Network School, led by Balaji Srinivasan, has acquired Farcaster from Neynar and rebranded the platform as the Network State Protocol. The acquisition was announced Thursday and immediately followed by restrictions placed on multiple user accounts flagged for violating new community rules.
Several Farcaster users reported that their accounts were restricted to read-only status due to previous posts that violated the platform's updated guidelines. Kunal Gandhi, former India ecosystem lead at Eigen Labs, criticized the approach on social media, stating that retroactively moderating accounts for past posts contradicts the principles of decentralized social networks.
Srinivasan described the moderation effort as establishing "law and order" to create what he called "the Singapore of social media." He compared the approach to eliminating repeat offenders, stating that both human reviewers and artificial intelligence were used to identify problematic accounts from millions of posts. The platform has implemented an appeals process for restricted accounts.
Under the Network State Protocol framework, users opt into a "social smart contract" that authorizes the core team to enforce community rules. The accompanying "Network Code" categorizes violations as digital felonies, misdemeanors, or infractions, with consequences ranging from warnings and suspensions to permanent bans. The code applies to both past and future posts.
The system also promises rewards for constructive behavior, including teaching, sharing projects, and civil disagreement, though specific reward details were not outlined. Network School stated that an open-weight AI model will enforce rules with manual oversight, and the platform eventually aims to warn users of potential violations before posting.
Users who decline the social contract retain read-only access to the main app while keeping their keys, funds, followers, and post history, allowing them to migrate to alternative clients. Srinivasan characterized this ability to join, leave, or create competing clients as "decentralized democracy."
The Farcaster protocol itself will remain open-source. The Network School's broader vision extends beyond social media, with plans for the online community to materialize through meetups, pop-up events, and eventually startup cities and network states.
Farcaster had 250,000 monthly active users as of December 2025, according to co-founder Dan Romero. This is the platform's second ownership change this year.
