#widentity

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: https://aseachange.com/@elena/statuses/01M0SDV98GRDWQNFF9VHVT9J18 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.

In this toot: europe completely missing the point of what makes alt social media good #WSocial: "We want to promote European digital sovereignty. We're made in Europe, for the world!" @EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu: "A strong Europe needs independent digital spaces. Today, we’re expanding our presence to W." W Social: "You need to verify your identity. Please download our #WIdentity app from Apple's App Store or Google's Play Store" No further comment necessary. Check for yourselves (04:30): https://inv.nadeko.net/Vcq4MiabpEQ#BigTech #OpenWashing #EuropeWashing #SovereigntyWashing

Die W Identity-Lösung scheint aktuell auch nur ungenügend gesichert zu sein. #WSocial #WIdentity https://bsky.app/profile/palle.bsky.social/post/3moujb3gbyc2i

#WSocial: "We want to promote European digital sovereignty. We're made in Europe, for the world!" @EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu: "A strong Europe needs independent digital spaces. Today, we’re expanding our presence to W." W Social: "You need to verify your identity. Please download our #WIdentity app from Apple's App Store or Google's Play Store" No further comment necessary. Check for yourselves (04:30): https://inv.nadeko.net/Vcq4MiabpEQ#BigTech #OpenWashing #EuropeWashing #SovereigntyWashing

On Bluesky, @thisismissem@hachyderm.io does some digging and discovers that W Social and W Identity are basically the same people. So much for the line that "W Social doesn't know who you are because W Identity handles all the identity verification". https://bsky.app/profile/thisismissem.social/post/3mond5z5mmc2r #WSocial #WIdentity

How to create an account on #WSocial in 13 easy steps: choose a usernamechoose a passwordchoose your interestsdownload the #WIdentity app to your phone (two options: Apple AppStore or Google Play Store)scan a QR codecreate a PIN code optional: enable biometrics; re-enter PINchoose whether you simply want to verify that you're human or if you also want to verify your namechoose the verification method (automatic photo review, request a manual review or scan your passport chip)scan your passport's picture pagescan your passport's chiptake a selfiescan a QR code to link the W Identity to your W Social accountenter your PIN code Congratulations, you're verified*! (* for two years) Demonstration in all its simple glory here: 📺​: https://inv.nadeko.net/Vcq4MiabpEQ Please save this toot as reference if you ever hear somebody say that IT'S TOO COMPLICATED TO JOIN THE FEDIVERSE BECAUSE YOU NEED TO PICK A SERVER 🤡​ #SocialMedia