Plenty of things require verification. That is a good thing for a social network, considering 90% or comments in X are coming from bots
butwhywedothis on
Do people really really need to put their thoughts and brain farts in public for all to see? At what cost?
ExpertPath on
Bahahahahahahahaha!
Wait, they’re serious, let me laugh even louder: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
On a more serious note, don’t they understand that such a setup is a complete non-starter. Probably going to end up like this EU video platform a few years ago, where the only users were EU officials, and nobody else.
Party-Cake5173 on
Then I guess I won’t be on it. 🤷♂️
blieblablou on
All privacy concerns that need to be addressed aside, if we want honest social media that isn’t abusable to divide our societies, identity verification is a must going forward.
MagiMas on
I am not giving my passport to a social media site.
Sorry, but if that’s the alternative, I’ll prefer to hang out with the crazies on reddit, X, bluesky etc.
FishingSuitable2475 on
The irony of building a “sovereign” European alternative to X that immediately asks you to hand over a scan of your passport is peak 2026. We spent years fighting for GDPR and individual data rights just to land on a “solution” that essentially creates a centralized honeypot of every user’s most sensitive government ID. It’s hard to tell if this is a social media launch or just a very efficient way to streamline identity theft for the next inevitable data breach.
Stennan on
I appreciate being able to verify that the users are real people. But i won’t be signing up to anything without knowing that my info is handled safely.
Just curious but are they actually checking the credentials somewhere? Or someone could just use an AI to generate a ID and a image of the person.
SavvyCantaloupe on
I want to see their userbase 😃😃😃 What a joke 😀
clivegermain on
w … tf? man european startups are the worst at naming things. could have named it shitter.
Oxu90 on
I am not going to use a site that demands to upload photo of my passport. After all promises it is still “Whoopsie” waiting to happen.
Instead of risking sensitive information people should be taugh increasingly media literacy
Mixer-3007 on
made by Palantir ?
Outside-Dig-5464 on
AI content – couldn’t care less. Dont link to this shit. Find a link to someone who was paid.
gameaddict1337 on
It’s the same argument as ever.
It might be fine today. Not using your data for anything. Then, a radical political power gets it’s hands on it. Maybe not in 5 or 10 years, but at some point.
Now they can link your private messages and everything you’ve posted to you. Insurance might be impossible because you confined about liking to gas on the highway. You might even be prosecuted by new laws regarding some -ism which have made the kind og critique you posted 7 years ago illegal.
Said something bad about the government? Muted/banned/fined.
It’s the first step to the totalitarian system that China runs. Social credit and all that. I honestly see no solution other than educate people about propaganda, bots and AI OR literally shut SoMes down.
2shayyy on
Everyone mocked this and putting it down. But honestly, if this was just used by politicians, celebs, influencers – who cares?
They’re not going to care as long as it gets their message out to a wide audience.
And if they can do it in an environment that doesn’t have a wave of Russian bots in the comments declaring “Europe has fallen”, “Putin would fix this”, “We should all vote for [insert local nationalist]” then great.
That’s all I want personally, a botless way for high profile names to communicate what they need to.
Fairy2play on
Is 4chan American?
Mirabeaux1789 on
So bizarre to see “if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear” bullshit on this website
BkkGrl on
DOA
Grafikpapst on
Look, I understand the idea – but if the EU wants a way to verify real people and age, there is safer ways they could do it that dont involve your passport. You could just give everyone a seperate verification token/card/whatever that only holds the bare minumum of information to tell a page that you are old enough and a real person.
Would a system like that be perfect? No of course not, but it would be alot safer than trusting any webpage with the security of your passport data.
Qwinn_SVK on
Where are all these ppl who mass likes creation of W on a post there few days ago xD
Der_AlexF on
Igitt! AI slop
CoffeeHQ on
I actually don’t mind identity verification, I mind the way they intend to implement this (themselves).
1. Having only ‘real’ people on there could be beneficial, sets this network apart. No bots, perhaps a more civilized tone.
2. Being verified (on registration) and having to show your real name and photo on your profile for everyone to see *are two separate things*. I don’t want the latter.
3. They need to rely on a trusted third party (ie your bank) that will just respond with “yep, it is them and they are 18+”. They don’t need to implement this themselves, I don’t trust *them* to perpetually hold my identification data. Hacks, etc.
So best of luck, I’m sympathetic to the cause but the devil is in the details and as it stands this is DOA.
InsignificantCookie on
We all already know this will fail.
kodos_der_henker on
So it is basically just a big data scam that tries to flow on the current wave of the demand for European alternatives.
Uploading pictures doesn’t prevent bot farms from using a service, electronic ID does and given an EU wide eID exists but isn’t used here simply means that bots are of no concern.
kurisu_1974 on
Good luck, let me know what happens.
MstrykuS on
The sole purpose of this project is getting EU grants
MadeyesNL on
They should’ve called it L
Mediocre-Sundom on
Dead on arrival.
