EU-Based Social Media Company Announces Plans To Compete Against X

A former eBay executive announced Monday she will serve as CEO of a new social media site based in the European Union (EU).

W, which will require photo verification of users, was publicly announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, with former eBay Vice President of Privacy, AI and Data Responsibility Anna Zeiter taking the helm, according to CyberNews.com. In a Monday post on LinkedIn, Zeiter claimed the new platform is needed to counter “systemic disinformation.”

“Across Europe and beyond, systemic disinformation is eroding public trust and weakening democratic decision-making. Many see the problem. Far fewer are helping shape what comes next,” Zeiter said.

“We believe there is an urgent need for a new social media platform built, governed and hosted in Europe. With human verification, free speech and data privacy at its core,” Zeiter said.

The EU fined X $140 million over its content moderation policies in December, the latest in a series of clashes between the site, owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and the EU. The EU also issued massive fines of $566 million and $226 million against Apple and Meta, respectively, in April.

W will have an advisory board and former ministers and business representatives, primarily from Sweden. Staff behind the new social media site say it will also adhere to provisions of the EU’s tech regulation laws, like the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act, which have come under fire from the Trump administration, Cybernews.com reported. Previous competitors to X, formerly known as Twitter, like BlueSky and Mastodon, which sought to appeal to left-leaning people, have not been able to challenge X.