Network School restricts Farcaster accounts over past posts on the day it buys the app from Neynar
Network School announced Thursday it bought Farcaster from Neynar, the platform's second change of hands this year. Users said accounts were restricted the same day, and the new owner writes the main app's rules while promising an open protocol.
The Investor · Invest desk
Network School's core team sets the app's rules via a social smart contract. The rules apply to past posts. Several users said accounts went read-only. Srinivasan cites an appeals process. Decliners keep keys, funds, followers and history. Competing clients can be built.
- What's now possible capability Network School core team Users opt into a 'social smart contract' authorizing its core team to set the app's rules, claim 9
- What it limits constraint Users with past posts The Network Code's rules apply to past posts as well as new ones, claim 10
- Who's exposed exposure Restricted users Several users said on X their accounts went read-only over previous posts that broke the new rules, claim 17
- What's now possible capability Banned accounts Srinivasan says there is an appeals process in place, claim 7
- What it costs cost Users declining the contract Read-only in the main app; they keep keys, funds, followers and post history to move to another client, claim 15
- What's now possible capability Competing client builders Srinivasan calls the ability to join, leave or build competing clients 'decentralized democracy', claim 12
| Who | How | Kind | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Network School core team | Users opt into a 'social smart contract' authorizing its core team to set the app's rules | capability | 9 |
| Users with past posts | The Network Code's rules apply to past posts as well as new ones | constraint | 10 |
| Restricted users | Several users said on X their accounts went read-only over previous posts that broke the new rules | exposure | 17 |
| Banned accounts | Srinivasan says there is an appeals process in place | capability | 7 |
| Users declining the contract | Read-only in the main app; they keep keys, funds, followers and post history to move to another client | cost | 15 |
| Competing client builders | Srinivasan calls the ability to join, leave or build competing clients 'decentralized democracy' | capability | 12 |
What happened
- In a Thursday post on Farcaster, Balaji Srinivasan said the bans are part of turning the reference app into "the Singapore of social media," a community of techno-optimists under a shared code of conduct.
- Network School's Network Code sorts violations into digital felonies, misdemeanors and infractions, with penalties running from warnings and suspensions to bans.
- Srinivasan said humans and AI went through millions of posts to pick the accounts to ban, and that an appeals process is in place.
- Network School wants its online community to exist in person, beginning with meetups and pop-up events, with startup cities and network states as the end point.
Why it matters
- What it limits constraint Because the code applies to past posts, a user cannot avoid a restriction by changing behavior now; an appeal or a move to another client is the only way to change the outcome.
- What it costs cost A user who declines the contract loses posting rights in the main app and keeps keys, funds, followers and history, so the work and risk of moving to another client fall on the user.
- Who has to decide decision Any team that wants Farcaster users without Network School's rules now has to ship its own client and persuade people to move, the route Srinivasan himself points to.
On the main app, ownership settles who gets to post. Users opt into a "social smart contract" that authorizes Network School's core team to set the rules [9]. Kunal Gandhi, a former India ecosystem lead at Eigen Labs, objected to how that power was first used. Gandhi said: "Obliterating accounts from the get-go for past posts is pretty silly. Goes against the ethos of decentralized social." [6]
Srinivasan framed the bans as policing. He said: "Much like how President Bukele jailed a small fraction of repeat offenders to essentially eliminate crime in El Salvador, we've moderated out the small fraction of repeat offenders that have been muted or blocked by many accounts to stop random attacks within this Farcaster reference client." [5] The scope is in the last five words, because the rules he describes apply to one client. An open-weight AI model will apply them, with some manual judgment calls [13], and in our view those calls are where the governing happens.
According to the announcement, the underlying protocol will remain open [11]. Srinivasan calls the freedom to join, leave or build competing clients "decentralized democracy" [12]. On those terms the restrictions sit in the client, and the protocol is left alone.
