Solidarity Social Launch

Privacy & Freedom to Exit

Build Trust; Rise Together

A Bluesky Network Operator

Social networks tend to follow a predictable arc. They attract by promising the experience that users want, then gradually tighten their grip — making it hard to leave, squeezing out value at user expense and clamping down on speech. Cory Doctorow calls this enshittification. We call it broken promises.

The AT Protocol (aka ATPROTO) — the open standard that powers Bluesky — was designed to break this cycle. Its architecture allows many independent operators to run pieces of the same network. If you don't like one operator's rules, you change your provider. You keep the social network you have invested in building. No one can keep you hostage.

But that promise only holds if several independent operators actually exist. That's what we are, the Solidar Network, an independent, privacy-first, sustainable ATPROTO network operator, built for people who value their digital rights. The Solidar App we are launching today is the Bluesky App modified to support end-to-end encrypted direct messaging. We issue handles in the <solidarity.social> and <solidar.social> domains and support custom domains as well. The handles we host, collectively make up Solidarity Social, a social network committed to progress via solidarity, that is part of the Atmosphere and seamlessly interacts with <bsky.social> and other handles.

Two Foundations

🚪 Freedom to Exit

We believe you should never feel trapped. Solidarity Social is built on the AT Protocol, which means that it is possible for you to move your account — at any time, for any reason — to another network operator while keeping your connections, followers, posts etc. While ATPROTO makes such exit technically possible, we make it a piece of cake, because your trust is more valuable to us than your lock-in.

Freedom to Exit isn't just a safeguard against censorship — it's the reason you can trust us in the first place.

🔐 Private DMs

Your private conversations stay private — full stop. The Solidar App integrates end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) direct messaging via Matrix, meaning only you and your recipient can read your messages. Not us, not governments, not anyone else. You can use our default Matrix server (operated by the Matrix Foundation in the EU) or bring your own Matrix account (and server). No other social network today offers direct control of the servers you will use for messaging.

What This Means for You

Be Heard

As long as your activity respects our code of conduct, we will never preemptively restrict your speech to avoid pressure from authorities. If formal demands arrive, we fight back with full legal defense — and notify you about it, if we are legally permitted to do so. We will also work with the broader ATPROTO operator community to make it as easy as possible for you to move your account - including to an operator in a different jurisdiction that works better for you.

Stay Private

Your direct messages are encrypted end-to-end using the Matrix protocol — a mature, open standard with broad adoption and active security research. By default, your Matrix account is hosted on a server physically located in the European Union and managed by the independent Matrix Foundation.

If you prefer you can Bring Your Own Matrix Account (BYOMA). This means you can use any Matrix server you choose — your employer's, a community's, or your own self-hosted instance. Change the Matrix account used at any time, including switching back to the default we provide.

Rise Together

Matrix enables novel modes for public engagement by linking secure group chat and encrypted audio/video collaboration to public facing social networking. Moreover, the secure collaboration services that Matrix provides can improve the security and privacy of civic groups, unions, electoral campaigns, organizers, and communities, because the collaboration tools they are currently using are centralized and subject to service denial and surveillance. We are helping movements like No Kings and May Day Strong, and trainers like Freedom Trainers, to expand the organizer toolbox with online actions, in order to build solidarity faster and at greater scale.

Solidarity Social is a space where movements advancing justice, democracy and resisting authoritarianism around the globe can find each other, collaborate safely, and rise together.

How We Stay Sustainable

We charge a modest fee of approximately $8 USD per year per subscriber, as detailed on the pricing page. No investors. No advertising. No pressure to extract value from our subscribers. Our only obligation is to you.

We also gratefully accept gifts and grants — in cash or kind — from supporters of our mission. Details are on our donate page.

What's Next

Make it a piece of cake to transfer account to a different host

- Handle redirection and reservation — if you move your account to another provider, anyone accessing your old handle can be redirected to your new one. We will also reserve your old handle for you so you can reclaim it if you later return.
- Daily backups of your repository, ready to use in another host or to self-host
- Operator comparison table — a guide to AT Protocol network operators to help you make an informed choice about where to host your account
- Operator collaboration spaces — we will facilitate interoperability among ATPROTO operators, so that migrating accounts and changing service providers is frictionless

Add features to link to Matrix collaboration suite

- Group chat — enhance the Solidar App secure p2p DM to full-fledged Matrix group chat
- Audio/Video — link Solidar App to E2EE Matrix Audio/Video conferencing

As we grow we will add

- Comprehensive ATPROTO services — Today, besides the Social App we run PDSes to host user repositories. We rely on the Atmosphere for the remaining services. As we grow we will expand operations to run Relay, AppView and other ATPROTO network components
- Security audits — we will commission a formal third-party security audit of our E2EE DM implementation, and enable you to verify that you're running an audited version of the app.

The Solidar App is built on the AT Protocol and integrates Matrix for E2EE messaging. Request an account