by bot accounts. This is in line with several recent efforts by international governments to reduce spam via ID or age/photo verification including the United Kingdom's Online Safety Act and Australia's similar measures.[7]
The platform is reportedly being developed in collaboration with the European Union, substantiated by its site's use of the .eu ccTLD.[3][8] However, neither the EU nor any national government has yet commented on W Social or its development.[9]
The platform is a legal subsidiary of We Don't Have Time, a Swedish climate-focused media company, and thus will also be based out of Sweden. Its beta version is expected to be launched no later than February 2026, and its full release is expected by 2027.[2] As of January 2026, it has not yet publicly launched and is only accessible through invitation.
References
- ↑ "W Social veut devenir le nouveau réseau social européen concurrent de X". 20 Minutes (in français). 2026-01-23. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "W Social setzt auf echte Nutzer und Werte". Bilanz (in Deutsch). 2026-01-19. Retrieved 2026-01-23.
- ↑ Martindale, Jon (2026-01-21). "W Emerges as X Alternative Aimed at Combating 'Systemic Disinformation'". PCMAG. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
- ↑ Bajpai, Estuti (2026-01-23). "European organisations introduce their W social media platform; Comes as an alternative to X". The Tech Outlook. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
- ↑ "Europeans plan to launch 'W', their own social media platform to rival Elon Musk's X". Wion. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
- ↑ "Australia is quietly rolling out age checks for search engines like Google". ABC News. 2025-07-10. Retrieved 2026-01-23.
- ↑ "Europe will launch its social platform, W, but users maybe reluctant to leave X". Cybernews. 2026-01-21. Retrieved 2026-01-23.
- ↑ "Neue Social-Media-Plattform für Europa – das steckt dahinter". watson.ch (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2026-01-24.
External links
This article "W Social" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:W Social. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
