Europe Starts Its Own Social Networks

If you're among the group of people who are more than a little upset about the South African billionaire's plans to buy out the social network, you might consider Mastodon. The European Data Protection Supervisor announced this week that it would publicly pilot its own Mastodon server, dubbed EU Voice, as a way for European institutions and agencies to talk to regular folks.

EU Video is based on the open-source platform PeerTube and is being tested by the EDPS.

These platforms are part of a collection of free-to-use, open source alternatives to modern social platforms. On top of the platforms the EU has already jumped on, there are services like Pixelfed, which is basically the fediverse-Instagram.

It wouldn't be a shock if the EDPS made the plunge into those platforms. European officials have been fighting with U.S. tech companies for the past decade, and local lawmakers continue to scrutinize these companies for their privacy practices.

The pilot launch of EU Voice and EU Video is intended to offer alternative social media platforms that prioritize individuals and their rights to privacy and data protection.