European privacy supervisor starts pilot with own social networks

The European Data Protection Supervisor is starting a pilot with two of its own social networks. The two platforms, EU Voice and EU Video, allow EU institutions, among other things, to share messages and ‘engage with the public’.

The EDPS writes that the pilot with EU Voice and EU Video started on Thursday. European authorities can, among other things, post messages and videos on the two platforms. According to the EDPS, this provides EU institutions with channels that they usually use for press and PR activities.

EU Voice is based on Twitter alternative Mastodon and is intended for sharing short messages, images and short videos. EU bodies such as the European Commission, the EDPS himself and the European Ombudsman, among others, are active on the platform and share news and messages related to the EU. Individual users can also sign up for the platform and comment on the posts. EU Videos is in turn based on the video platform PeerTube and is intended for the sharing of longer videos and podcasts by European bodies.

The two platforms are decentralized and open source, the EDPS says. According to the privacy regulator, data from the platforms is not shared outside the EU and the European Economic Area, there are no advertisements on the platform and users are not profiled. For the time being, these are pilot versions, which are provided with feedback by participating European institutions. Wojciech Wiewiórowski says of the EDPS that in time the regulator wants to offer ‘alternative social media platforms that prioritize individuals and their rights to privacy and data protection’.