Dear friends, Please gather around for a long post about #WSocial and how they are responding to critiques. I have noticed a trend: W Social leaders and staunch supporters are describing any critical posts about the company as "targeted disinformation." Its CEO said they will soon have a technical solution in place for this. Oh?!? 🔗: https://mu.social/profile/anna.wsocial.eu/post/3mtqufy6g4s2r I suppose the "targeted disinformation" claims are about recent posts by the likes of me and @pallenberg@mastodon.social about troubling hate speech that is allowed on W Social. Claims backed by hard evidence, in the form of screenshots and video captures. (I am increasingly doing screen recordings of problematic posts and interactions by W Social people because they have a tendency to delete evidence - like an infamous comment on a video by the Instutute for Remigration). ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ Discrediting sources, renaming evidence as "disinformation" and creating a victim narrative has a long, storied history. ⬆️ ⬆️ ⬆️ But I'm digressing. I speak up about W Social because: Mainstream media runs PR fluff about them; Horrid hate speech on the platform is completely unmoderated. W Social is currently showing the limits of free speech absolutism. Its CEO wrote: "We don’t need W to become another echo chamber." Reminds you of something? Atmosphere user @echna.bsky.social astutely remarked that "W Social is on an X speedrun, without ever having been like Twitter." 🔗: https://mu.social/profile/echna.bsky.social/post/3mtqlknzork2t Bluesky, #Blacksky, and #Northsky have mechanisms in place to report hate speech - and I am super thankful for that. As of today, I cannot report to W Social posts by their users that contain hate speech. The W Social moderation list's only purpose is to make a distinction between verified users and bots. Compare it with Blacksky's moderation list and be amazed (see screenshots). What's the big deal about the lack of content moderation on #WSocial? Well, I am haunted by some posts by their users. A repeat offender (routinely posting racist and xenophobic posts) recently commented "Awesome news" to a newspaper article about a Palestinian family drowning in Sussex. His profile is still up and he's followed by W Social's CEO and its co-founder Ingmar Renzhog (yes I have evidence of this, via a video capture - so even if they unfollow him or delete his account, well, I have proof of my claim). I agree with "Echna" that W Social is on an X speedrun, allowing racist, transphobic and xenophobic posts. Evidence: 🔗: https://mu.social/profile/elenarossini.com/post/3mth3hwhvzs26 Instead of addressing these critiques head-on - and moderating hate speech - the W Social co-founders are lamenting being subjected to a "targeted disinformation" campaign. Oh ok? IMHO free speech absolutism ultimately only coddles far right extremists and is a very dangerous thing. Would you call this disinformation? Special thanks to my #GoToSocial account for allowing this message all in one go, without having to break it up in a hundred-post thread. TL;DR: W Social is taking a dark turn real fast. #SocialMedia