Actual_Aside_2862 on
Nice, next step? Give us points based on our behaviour on social media?
pirisca on
This is not the right approach lol
endianess on
DOA
alexvith on
To be fair this brings up a point we don’t discuss that much. People think it’s overkill to link your real life credentials to a social media network, which is fair. At the same time, a single tweet on X can rile up tens of thousands of people, create political turmoil, affect people in real life. I don’t think we can separate the internet from real life anymore. Social media has effects on real life, whether we like it or not.
I don’t have much issues owning the shit I say online, even if I have to prove my identity with governmental credentials. Be it. Security is a fair concern, but it’s not like I am 100% trusting my own government with my life either (anymore).
My only gripe with this is the danger of profiling people based on their opinions and creating a database that can be used in very dangerous ways (say, a fascist government takes power again in Europe and demands access to W’s databases to target people with views opposing theirs).
On the other side, with no sort of verification it’s just yet another platform that will be swarmed by bots and become a nest for disinformation and people with no scruples to spread their rhetoric.
Davidat0r on
While I don’t love it, I don’t see a better alternative. Well yes, not using social media at all, but until then..,
Ash-From-Pallet-Town on
I’m over all social medias. I haven’t used X in years. Never used Instagram or Tik Tok. There’s no way I will I get W. Reddit is the last one for now.
robot001 on
Is a clone of this cesspool really a good thing to have?
PrizeSyntax on
I really love that we as Europeans are trying to develop alternatives to the US services, but I hate how we are trying to turn the European internet into a freaking surveillance machine
UncleObli on
Thanks, but no thanks. My privacy is more important than a social network. I’m very fine with Lemmy and Mastodon for the most part.
yeshuahanotsri on
Funny how people give their data to uber and Lyft ,no problem or to ride e-scooters or whatever, but this is too much.
I think it’s a good idea. Less bots, more accountability (death threats), a place where (most) people are human.
PandaExperss on
i dont have an issue with proving i am me, i have an issue giving my ID copy to a private company. the EU needs a verification process first, than we can talk about those sites needing it.
EspressoFrog on
From the article:
“Users must link a valid passport or identity card to their profile. In addition, a recent photo is required to prove that the person behind the screen actually exists”
Yeah. So supposing they are to be trusted, one leak of data and now those buying that info can now take loans and conduct other official business with it ?
BalticBrew on
We need an EU-wide identity check solution that prevents misuse of personal data. However, it is a very important step towards eliminating the hordes of Russian, Chinese, and other bots flooding social media and creating the illusion of support on various topics.
whatstefansees on
I understand the intention: No hiding, if you insult or misinform, it gets back to you. But I … don’t feel comfy with it and won’t become a member anyway.
44 commenti
Sounds safe. What could possibly go wrong?
Plenty of things require verification. That is a good thing for a social network, considering 90% or comments in X are coming from bots
Do people really really need to put their thoughts and brain farts in public for all to see? At what cost?
Bahahahahahahahaha!
Wait, they’re serious, let me laugh even louder: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
On a more serious note, don’t they understand that such a setup is a complete non-starter. Probably going to end up like this EU video platform a few years ago, where the only users were EU officials, and nobody else.
Then I guess I won’t be on it. 🤷♂️
All privacy concerns that need to be addressed aside, if we want honest social media that isn’t abusable to divide our societies, identity verification is a must going forward.
I am not giving my passport to a social media site.
Sorry, but if that’s the alternative, I’ll prefer to hang out with the crazies on reddit, X, bluesky etc.
The irony of building a “sovereign” European alternative to X that immediately asks you to hand over a scan of your passport is peak 2026. We spent years fighting for GDPR and individual data rights just to land on a “solution” that essentially creates a centralized honeypot of every user’s most sensitive government ID. It’s hard to tell if this is a social media launch or just a very efficient way to streamline identity theft for the next inevitable data breach.
I appreciate being able to verify that the users are real people. But i won’t be signing up to anything without knowing that my info is handled safely.
“Users must link a valid passport or identity card to their profile. In addition, a [recent photo](https://tvpworld.com/91165374/europe-to-unveil-w-a-home-grown-rival-to-elon-musks-x) is required to prove that the person behind the screen actually exists”
Just curious but are they actually checking the credentials somewhere? Or someone could just use an AI to generate a ID and a image of the person.
I want to see their userbase 😃😃😃 What a joke 😀
w … tf? man european startups are the worst at naming things. could have named it shitter.
I am not going to use a site that demands to upload photo of my passport. After all promises it is still “Whoopsie” waiting to happen.
Instead of risking sensitive information people should be taugh increasingly media literacy
made by Palantir ?
AI content – couldn’t care less. Dont link to this shit. Find a link to someone who was paid.
It’s the same argument as ever.
