Europe wants to build its own social media, and the thread coined a word for the plan: openwashing
A manifesto signed by 67 organizations proposes a European, open-protocol answer to US-controlled platforms. The sharpest replies argued the continent is reaching for openness as a sovereignty tool, not a user-freedom one, and that the answer is less social media, not a clone.
european.social pledges eight principles across Matrix, the Fediverse and the AT Protocol, plus a 'Eurobridge' and identity tied to the EU Digital ID Wallet. 445 individuals and 67 orgs signed.
An engineer's warning: don't plan a Neuschwanstein castle by committee — build a wooden cabin and expand. Gaia-X is the cautionary tale.
What the declaration actually proposes
european.social is a signed declaration — 67 organizations, 445 individuals — for a decentralized, European-governed alternative to US-controlled social media. It rests on three open-protocol layers: private messaging (Matrix, XMPP), the Fediverse (ActivityPub, Mastodon, PeerTube), and the AT Protocol "Atmosphere." It commits to eight principles including digital autonomy, European tech independence, and democracy-strengthening foreign-manipulation monitoring, and sets joint goals like a "Eurobridge" linking the Fediverse to the AT Protocol world and identity systems compatible with the EU Digital ID Wallet.
"Openwashing"
The most quotable reversal argued that open protocols are being conscripted for a purpose they weren't built for:
"Time to coin a new term, I think: 'openwashing'. Europe is adopting open source and open protocols, not to promote individual sovereignty, but explicitly to protect European sovereignty from foreign influence… signal openness while simultaneously standing up a new walled garden" — a commenter who builds on decentralized stacks
A second engineer doubted the whole "build our own platform" instinct and pointed at Europe's track record of committee-designed infrastructure:
"trying to recreate Social Media, just in a European way, is the worst possible way to go. We need less Social Media, not an inferior clone… Don't plan to build Neuschwanstein—start to build a humble wooden cabin, and expand from there." — a head of engineering
A more interesting target than a new app
The strongest constructive note moved past platforms to the actual disease — engagement-maximizing ranking — and proposed Europe do the one thing it's good at:
"Engagement metrics fed into recommendations algorithms are the paperclip maximizers that feed humanity's collective poison. Europe should do the one thing it knows how to do: regulate… against silent signals like watch time and comment count." — a commenter reframing the problem as ranking, not ownership
A security engineer added the cold practical note that the protocol shortlist isn't free of pain either:
"Nothing about matrix or xmpp is 'ideal'. This person knows nothing about how notifications work on iOS." — Jeffrey Paul, security engineer
The cabin versus the castle
The declaration's instinct — that Europe shouldn't depend on American platforms — is widely shared in the thread. The disagreement is about the move. Building a sovereign clone of TikTok across three protocols, federated into a Digital ID wallet, is a Neuschwanstein. Regulating the engagement signals that make feeds toxic is a cabin you could actually finish. The thread's bet is that the cabin would do more for European users than the castle ever will — and that calling the castle "open" doesn't make it theirs.
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