Decentralized social network Farcaster has changed hands for the second time this year and is moving to a model that makes accepting new rules a requirement for posting in its main app.
Balaji Srinivasan’s Network School initiative has bought Farcaster from Neynar. According to The Block, Neynar co-founder Rish announced Thursday that the Farcaster app, the protocol’s code repositories, and related products had been transferred. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Neynar took over the platform from its original developer, Merkle Manufactory, in January. Now, saying it needs a different operating model, it is handing management over to Network School. Rish and fellow co-founder Manan will pursue other projects, while some Neynar employees will join the new team to develop Farcaster.
Those who reject the rules will only be able to read in the main app
According to an in-app announcement, Farcaster will be renamed “Network State Protocol” and aims to bring online communities together in the physical world. Users will also be given the option to accept or reject a social contract containing the new rules.
Those who accept will receive an access NFT that verifies their choice on the blockchain. The rules prohibit behaviors such as hate speech, death threats, fraud, repeatedly picking fights, harassing users by persistently following them, and presenting AI-generated content as one’s own work.
Those who reject the contract will have read-only access to the main app. The announcement states that these users’ keys, funds, followers, and post history can be moved to another client—that is, a different app that provides access to the network.
Human verification will also be introduced
The new app plans to use AI-powered moderation to reduce bot activity and gradually make it mandatory for users to verify that they are human. As a result, the transfer is changing not only who owns the platform, but also the conditions for users to participate in the main app.
Not investment advice.