Human User Verification to Counter Disinformation from Anonymous Accounts up to AI-Driven Bots

Users across the globe will soon have an alternative to the existing social media channels with the arrival of a new values-driven European company called W.

W wants to counter the current tidal wave of disinformation by requiring users to verify they are humans while helping citizens to better control what information they see and hear.

The new channel or platform will in February release a “beta” version that will allow a 1000 strong specially appointed group of expert users to test drive the platform and make recommendations for any improvements.

In the summer, W plans to announce media partners who will be working with the new channel followed by the release of the full public version towards end of the year.

The company is committed to house 100 per cent of user data in Europe on servers owned by European companies and are pledged to observe EU data protection laws.

Currently most Europeans’ social media data is held by tech firms in the USA and China which means it could be accessed, misused or abused.  Other plans under consideration by W include using Artificial Intelligence to rapidly check photos and text posts for veracity and truthfulness.  AI could also be deployed to cross-check the claims of a user—are they really a politician, a medical professional or an environmental expert or something else?

The logic being honest and human, even highly opinionated or politized, conversations in the social media space will work better for all concerned if people know the credentials and identity of those who make them.

Anna Zeiter, the incoming CEO of W, told a packed audience in central Davos that the name for the new social media company was not by chance and borrowed heavily from the mantra of quality, investigative journalism.

“The W stands for We, but also Who, What, When, Where, and Why. The logo also consists of two letter Vs—standing for Values and Verification,” she said.

Ms Zeiter, who will after more than 11 years be leaving her post as global Chief Privacy Officer and Vice President for Privacy, Data & AI at eBay at the end of the month, said the new social media platform is about “respecting privacy and freedom of speech”.

“We want to be different. We want to give back to the users, so that through the face verification process, they can govern their own data,” said Ms Zeiter, who started her career as a media, tech and privacy lawyer in Germany.

“They will also be able to govern their own algorithms by for example choosing to stay in their own filter bubble, choosing to see a little more what is going on in society or choosing to see the full spectrum of posts and conversations on W,” added the platform’s incoming CEO.

Albin Kurti, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosova, when asked about digital integrity and democracy

“The strength of democracy depends a lot on the truthfulness and quality of information. First, during election campaigns and then between elections”.  “However, nowadays we see that the sources of information and knowledge have been decentralized and are diverse, more than ever in human history”. “On one hand this is very good. Freedom of expression for individuals has enabled them to find ways to say what they think. But on the other hand, this has been abused for different disinformation and misinformation campaigns.

Sandrine Dixon-Decleve, former Chair of the Club of Rome and a strategic advisor to business and government leaders.

“We need to recognize how much the USA has invested in tech and in digital. Europe needs to understand we are heavily dependent on the USA, with 80 per cent of our data held there on servers or in the cloud”. “So, Europe needs its own version of a digital sovereign state, and we need to do it fast. Security is not just about the war in the Ukraine, it is about who owns the digital space now and going forward,” she added.

About W CEO Anna Zeiter
Anna Zeiter comes from the world of media, the world of tech, the world of business, and the world of academia.
Anna started her career as media, tech and privacy lawyer in Germany. She also wrote 20 years ago a PhD about free speech and hate speech in the fragmented society.  Afterwards she studied at Stanford University in California Law, Science and Technology.  For the last 11.5-years Anna has served as eBay’s global Chief Privacy Officer and Vice

In addition to her executive role at eBay, Anna serves as a board member of the global gaming company Modern Times Group, and she is an advisory board member of the leading global female health tracking app Flo. In her free time Anna is also a honorary professor for Data, Privacy and AI law at the University of Bern

*W is permanently structured to remain under European ownership and jurisdiction. The company cannot be sold to non-European including Russia entities and is designed to remain independent from foreign political or commercial control.