The social social network

wedium is a European social media platform, designed as a genuine alternative to the major providers. All active users are verified, real people – bots are not allowed. In this way, we give creators, media organisations and NGOs back the stage and offer them fair remuneration opportunities.

We are based in Berlin and uphold European values on data protection and privacy.

In short: Because of January 20, 2025.

The image of Trump’s inauguration, where he had the entire tech elite gathered behind him and Elon Musk raised his right arm, wouldn’t leave us alone—and wouldn’t let us rest. With the tech bros in the front row, it became clear that TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Amazon, X, and the like are no longer neutral tech companies, but rather monopolies supported by the new President of the United States.

And somehow, while everyone was talking about how Europe needed an independent and safe social network, especially for adolescents, no one seemed to be doing anything. To escape that feeling of helplessness, we had to take action.

Since the inauguration, new horror stories have been pouring in from the U.S. every day, and the need for digital sovereignty in Europe seems more urgent than ever. The momentum is there, and we want to seize it.

The truth is also that right now, no one is really happy with social media.

First and foremost, children and teenagers, who spend an average of four hours a day on “social” networks. According to a study by Ruhr University Bochum, one in two young people in Germany shows symptoms of social media addiction. This is no coincidence or oversight, but part of Big Tech’s business model. Through addictive and toxic algorithms, autoplay, and infinite scrolling, young people are systematically overwhelmed – and the consequences, such as depression, anxiety, and sleep or eating disorders, are simply accepted.

Parents are just as overwhelmed and can hardly protect their children due to a lack of transparency on these platforms. Most are not even able to navigate social media’s “dark patterns” themselves and are also heavy social media users.

Social media is also far from being merely a source of inspiration and entertainment. Increasingly, social media platforms are public spaces where people—many exclusively—get their information, where topics are discussed, agendas are set, and political opinion is formed. This space must be curated, and discourse must follow established rules to protect our democracy. With a healthy, balanced algorithm, we want to help ensure that the voice of the center is heard again. We also want to help democratic media regain visibility and offer monetization opportunities.

Well, we’ve certainly set our sights high. But as the saying goes: There is nothing good unless you do it.

Three things:

1. Everyone is a verified real person, so no bots or fake accounts.

2. Your data and privacy come first, and we are built and hosted in Europe to GDPR standards, outside the reach of the US CLOUD Act.

3. Fair remuneration for creators, media organisations and NGOs: 50% of advertising revenue is paid out to all content producers.

Because Europe and democracy are very important to us, we spare no expense and, above all, no effort to create wedium—a thoroughly European product that is not subject to the U.S. CLOUD Act in any way.

DNS Server: Bunny.net (Slovenia)
Server: Hetzner (Germany)
Verification: WebID (Germany)
Email server: Mittwald (Germany)
Email provider: Rapidmail (Germany)

Not only is our platform hosted in Europe, but the underlying code is also purely European and tailor-made by our team led by our CTO and full-stack developer Andreas Hacker (yes, that’s his real name). So we don’t rely on the AT protocol; instead, we have 100% European and self-sufficient code.

We. Because we are intrinsically motivated and not just another young startup looking for a quick exit or a quick buck. As parents, we founders want greater safety for our children in the digital space. As advocates for democracy, we want to work toward restoring a balanced political discourse on social media. As politically engaged individuals, we want to actively shape our future.

We realize that promises alone aren’t enough (Google once advertised with the slogan “Don’t be evil”; where did that go, anyway?). We want to secure our purpose and our goals even beyond a potential exit, e.g., with a golden share model, in which shares are transferred to a foundation that, through its ownership stake, receives a veto right and ensures that the impact is preserved.

At first, anyone can sign up on the platform with their email address and view content. But anyone who wants to interact—that is, post, or comment—must verify their identity. This makes sense because it allows us to prevent bots from influencing the platform, curb fake accounts, and ensure significantly greater safety and respectful interaction among users. Anyone who spreads fake news, hate speech, or other destructive content, harasses others, or sends unwanted messages can be blocked and, if necessary, reported to the authorities.

