European X alternative W is built on Bluesky infrastructure. Does that make it less sovereign?

The arrival of W Social, a European social media alternative to X, has been plagued with criticism over its identification method and reliance on American infrastructure.

Cybernews sits virtually with the company’s CEO, Anna Zeiter, to discuss concerns over data privacy and the platform’s sovereignty.

W Social looks to capitalize on the current European tech sovereignty movement, yet the platform is built on AT Protocol, developed by Bluesky Social PBC, an American company that owns the social media platform Bluesky.

This makes W Social interoperable with Bluesky and other AT protocol-based platforms, such as EuroSky, allowing users to see each other’s posts.

Zeiter explains that the AT protocol helps the company scale as quickly as possible by joining an existing pool of over 43 million users, whereas using its own proprietary infrastructure would have taken years.

“Europe needs an alternative right now, not only in 3 or 5 years. This is why we chose the best of both worlds,” she tells Cybernews.

Zeiter says that the company is building its own infrastructure on the AT protocol. For instance, its personal data server (PDS) is hosted by a European provider. Internally, the company uses Proton from Switzerland for mail and calendar.

“We try to be as independent as possible, and use predominantly European infrastructure,” she explains.

Europe needs an alternative right now, not only in 3 or 5 years. This is why we chose the best of both worlds.

Anna Zeiter

Interoperability also raises questions about W Social’s major promise of keeping the network free of bots, because Bluesky doesn’t require stringent verification methods involving ID and biometric data.

Zeiter explains that W Social has a special feed for verified users only, and those who want to see more content from outside users can join the shared feed. Whether stronger protections will be imposed in the future depends on the users’ wishes.

There is little data on bot activity on Bluesky. A 2025 preprint study suggests that some accounts displayed bot-like behavior in the early days of the public launch, but Bluesky’s moderation efforts successfully flagged them as spam or suspended them.

Is all W Social data hosted in Europe?

As many as 84% of Europeans don't trust American tech companies to handle their personal data responsibly. Given that W Social is partly reliant on a US company’s architecture, does it live up to its “hosted in Europe” claims?

Cybernews analysis suggests that Bluesky hosts a search server, a feed generation service, a content delivery network, and network indexing.

According to Aras Nazarovas, an information security researcher at Cybernews, the “hosted in Europe” claims are valid only regarding account information. Post and user-generated content can be synced and hosted outside of the EU.

“This means that W Social won’t have the full control of this data, meaning that even if the user requests its account and related data to be deleted, it may still stay in the BlueSky infrastructure,” Nazarovas says.

Zeiter says W Social keeps email and the user handle information in Europe, and is building an App View Server, so the data will stay on European servers.

“Because everything is public, users need to understand that whatever they post on W will be automatically seen in the entire AT protocol,” she explains.

You don’t need your passport to be on W Social

The biggest controversy over W Social stems from its verification method, which requires users to upload their passport or biometric data, such as a selfie, to a companion app, W Identity.

W Social has previously addressed the concerns, stating that, due to the decentralized nature of the W Identity app, data is stored directly on the user's device.

In addition, documents from W’s servers are deleted “immediately after the verification process is completed.”

In an interview with Cybernews, Zeiter reiterated that W Social doesn’t store any passport information. It “would be explosive” for a company to sit on such a database, she added.

Instead, the company created the technology to verify that the user is human and over 18, which Zeiter compares to an entry check at a nightclub or buying alcohol at a shop.

“We don't store the information – we just use it as a check. Users then can decide if they want to join with their real name,” she says.

However, Cybernews researcher Arnoldas Radišauskas warns that uploading a passport or biometric data “turns a simple signup into a permanent identity record, and unlike a password, you can’t reset your face or your passport number.”

We don't store the information – we just use it as a check. Users then can decide if they want to join with their real name.

Anna Zeiter

Data stored internally, according to Zeiter, is encrypted and hashed, meaning it is turned into a unique digital footprint that cannot be re-engineered – at least with existing technological capabilities.

Most importantly, Zeiter says, people can choose to join W Social anonymously, giving the platform only their email address and their chosen user handle, which has proved useful for people joining from dictatorships.

Non-verified users’ activity, however, is limited to reading and liking posts, and their counts aren’t counted by the algorithm. They cannot participate in the public opinion building to prevent the ‘floodgate of bots,” she explains.

Competition with the richest man in the world

W Social has also attracted criticism over being a for-profit company, unlike EuroSky, which is run by the Netherlands-based non-profit the Modal Foundation.

Zeiter says going for profit was a conscious choice because building a competitive platform in Europe is only possible with private money.

She tells Cybernews, “We are competing mainly with X, the company owned by the richest man in the world. We feel that we can only try to compete with it if we have significant investments, and we cannot do it just with public grants or donations.”