A new homegrown social media platform on the continent that leads in censorship innovation should be greeted with skepticism from a free speech perspective.
It is sad because as a European Europe used to be one of the best places to live. Now that it's going communist I think the US might be the last place where freedom and peace can be found.
I am not so sure that we should talk about Europe as if it is one place. Certainly, the situation is dire in the UK and Germany, but I find the speech climate to be better in France in many ways than in the United States. For example, one can still walk into any corner store or bookstore and pick up a copy of Charlie Hebdo. The diversity, including viewpoint diversity, displayed on newsracks in France is also impressive . Public broadcasting and debate is also far better. Sadly, they do have hate speech laws, but it has not yet prevented an awful lot of speech that would get an American cancelled.
Germany is terrible, but there seems to be a uniquely Anglophone version of speech suppression anywhere that English is dominant or where the British Empire ruled. In my view, there is no freedom of expression in Canada, the UK, or Australia. I suspect that the same holds true in New Zealand.
I should add that in Québec a strong current against Anglophone political correctness does exist.
That said, we are blessed with the First Amendment and with FIRE, even though I must use a VPN to navigate the rules. I detest how I get messages without it that say « cette émission n’est pas autorisée dans votre région. »
Well...as an aspiring tyrannical dictator I like this idea.
Lebo Von Lo~Debar
Former/Always 82nd Airborne Infantryman, Disabled Veteran for Life, & Author of the book, "The Separation of Corporation and State" subtitled "Common Sense and the Two-Party Crisis" Available on Amazon.
Oh man, that 'transfer of authority' bit is so spot on. W's whole vibe ('Trust Your Feed,' photo ID mandatory, Davos rollout, climate NGO behind it) screams elite capture from a mile away.
Thing is, i think this misses how this backfires hard. EU's W doesn't even compete with X, I think it ends up justifying it. Every forced ID check, every 'Values' filter? That's fuel for that 1% of super-sharers (Altay's number) to bail straight to anon spots like Telegram, hollering 'see? They rigged the clean room!'
Disinfo doesn't just vanish; it twists into 'the verified feed's the real lie' stories.
Look at the pattern of other platforms that tried to break free from X. I do feel that popularity shows what sticks. Truth Social? Niche MAGA silo, maybe 6M diehards. Bluesky tried verification badges and age checks in places like the UK, hit 40M once but politicians bomb there, user gripes everywhere. W's gonna quietly flop the same way.
It's like propping up a client platform in some proxy war: makes the insurgency look legit by playing the perfect villain but it ends up locking people into their silos by choice.
Is this a Disinfo fix? Nah, I dont think so. And in a way, I hope I am wrong.
I really wouldn’t worry about this. With the exception of Spotify we Europeans have not produced a single tech app that has gained any meaningful traction. Someone may well be touting the idea of a kinder, nicer, European, alternative to X. But be highly sceptical about its chances of being realised.
Or is W going to be the next iteration of Mastodon, Bluesky, and Threads?
Remember, you could add up the market cap of all EU companies founded over the last half century, and it would be less than the market cap of just one American company.
If it is treated as a competitor to X that is EU approved I think the likelihood that the EU will try to push people to it and then also start eliminating other options it could be artificially successful through state pressure
It is sad because as a European Europe used to be one of the best places to live. Now that it's going communist I think the US might be the last place where freedom and peace can be found.
Freedom of expression—as defined by the individual doing the expressing—is dead in Europe. This is just a gussied up casket to prove it.
Great stuff, as usual.
I am not so sure that we should talk about Europe as if it is one place. Certainly, the situation is dire in the UK and Germany, but I find the speech climate to be better in France in many ways than in the United States. For example, one can still walk into any corner store or bookstore and pick up a copy of Charlie Hebdo. The diversity, including viewpoint diversity, displayed on newsracks in France is also impressive . Public broadcasting and debate is also far better. Sadly, they do have hate speech laws, but it has not yet prevented an awful lot of speech that would get an American cancelled.
Germany is terrible, but there seems to be a uniquely Anglophone version of speech suppression anywhere that English is dominant or where the British Empire ruled. In my view, there is no freedom of expression in Canada, the UK, or Australia. I suspect that the same holds true in New Zealand.
I should add that in Québec a strong current against Anglophone political correctness does exist.
That said, we are blessed with the First Amendment and with FIRE, even though I must use a VPN to navigate the rules. I detest how I get messages without it that say « cette émission n’est pas autorisée dans votre région. »
"Anyone who promises to save you from disinformation is asking you to give them the power to decide what’s true."
Why can't everyone see this?
Mussilini would approve
Fine with me. I'd rather not have the Eurocucks waving their teeny 'peans around social media anyway
Well...as an aspiring tyrannical dictator I like this idea.
Lebo Von Lo~Debar
Former/Always 82nd Airborne Infantryman, Disabled Veteran for Life, & Author of the book, "The Separation of Corporation and State" subtitled "Common Sense and the Two-Party Crisis" Available on Amazon.
https://a.co/d/fy5rSdW
Oh man, that 'transfer of authority' bit is so spot on. W's whole vibe ('Trust Your Feed,' photo ID mandatory, Davos rollout, climate NGO behind it) screams elite capture from a mile away.
Thing is, i think this misses how this backfires hard. EU's W doesn't even compete with X, I think it ends up justifying it. Every forced ID check, every 'Values' filter? That's fuel for that 1% of super-sharers (Altay's number) to bail straight to anon spots like Telegram, hollering 'see? They rigged the clean room!'
Disinfo doesn't just vanish; it twists into 'the verified feed's the real lie' stories.
Look at the pattern of other platforms that tried to break free from X. I do feel that popularity shows what sticks. Truth Social? Niche MAGA silo, maybe 6M diehards. Bluesky tried verification badges and age checks in places like the UK, hit 40M once but politicians bomb there, user gripes everywhere. W's gonna quietly flop the same way.
It's like propping up a client platform in some proxy war: makes the insurgency look legit by playing the perfect villain but it ends up locking people into their silos by choice.
Is this a Disinfo fix? Nah, I dont think so. And in a way, I hope I am wrong.
I really wouldn’t worry about this. With the exception of Spotify we Europeans have not produced a single tech app that has gained any meaningful traction. Someone may well be touting the idea of a kinder, nicer, European, alternative to X. But be highly sceptical about its chances of being realised.
Or is W going to be the next iteration of Mastodon, Bluesky, and Threads?
Remember, you could add up the market cap of all EU companies founded over the last half century, and it would be less than the market cap of just one American company.
Microsoft? Tesla? Apple? Alphabet?
Nope. Home Depot.
If it is treated as a competitor to X that is EU approved I think the likelihood that the EU will try to push people to it and then also start eliminating other options it could be artificially successful through state pressure
"W" sounds excellent. This article is propaganda for "X". There is certainly no freedom of syin America now.