We think the claim holds for the app and is untested for the protocol. The reference client is exactly as centralized as its owner, and the protocol's openness is, so far, a line in an announcement. Co-founder Dan Romero said Farcaster had 250,000 monthly active users in December 2025 [3]. The report does not say how many accounts Thursday's restrictions reached or how many of those users run a client other than the reference app.
The counter-thesis is respectable: if leaving is cheap, an owner's rules are a product choice, and a rival client that keeps the same keys and followers disciplines the owner better than a governance vote would. We would be wrong if one appears and restricted users move with their followers intact. The thesis would be confirmed in full if Network School narrowed the protocol after saying it would stay open. A third path is duller, with most users signing the contract and staying, and nothing about the protocol tested at all.
The physical goal has a recent setback attached. Months before the deal, Malaysian authorities pulled Network School's business licence in Forest City and told it to stop operating over alleged violations of licensing and premises-use rules, and Srinivasan then announced an agreement for a campus in Kazakhstan [14].
What to watch
- Whether a competing Farcaster client launches with meaningful usage and draws restricted users along with their followers.
- Whether Network School publishes how many accounts it restricted and how its appeals process resolved them.
- Whether the terms of the underlying protocol stay open as the announcement said, or narrow after the rebrand.
Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence40
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap
- Not scored
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence50
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Network School announced on Thursday that it has acquired Farcaster from Neynar, rebranding it as the Network State Protocol.
- [2]
Farcaster is changing hands for the second time this year.
- [3]
Co-founder Dan Romero said the platform had 250,000 monthly active users in December 2025.
- [4]
In a post to Farcaster on Thursday, Balaji Srinivasan said the bans were part of plans to turn the reference app into 'the Singapore of social media,' a positive-sum community of techno-optimists operating under a shared code of conduct.
- [5]
Srinivasan said: 'Much like how President Bukele jailed a small fraction of repeat offenders to essentially eliminate crime in El Salvador, we've moderated out the small fraction of repeat offenders that have been muted or blocked by many accounts to stop random attacks within this Farcaster reference client.'
- [6]
Kunal Gandhi, former India ecosystem lead at Eigen Labs, said: 'Obliterating accounts from the get-go for past posts is pretty silly. Goes against the ethos of decentralized social.'
- [7]
Srinivasan said both humans and AI were used to go through millions of posts to determine those to ban, and that there is an appeals process in place.
- [8]
The accompanying Network Code classifies violations as digital felonies, misdemeanors or infractions, with penalties ranging from warnings and suspensions to bans.
- [9]
Under Network School's vision for the Network State Protocol, users opt into a 'social smart contract' authorizing its core team to set the app's rules.
- [10]
The Network Code's rules apply to past posts as well as new ones.
- [11]
The underlying Farcaster protocol will remain open, according to the announcement.
- [12]
Srinivasan described the ability to join, leave or build competing clients as 'decentralized democracy.'
- [13]
Network School says an open-weight AI model will apply the rules, with some manual judgment calls, and eventually wants to warn users of potential violations before they post.
- [14]
Months before the Farcaster acquisition, Malaysian authorities revoked Network School's Forest City business licence and ordered it to cease operations, citing alleged licensing and premises-use violations; Srinivasan subsequently announced an agreement to establish a campus in Kazakhstan.
- [15]
Users who decline the contract will have read-only access to the main app but retain their keys, funds, followers and post history, allowing them to move to another client.
- [16]
Network School said its goal is for the online community to take physical form through meetups and pop-up events, ultimately developing into startup cities and network states.
- [17]
The same day, several users said on X that their Farcaster accounts had been restricted to read-only as a result of previous posts that broke its new rules.
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Sources
3 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- cointelegraph.comBalaji’s ‘Singapore of social media’ begins with a wave of bans
1 article · October 15, 2026
- crypto.newsBalaji’s Farcaster takeover sparks wave of account bans
1 article · October 15, 2026
- cryptobriefing.comNetwork School acquires Farcaster from Neynar, rebrands it as Network State Protocol
1 article · October 15, 2026
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