The mandatory verification for all active users sets us apart from all other social networks and makes wedium a significantly safer place where netiquette can actually be enforced. And it’s not that unusual, really: in the real world, adults are always required to carry their ID with them.

The verification process is strictly GDPR-compliant. For verification, we have entered into a contract with the German company WebID, which securely hosts personal data on a European server in accordance with the highest data protection standards. WebID is not compelled to disclose data under the US CLOUD Act.

If you have further questions, please visit the website of our verification provider and read the full details in our Privacy Policy: https://wedium.social/privacy/

Looking ahead, we plan to use advertising revenue to monetize creators, host our platform in Europe, improve existing features, and develop new ones. We also generate revenue through the freemium model. Users who want to enjoy the platform without ads pay a monthly fee of €8.99.

To truly compete with the major American and Chinese platforms, wedium must be attractive to creators and influencers. Only through monetization can we take creators, influencers, users, customers, and businesses away from Big Tech on a large scale.

We also know quite a bit about advertising. Four of our founders work at a communications agency with “good clients,” including the State of Berlin, Diakonie, Caritas, and AWO, which are committed to social cohesion, the common good, child protection, environmental protection, and more, and want to recruit suitable employees, spread their message, and network online. At some point, we didn’t even know which platform to recommend to them anymore. None seemed to align with their own mission.

Now we know what to advise: Run your ads on wedium.

On wedium, anyone can be a creator and earn money—even starting with their very first post. To make this possible, we’ll be sharing half of our advertising revenue with you in the future.

We offer this deal on equal terms not only to creators, but also to media companies and NGOs, because we want to support well-researched and well-produced content and help reputable news sources regain greater visibility.

Payments are made according to a transparent process. We’ve developed a points system for this: As a creator, you can start earning points—called wedium points—from your very first like. The value of these points is determined at the end of a specific period—the value of the wedium points varies depending on how high the advertising revenue was.

No. We deliberately chose not to use an open-source solution, especially after Trump used Mastodon’s code for Truth Social. The Fediverse also offers no way to monetize, which makes it unattractive to media, brands, and creators, and hard to scale.

We want a platform that can stand up to Big Tech, and that means being attractive to a wide range of people.

We have two feeds. The “For we” page shows posts from friends and people you follow, plus things they engage with, to build community and connection. The “For me” page shows content that might interest you. You set your preferences, and only you can change them.

It’s important to us that our algorithms are clearly distinct from the addictive and toxic algorithms of mainstream platforms. Although our algorithms are interest-based, they are ‘healthy’. They neither promote extremes nor distort the discourse.

To create such a healthy algorithm – which is an ongoing task – we seek advice from our Advisory Board and Ethics Council, which includes, amongst others, media experts and a youth protection expert.

Bots already account for over 50% of conversations on standard social media platforms. Bots don’t have an ID, so we can identify them right at the entrance. This means they can view content but cannot interact. This is how we encourage conversation between real people.

We’ve defined clear rules for haters and trolls in our netiquette guidelines. From there, we proceed in clear steps:

• Warning or friendly reminder
  Caution
• Temporary restriction
• Temporary suspension
• Permanent suspension for serious or repeated violations

Unlike all other platforms where an email address is sufficient for registration, these troublemakers cannot log in again.

Starting July 31, 2026, wedium will be officially available in various app stores. Download the app and create an account.

Confirm through our ID verification that you are a real person—once verified, you can start creating your own posts and commenting on others’.

If you are still a minor and at least 13 years old, you can only be registered by a parent or legal guardian using their ID or linked to their account. At the same time, you will only be shown age-appropriate content.

Minors aged 13 and older will not be able to use the platform until the end of August 2026—as part of a closed beta for our so-called Safe Accounts.

Interested users can sign up for this test phase on our website: https://wedium.social/safe-account/

Shortly after our official launch, we will begin the testing phase for our Safe Accounts at the end of August 2026.

