Fact check: Is the EU launching a social media platform called ‘W’?

Claims are spreading online that the European Union is building its own social media platform to replace X, with posts alleging that a new network called “W” will be funded by taxpayers and run as a censorship tool.

Posts, shared widely on X, claim the project is backed by Brussels, financed by taxpayers’ money and designed to impose EU oversight on online speech.

One post, viewed more than 60,000 times, claims that “500 million of our tax money will be spent on a censorship system in which everything is checked, corrected and eliminated”.

Another, with more than 570,000 views, claims that the European Union “is releasing W”.

But a spokesperson for the European Commission told The Cube, Euronews’ fact-checking team, that the EU is not launching or funding any social media platform, and that there is currently no EU-backed project called “W”.

So, what is ‘W’ and how is it funded?

According to its CEO, Anna Zeiter, W is a privately owned social media start-up incorporated in Sweden, backed by private investors mainly from the Nordic region.

Contrary to online claims, the company, which launched its project at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, is not currently using any public funds nor is it backed by the European executive.

One of W’s largest shareholders is Sweden-based climate media company We Don’t Have Time, which owns a 25% stake in W.

We Don’t Have Time told The Cube it received European Commission funding last year for “communication work” carried out for the Global Covenant of Mayors and the Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy, DG Energy, related to the COP30 climate conference.

None of the funding is related to W, which Zeiter confirmed is funded by private investors and functions as a separate company incorporated in Sweden.

European oversight?

Zeiter told The Cube that the company identifies itself as “European” because of where it is incorporated, where its infrastructure is hosted, and who is allowed to invest in it.

W plans to host its data on “European servers owned by European companies” and limits its investors to Europeans.

It says it plans to use Proton, an encrypted email provider headquartered in Switzerland, and UpCloud, a cloud computing platform based in Finland.

This is in contrast to other platforms such as X and Meta. Both social media giants operate globally with infrastructure in multiple locations in the US, Europe and Asia.

According to X, it holds operations in the US and Ireland. The company says user data “may be transferred to and stored in the United States, Ireland, and other countries where we operate, including through our offices, partners, and service providers”.

Other online claims about W suggest that the EU oversees W’s content or directly censors posts, but these are also misleading.

Based on the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), large online platforms operating in the EU are required to mitigate systemic risks and remove illegal content, among other obligations.

The legislation requires platforms to take action against illegal content and be transparent about moderation, but it does not give the European Commission power to control or directly moderate posts.

Additionally, it applies to all major platforms in Europe, including X and Meta, meaning W would not be subject to specific oversight that doesn’t apply to other social media platforms.

According to Zeiter, part of W’s mission is to have “more human interaction and fewer bots” in order to counter disinformation and manipulation campaigns that have been identified as spreading on other platforms.

One of its features to combat the rise of anonymous bot profiles is a focus on identity verification. Zeiter, who previously oversaw data protection and artificial intelligence policy at eBay, told The Cube that W aims to carry this out through third-party platforms without storing user data at W itself.

EU pushes for tech sovereignty

Although W is not officially backed by the European Union, the EU is pushing for “tech sovereignty”, meaning less dependence on foreign suppliers of key technologies.

In January, the European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution calling for stronger European cloud computing, semiconductor production and European AI infrastructure.

Separately, a group of 54 MEPs urged the Commission to consider supporting European alternatives to US platforms. The letter called for stronger backing of European innovation in the social media industry, but did not call for the EU to create a social media platform itself.

Additionally, the letter has no legal force and hasn’t resulted in the Commission creating any project.