It might be fine today. Not using your data for anything. Then, a radical political power gets it’s hands on it. Maybe not in 5 or 10 years, but at some point.
Now they can link your private messages and everything you’ve posted to you. Insurance might be impossible because you confined about liking to gas on the highway. You might even be prosecuted by new laws regarding some -ism which have made the kind og critique you posted 7 years ago illegal.
Said something bad about the government? Muted/banned/fined.
It’s the first step to the totalitarian system that China runs. Social credit and all that. I honestly see no solution other than educate people about propaganda, bots and AI OR literally shut SoMes down.
Everyone mocked this and putting it down. But honestly, if this was just used by politicians, celebs, influencers – who cares?
They’re not going to care as long as it gets their message out to a wide audience.
And if they can do it in an environment that doesn’t have a wave of Russian bots in the comments declaring “Europe has fallen”, “Putin would fix this”, “We should all vote for [insert local nationalist]” then great.
That’s all I want personally, a botless way for high profile names to communicate what they need to.
Is 4chan American?
So bizarre to see “if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear” bullshit on this website
DOA
Look, I understand the idea – but if the EU wants a way to verify real people and age, there is safer ways they could do it that dont involve your passport. You could just give everyone a seperate verification token/card/whatever that only holds the bare minumum of information to tell a page that you are old enough and a real person.
Would a system like that be perfect? No of course not, but it would be alot safer than trusting any webpage with the security of your passport data.
Where are all these ppl who mass likes creation of W on a post there few days ago xD
Igitt! AI slop
I actually don’t mind identity verification, I mind the way they intend to implement this (themselves).
1. Having only ‘real’ people on there could be beneficial, sets this network apart. No bots, perhaps a more civilized tone.
2. Being verified (on registration) and having to show your real name and photo on your profile for everyone to see *are two separate things*. I don’t want the latter.
3. They need to rely on a trusted third party (ie your bank) that will just respond with “yep, it is them and they are 18+”. They don’t need to implement this themselves, I don’t trust *them* to perpetually hold my identification data. Hacks, etc.
So best of luck, I’m sympathetic to the cause but the devil is in the details and as it stands this is DOA.
We all already know this will fail.
So it is basically just a big data scam that tries to flow on the current wave of the demand for European alternatives.
Uploading pictures doesn’t prevent bot farms from using a service, electronic ID does and given an EU wide eID exists but isn’t used here simply means that bots are of no concern.
Good luck, let me know what happens.
The sole purpose of this project is getting EU grants
They should’ve called it L
Dead on arrival.
Nice, next step? Give us points based on our behaviour on social media?
This is not the right approach lol
DOA
To be fair this brings up a point we don’t discuss that much. People think it’s overkill to link your real life credentials to a social media network, which is fair. At the same time, a single tweet on X can rile up tens of thousands of people, create political turmoil, affect people in real life. I don’t think we can separate the internet from real life anymore. Social media has effects on real life, whether we like it or not.
I don’t have much issues owning the shit I say online, even if I have to prove my identity with governmental credentials. Be it. Security is a fair concern, but it’s not like I am 100% trusting my own government with my life either (anymore).
My only gripe with this is the danger of profiling people based on their opinions and creating a database that can be used in very dangerous ways (say, a fascist government takes power again in Europe and demands access to W’s databases to target people with views opposing theirs).
On the other side, with no sort of verification it’s just yet another platform that will be swarmed by bots and become a nest for disinformation and people with no scruples to spread their rhetoric.
While I don’t love it, I don’t see a better alternative. Well yes, not using social media at all, but until then..,
I’m over all social medias. I haven’t used X in years. Never used Instagram or Tik Tok. There’s no way I will I get W. Reddit is the last one for now.
Is a clone of this cesspool really a good thing to have?
I really love that we as Europeans are trying to develop alternatives to the US services, but I hate how we are trying to turn the European internet into a freaking surveillance machine
Thanks, but no thanks. My privacy is more important than a social network. I’m very fine with Lemmy and Mastodon for the most part.
Funny how people give their data to uber and Lyft ,no problem or to ride e-scooters or whatever, but this is too much.
I think it’s a good idea. Less bots, more accountability (death threats), a place where (most) people are human.
i dont have an issue with proving i am me, i have an issue giving my ID copy to a private company. the EU needs a verification process first, than we can talk about those sites needing it.
From the article:
“Users must link a valid passport or identity card to their profile. In addition, a recent photo is required to prove that the person behind the screen actually exists”
Yeah. So supposing they are to be trusted, one leak of data and now those buying that info can now take loans and conduct other official business with it ?
We need an EU-wide identity check solution that prevents misuse of personal data. However, it is a very important step towards eliminating the hordes of Russian, Chinese, and other bots flooding social media and creating the illusion of support on various topics.
I understand the intention: No hiding, if you insult or misinform, it gets back to you. But I … don’t feel comfy with it and won’t become a member anyway.