Under the guidance of psychologist and child and youth protection expert Julia von Weiler, we aim to incorporate “Safety by Design” from the very beginning.

In preparation, we conducted an online survey with parents, guardians, and teens aged 13 to 17 to identify their needs and strike a balance between safety and autonomy. The insights gained from this survey form the basis for the test phase’s design.

wedium aims not only to create a safer and healthier space for young people aged 13 and older, but also to take on the responsibility that the operators of major American and Chinese platforms are failing to fulfill: by offering a social media app without addictive and toxic algorithms—instead featuring essential safety settings that are enabled by default and ensuring the greatest possible transparency.

No, you can use a nickname. For underage users and people who, for example, live in dictatorships or for other reasons must remain untraceable and need to protect themselves, we strongly recommend keeping your real name private.

Tap the big + button at the bottom center, add your text, photo, or video, and share. Carousel posts are also possible.

When posting, there is a required step where you are asked whether the content is AI-generated or AI-assisted. If so, label it, and it will be marked with a visible AI label. AI content is welcome on wedium, provided it is labelled.

Publishing AI content without a label breaches the terms and conditions you agreed to when you registered and may result in your post being removed. Repeated breaches may lead to your account being suspended or banned.

On the right hand side of the post, tap the report option (looks like a flag), and choose a reason: Spam, Unlabelled AI, Harassment, Hate speech, Explicit content, or Violence. Feel free to add context in the “Description” box at the bottom. Reports go to our moderation team for a human review.

We want to hear about it! Go to Profile => top right => “Feedback” (or email us at feedback@wedium.social). Tell us what you were doing, what went wrong, and your device and app version if you can! Screenshots help a lot.

wedium is still growing and we love hearing your feedback! You can share ideas and issues by going to Profile => top right => “Feedback” (or email us at feedback@wedium.social).

In the community guidelines, which all users agree to upon registration, we explain that moderation is not meant to be a tool of power, but rather a way of shaping the community. This platform thrives on us treating one another as human beings. And certain rules are simply essential for a healthy community.

Our moderation team acts in a transparent and proportionate manner.

The possible steps are explained in our netiquette:

• Warning or friendly reminder
  Caution
• Temporary restriction
• Temporary suspension
• Permanent suspension for serious or repeated violations

If necessary, there is an opportunity for clarification or appeal.

In addition, we plan to integrate a GDPR-compliant (and, of course, European) AI that can pre-filter content and detect harmful material. When the time comes, we will transparently explain how this AI works.

We are convinced that machines cannot replace humans in a field as sensitive as communication. And we don’t want them to. After all, wedium is meant to be a space for genuine human interaction.

Our community guidelines are a short, plain set of rules about what is and is not allowed, which all members agree to when they sign up. You can read them any time on our website: https://wedium.social/community-guidelines/

The main things we act on are spam, unlabelled AI content, harassment, hate speech, explicit sexual content, and violence. On nudity, European norms apply: non-sexual nudity is allowed, but sexual content and pornography are not. Special rules apply to sexual education content.

If we remove a post, you get a notice that names the exact rule it broke, quotes the relevant guideline, and tells you what to change. Every removal notice includes a link to the full guideline and an appeal button.

If your account is restricted or banned, you get one clear notice, in the app and by email, that states the reason, the rule involved, how long it lasts, and the date your access returns. We do not use vague language.

We follow proportionate steps:

• a warning or friendly reminder,
• then a temporary restriction,
• then a temporary suspension,
• and a permanent suspension for serious or repeated violations.

Most enforcement traces back to the same handful of issues: spam, posting AI content without labelling it, harassment, and hate speech. Explicit content and violence are less common but are treated more seriously. Repeating a violation after a warning is the fastest way to move from a warning to a ban.

Every removal and ban notice carries an Appeal link. Your appeal is reviewed by a different person than the one who made the original call, and we aim to respond within about two days.