W sets June beta launch with Europe figures tracker
Mon, 11th May 2026 (Yesterday)
W has set 17 June for its public beta launch and is widening early access to public figures across Europe.
The expansion covers European leaders, policymakers and other public voices, alongside a new tracking tool on social media use by more than 10,000 decision-makers across the region.
W presents itself as a European platform centred on verified human users and information integrity. It says all users are verified as real people, while allowing anonymous participation and prioritising verified real-identity accounts.
The beta launch marks the platform's next stage after its earlier introduction during World Economic Forum week in Davos. It will begin in Brussels before a wider European rollout.
Tracking activity
A central part of the announcement is a dashboard called "Where is Europe talking?". The resource tracks the public social media activity of heads of state, government officials, politicians, EU representatives and other public decision-makers across European countries.
According to W, the tool maps where those public figures are active online and shows whether they are using W or other platforms. It is intended to show how dependent European public debate remains on long-established social networks based outside the region.
The launch comes amid renewed scrutiny of large social platforms in Europe. W pointed to the recent #WirVerlassenX movement in Germany, in which political parties said they were leaving X over concerns about disinformation and platform governance.
W says its service is governed in Europe and hosted on European infrastructure. It also says it operates in line with GDPR and deletes personal identity data after human verification, with that data then stored only locally on a user's device through a separate identity application.
The platform is built on the AT Protocol, which allows interoperability with other services using the same technical standard. W says this means users can interact with people on platforms including Bluesky and Eurosky, and that posts can move across services within that network.
According to the company, the wider AT Protocol network already reaches more than 40 million users globally. That gives W access to an existing open social web rather than requiring users to remain within its own application.
Advisory board
Its advisory board includes Elizabeth Denham, former UK Information Commissioner; Philipp Rösler, former German Vice Chancellor and Minister for Economics and Technology; Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider, German Federal Data Protection Commissioner; and Travis LeBlanc, partner at Cooley, member of the U.S. Civil Liberties Oversight Board and former FCC chief enforcer.
Other members include Thomas Süssli, former chief of the Swiss Armed Forces; Pär Nuder, former Swedish Minister for Finance; Kristina Persson, former Swedish Minister for Nordic Cooperation; Sandrine Dixson-Declève, honorary president of The Club of Rome; and Cristina Caffarra, chair of the EuroStack Initiative.
W also said OKTO, a branding and design studio and investor in the company, is contributing to the next phase of development. The firm, which has previously worked with Klarna, will work with W's product and technology teams on user experience and interaction design.
The company was founded by multiple founders, including Anna Zeiter and Hogir Aslan. Zeiter previously worked as a privacy officer at eBay and is a professor of data protection law at the University of Bern, while Aslan has worked at Publicis Groupe and DDB.
Zeiter said the launch reflects a wider debate about Europe's digital public space and who controls it.
"We believe Europe has a historic opportunity to help shape the next era of digital public infrastructure. Europe cannot rely entirely on non-European platforms for its democratic public conversation. That future must be developed together with media owners, institutions, creators, and citizens to strengthen trust, transparency, and democratic resilience across Europe," said Anna Zeiter, chief executive officer and co-founder of W.