Наталя Хандусенко Hot News 21 January 2026, 07:52

Europeans are going to launch an alternative to X. The new social network is called W

The EU is set to launch its own social media platform, W, amid rising tensions with the United States.

The new W platform will require identification and photo verification to ensure its users are human and who they say they are, CyberNews reports .

The initiative to create the W social media platform is supported by an advisory board and former ministers and business representatives, mainly from Sweden.

Anna Zeiter, CEO of W, said that W stands for “We.” Meanwhile, the first of the Vs that make up W stands for “Values,” and the second stands for “Verified.”

"The fact that W comes before X in the alphabet is certainly also a welcome coincidence," Zeiter said.

W data will be decentralized in Europe by European companies, and the platform will adhere to strict EU data protection laws.

"If political Brussels starts posting on W instead of X, we will have already achieved a lot," she added.

In her LinkedIn post dedicated to the launch of W, Zeiter emphasized that systemic disinformation undermines public trust and weakens democratic decision-making processes.

“We are convinced that there is an urgent need for a new social platform that would be created, managed and hosted in Europe. A platform that is based on identity verification, freedom of speech and data privacy,” she wrote.