W Social AB’s design will focus on verified identity and trust.

A new European social media platform called W will be launched in March or April in beta version by a privately owned startup, positioning itself as an alternative to U.S.-based platforms such as X or Facebook amid ongoing debates in Europe over disinformation and digital sovereignty. 

The platform is being designed by W Social AB, a company incorporated in Sweden, and is led by Anna Zeiter, a Swiss privacy and data protection specialist. Zeiter had previously worked for more than a decade at U.S. e-commerce company eBay, where she was responsible for data protection and artificial intelligence policy.

Identity verification and platform design

According to the Danish newspaper Politiken, which interviewed the developers, W requires users to verify their identity, including submitting a photo, in an effort to reduce anonymous bot accounts, impersonation and coordinated manipulation. Unlike X, the platform does not allow fully anonymous profiles. 

Anna Zeiter.

Credit: Politiken

Zeiter has said the platform is intended to promote human interaction and reduce the spread of systemic disinformation, which she argues has undermined public trust on existing social networks.

W is legally structured as a subsidiary of We Don’t Have Time, a Sweden-based climate-focused media company, which owns a 25% stake. The platform is developed by teams based across Europe, with offices planned in Berlin and Paris.

No E.U. funding or ownership

Following the platform’s launch, claims circulated online suggesting that W is an E.U.-backed project, funded by taxpayers and designed to impose European Union control over online speech.

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Those claims have been denied by both the company and E.U. officials. A spokesperson for the European Commission told The Cube, Euronews’ fact-checking service, that the E.U. has not been involved in W’s design, funding, or operation. 

Zeiter said the project is a fully private initiative funded mainly by investors from the Nordic region.

European infrastructure

W describes itself as a European platform based on where it is incorporated, where its infrastructure is hosted, and who is permitted to invest. The company says it plans to host user data on European servers owned by European companies, and to limit investment to European investors.

The platform plans to rely on services such as Proton, a Swiss-based encrypted email provider, and UpCloud, a Finnish cloud computing company.

The building of W comes amid criticism that X has intensified in Europe. In recent months, dozens of European Parliament members have called for stronger enforcement of E.U. digital rules and for the development of European alternatives to major U.S. platforms.