Network School announced on Thursday that it acquired the decentralized social platform Farcaster from Neynar and rebranded the platform as the Network State Protocol. An apparent wave of bans prompted backlash from members of the network. Several users said on X that their Farcaster accounts had been restricted to read-only access because previous posts violated new rules. Farcaster is changing hands for the second time this year as the platform seeks a sustainable direction. Co-founder Dan Romero said Farcaster had 250,000 monthly active users in December 2025.
Network School founder Balaji Srinivasan said on Thursday that the bans support plans to make the reference app a positive-sum community of techno-optimists. Srinivasan described the goal as "the Singapore of social media," operating under a shared code of conduct. Srinivasan said an initial step was to institute "law and order" and restore an offline norm against approaching strangers and cursing at them. Srinivasan said moderators removed a small fraction of repeat offenders whom many accounts had muted or blocked, to stop random attacks within the reference client. Srinivasan compared the moderation to President Bukele jailing a small fraction of repeat offenders to essentially eliminate crime in El Salvador. Srinivasan said humans and AI reviewed millions of posts to determine which users to ban. Srinivasan said an appeals process is available.
Under Network School's vision, users opt into a "social smart contract" authorizing the core team to set the app's rules. The accompanying Network Code classifies violations as digital felonies, misdemeanors or infractions, with penalties ranging from warnings and suspensions to bans. The rules apply to past posts as well as new posts. The code promises unspecified rewards for constructive behavior, including teaching others, sharing projects and disagreeing civilly. Network School says an open-weight AI model will apply the rules, with some manual judgment calls. Network School eventually wants to warn users about potential violations before users post.
The acquisition announcement says the underlying Farcaster protocol will remain open. Users who decline the contract will have read-only access to the main app but retain their keys, funds, followers and post history. Those users can move to another client. Srinivasan described the ability to join, leave or build competing clients as "decentralized democracy."
Kunal Gandhi, former India ecosystem lead at Eigen Labs, said the affected users had helped shape Farcaster with their quirks and wit. Gandhi criticized immediate account restrictions over past posts as contrary to the ethos of decentralized social media.
Network School said the goal is for the online community to take physical form through meetups and pop-up events. Network School ultimately wants the community to develop into startup cities and network states. The acquisition comes months after Malaysian authorities revoked Network School's Forest City business licence and ordered Network School to cease operations, citing alleged licensing and premises-use violations. Srinivasan subsequently announced an agreement to establish a campus in Kazakhstan.
Balaji's Farcaster Takeover Sparks Backlash Over Account Bans
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Summary
Network School announced a network upgrade on Thursday, acquiring Farcaster from Neynar and rebranding it as the Network State Protocol. Users faced backlash after being restricted to read-only access due to past posts violating new cryptocurrency rules. Founder Balaji Srinivasan defended the bans as part of a strategy to build a 'positive-sum community,' comparing the platform to 'the Singapore of social media.' The Network Code applies penalties retroactively. Users who reject the new terms retain data but lose write access. The move follows the revocation of Network School’s Forest City business license in Malaysia.
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