EU Institutions Back ID-Required Social Network W, Raising Free Speech Questions
EU leaders have joined W, a new social network requiring government ID verification. Critics warn the platform creates state-aligned digital spaces that could reshape who gets to speak online in Europe.
The European Commission is now on W. So are Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa, and ECB President Christine Lagarde. The platform requires users to scan a government ID before they can post.
The EU executive body promoted the private network through its official Facebook page this week. The endorsements reveal a troubling pattern of bureaucratic reach — Europe's regulatory institutions backing a company built to advance their digital governance agenda.
W Social's core features track EU regulatory priorities with precision. Identity verification, anti-disinformation focus, and European data hosting all align with Brussels' push for digital sovereignty. The platform positions itself as an alternative to Elon Musk's X, which the Commission fined €120 million under the Digital Services Act last December.
European Council President António Costa praised W in a statement that echoes EU regulatory language about combating misinformation and ensuring data sovereignty. His office stated that "the fact that W Social is a European venture, data will be fully hosted in Europe and the company's strong focus on privacy were important arguments for the President to join the platform."
Transparency disclosures reveal contacts between W Social and the cabinet of Henna Virkkunen, the Commission's executive vice president for technological sovereignty, security, and democracy. CEO Anna Zeiter met with Virkkunen, Commissioners Valdis Dombrovskis and Wopke Hoekstra, and DG Budget Director General Michael McGrath at a Luxembourg tech summit earlier this year.
"We are based in Europe, we have our infrastructure and data centres in Europe, we operate under European law, and only Europeans can be shareholders," Zeiter stated at W's Brussels launch event on June 17. She added, "If political Brussels starts posting on W instead of X, we'll have already achieved a great deal."
Despite being pitched as a distinctly European alternative, W runs on Bluesky's AT Protocol, an American technology. The company initially concealed this connection. Its staging website revealed the Bluesky link before scrubbing the evidence. NRC reports the source code has been removed from GitHub and is no longer open source.
Users can verify themselves either by sharing their real name or by scanning a government passport or national ID card through W Identity, a separate app. The company claims it deletes personal data immediately after verification. This has not been independently verified. A Discord breach that exposed government IDs of 70,000 users stands as a cautionary example of what happens when sensitive identity data is centralized.
The platform gives algorithmic preference to users who attach real identities. The approach aligns with the EU's Digital Identity Wallet rollout scheduled for 2027. It creates a private testing ground for state-backed digital identity systems.
Fifty-four MEPs from across the political spectrum signed an open letter to von der Leyen in January. They characterized X as "no longer an open and balanced tool for political communication or journalism" and "a one-way broadcast system for Musk himself." The lawmakers urged the EU to "build European social media now."
Commission tech chief Henna Virkkunen defended the DSA enforcement last year. "The DSA is having not to do with censorship, this decision is about the transparency of X," she stated. Researchers warn about the implications of government-aligned digital spaces.
"Controlling the flow of information is a potent thing - and we should be very careful of whom we give that power to," said researcher and blogger Elena Rossini in May.
W currently has 55,000 users at its public beta launch, with €2.5 million in funding secured as of February. It operates as a subsidiary of "We Don't Have Time," a Swedish climate-focused media company.
The platform's advisory board includes Cristina Caffarra, chair of EuroStack, Elizabeth Denham, former UK Information Commissioner, Pär Nuder, former Swedish Finance Minister, and Philipp Rösler, former German Vice-Chancellor. The tech team is based in Ukraine.
EU officials have long criticized American social media platforms for failing to combat disinformation and illegal content. W positions itself as the solution. The platform operates under European law, works with European regulators from day one, and limits shareholders to Europeans.
But when EU institutions champion a platform that requires government ID to speak and gives preference to verified users, who decides what counts as legitimate speech? The EU's answer will shape Europe's digital future, potentially establishing state-aligned digital spaces under the guise of digital sovereignty while evading the free speech protections of American platforms.