Bluesky users in Mississippi can no longer access the app after the social media firm refused to comply with a new age verification law.
The platform, which was created by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, said that the US state’s HB 1126 law would “fundamentally change how users access Bluesky” due to free speech and privacy implications.
“We think this law creates challenges that go beyond its child safety goals, and creates significant barriers that limit free speech and disproportionately harm smaller platforms and emerging technologies,” the company said in a blog post.
“Child safety is a core priority, and in this evolving regulatory landscape, we remain committed to building an open social ecosystem that protects users while preserving choice and innovation.”
Bluesky already complies with age assurance laws in other jurisdictions, including the UK’s Online Safety Act, however claimed that Mississippi’s approach was too complex for a small platform to comply with.
The Online Safety Act requires age verification for users to access adult content, but the HB 1126 law goes further by requiring all users to be age verified.
This would involve building new infrastructure and compliance monitoring systems that are beyond the resources of Bluesky’s relatively small team, the company said.
Some Bluesky users outside of Mississippi appear to have been caught up in the block due to cell providers routing traffic through the state.
Blusesky’s chief technology officer, Paul Frazee, said the firm was “working to deploy an update to our location detection” to fix the issue.
