Network School takes Farcaster, adds rules for posting

Farcaster is moving from Neynar to Balaji Srinivasan’s Network School, which is introducing rules users must accept to keep posting in the main app. Neynar co-founder Rish announced the transfer in a post on Farcaster, saying it covers the app, protocol repositories and related products. The move puts the social network’s rules and moderation under new management.

Rish said Neynar had considered several proposals and chose Network School because Farcaster needed a different operating model. Most of Neynar’s team will join Network School to keep building Farcaster, he said. Rish and co-founder Manan are leaving. The report by The Block says the deal’s financial terms have not been disclosed.

This is Farcaster’s second change of ownership this year. Neynar took over from original developer Merkle Manufactory in January, according to The Block.

What rules will Farcaster users be asked to accept?

The app is becoming the “Network State Protocol,” according to an in-app announcement reported by The Block. Users are being asked to accept or decline a “social smart contract,” a set of rules for using the app. People who accept receive an access NFT, a digital token that records their choice onchain.

The rules list offenses that can lead to a ban, including hate speech, death threats, scams, stalking and passing off AI-made content as your own. The app also plans to use AI moderation and gradually ask users to verify they are human, The Block reported.

What happens if users decline?

Users who decline will have read-only access in the main app, according to The Block. The announcement says their keys, funds, followers and post history will be moved to another client. That gives users a way to keep their Farcaster data while leaving the main app’s new rules, though the report does not give a timeline for the move.

The change puts the main app’s access rules at the center of Farcaster’s next phase. Rish said Network School has the resources to fund the project and sees it as a digital complement to physical network states. The transfer statement does not give a price or further details about how the new rules will be enforced.

Sources and documents

• post on Farcaster — farcaster.xyz
• report by The Block — theblock.co