Does Europe need its own social media platforms? The answer is a resounding yes. In a world where almost all our communication – from quick texts to deep discussions – happens on platforms owned by giants outside Europe, one big question looms: why? Why are we still “renting” our digital lives on platforms that often don’t respect our privacy or align with Europe’s core values?

Now, don’t get us wrong. This isn’t about competing with American platforms or “beating” them. It’s not a race for dominance. It’s about something bigger: having a choice. A choice to use platforms that respect European privacy laws (yes, GDPR!) and are designed to genuinely serve people, not algorithms. Imagine a platform that doesn’t shove random, algorithm-driven content down your throat while ensuring your data remains protected.

Sounds amazing, right? Well, there’s a catch – building such platforms isn’t exactly a walk in the park. Why? First, you need expert teams who know how to create something truly innovative. Sure, anyone can slap together a chat app, but real moderation – multilingual, values-based, and effective – is a massive challenge. Second, the infrastructure. Hosting the apps and all their data isn’t cheap, especially when we want to store it here, in Europe.

We get it, which is why at the Association, we’re taking small but meaningful steps. As our first project, we’re working on integrating our own solutions based on fediverse, like a slightly modified Mastodon (which we tentatively call “Mastodon Next”). It’s a good starting point – a decentralized social network built with privacy and independence in mind. But it’s only the beginning. We have been steadfast in our efforts to contact European developers hoping to establish international cooperation on something great. We know the size of the task ahead, but we believe we can make a difference.

Europe has the talent, the infrastructure, and the passionate people. It’s time to stop “renting” our digital spaces and start building our own. We’d love for you to be part of that journey.