As tensions continue to simmer in the WordPress ecosystem, a group of independent contributors is organizing a side event during WordCamp Europe 2025 to create space for conversations they say aren’t happening publicly—yet urgently need to be.

Alt Ctrl Org will take place on Friday, June 6, during the second day of the flagship event in Basel, Switzerland. The three-hour gathering will be held just a five-minute walk from the main venue, at Klara 13, a food court and community space.

Organized by a volunteer team—all of them longtime WordCamp and meetup organizers in their home countries—the event aims to surface difficult conversations about governance, community culture, and power dynamics in the WordPress project.

It’s a grassroots response to what organizers describe as a climate of fear and censorship following WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg’s keynote address at WordCamp US 2024, where he accused WP Engine and its private equity backer, Silver Lake, of exploiting WordPress without giving enough back to the open source project. Since Mullenweg’s keynote, WP Engine has launched legal action, and a wave of contributor bans and broader community backlash has followed.

“We found out that people were not very free to express themselves openly,” said organizer Takis Bouyouris, co-founder of web development firm Nevma and a lead organiser of WordCamp Europe 2023. “We want to bring these ideas to the surface and provide a space for them to be discussed—without fear, and without censorship.”

Fellow organizer Veerle Verbert, co-founder of Con Impeto and organiser of the Antwerp WordPress Meetup, added: “The WordPress community I know encourages questions, proposals, discussion. But right now, many people are afraid to speak.”

Bouyouris and Verbert are among the visible organizers but emphasize that they don’t lead the group. The team is decentralized, with others choosing to remain anonymous or semi-anonymous, fearing professional repercussions, such as being banned from WordPress.org.

That fear is not unfounded. In the months since, prominent contributors including Joost de Valk and Ryan McCue have been banned; core committers have called for governance reform in an open letter; the WordPress Sustainability Team has been disbanded; and a class action lawsuit has accused Automattic, the company Mullenweg leads, of anticompetitive behavior. Community members and contributors who’ve publicly questioned his actions have been blocked from official channels, banned from events, or sidelined without due process.

Alt Ctrl Org is a response to that climate. Bouyouris, for one, remains blocked from engaging with WordPress’s official social media channels despite never being formally banned. “I cannot interact with the channel that represents my community,” he said. “Which I find weird and insulting. I believe I was never insulting or disrespectful myself—I was just asking difficult questions. But we should be able to discuss the thorny subjects, right?”

“People shouldn’t have to whisper support in private messages,” said Verbert, when asked about the level of support the Alt Ctrl Org team had received since announcing the event. “It’s telling that many do.”

The event’s speaker lineup reflects its open source ethos and commitment to broader community dialogue:

• Zoë Kooyman, Executive Director of the Free Software Foundation, will present Free Software and Why the Terms Matter

• Olivier Dobberkau, President of the TYPO3 Association, will offer An Overview of the TYPO3 Association

• Vlad-Stefan Harbuz, of vlad.website and the Open Source Pledge, will speak on Collective Governance and How to Fund It

• Matt Leach, of AspirePress, will present Distributing and Updating Themes & Plugins with AspirePress

• Sé Reed, President and CEO of The WP Community Collective, will speak on The Heart of Open Source

• Reed will also join Joost de Valk, partner at Emilia Capital, for a panel titled The Future of WordPress, to be moderated by Francesca Marano, Head of Partnerships at Patchstack

Though not affiliated with WordCamp Europe, Alt Ctrl Org isn’t intended as a protest. “We’re not trying to take anyone down,” said Bouyouris. “We love the way this community worked. But it’s not working in the same way anymore.”

For Verbert, the motivation is also personal. “At one point, I thought it was over. That maybe WordPress was no longer a place for people like me,” she said. “But there are too many fine people here. Too many voices worth listening to.”

With space for 80 attendees at the event, the team plans to open registrations soon and is currently seeking volunteers to help with videography and photography.

They’re also open to others creating similar events—whether under the Alt Ctrl Org banner or independently. A potential event in Portland, USA, during WordCamp US 2025, has already been floated.

“We’re not trying to build a formal legacy,” said Verbert. “But if this inspires others to create their own spaces for open dialogue, that would be a success.”

For now, the focus remains on Basel—and on reclaiming space for open, honest discussion. “This is our starting point,” said Bouyouris. “We need to start somewhere.”