Bluesky Blocks Service In Mississippi Over Age Assurance Law (techcrunch.com)
- Reference: 0178831744
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/22/2327213/bluesky-blocks-service-in-mississippi-over-age-assurance-law
- Source link: https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/22/bluesky-blocks-service-in-mississippi-over-age-assurance-law/
> In a [2]blog post published on Friday, the company explains that, as a small team, it doesn't have the resources to make the substantial technical changes this type of law would require, and it raised concerns about the law's broad scope and privacy implications. Mississippi's HB 1126 requires platforms to introduce age verification for all users before they can access social networks like Bluesky. On Thursday, U.S. Supreme Court justices decided to block an emergency appeal that would have prevented the law from going into effect as the legal challenges it faces played out in the courts. As a result, Bluesky had to decide what it would do about compliance.
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> Instead of requiring age verification before users could access age-restricted content, this law requires age verification of all users. That means Bluesky would have to verify every user's age and obtain parental consent for anyone under 18. The company notes that the potential penalties for noncompliance are hefty, too -- up to $10,000 per user. Bluesky also stresses that the law goes beyond child safety, as intended, and would create "significant barriers that limit free speech and disproportionately harm smaller platforms and emerging technologies." To comply, Bluesky would have to collect and store sensitive information from all its users, in addition to the detailed tracking of minors. This is different from how it's expected to comply with other age verification laws, like the U.K.'s Online Safety Act (OSA), which only requires age checks for certain content and features.
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> Mississippi's law blocks anyone from using the site unless they provide their personal and sensitive information. The company notes that its decision only applies to the Bluesky app built on the AT Protocol. Other apps may approach the decision differently.
[1] https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/22/bluesky-blocks-service-in-mississippi-over-age-assurance-law/
[2] https://bsky.social/about/blog/08-22-2025-mississippi-hb1126
Decentralized? (Score:3, Interesting)
I thought Bluesky was a decentralized, make-up-your-own-rules kinda system? This sounds like there are still centralized overlords...
Re: Decentralized? (Score:5, Informative)
The company notes that its decision only applies to the Bluesky app built on the AT Protocol. Other apps may approach the decision differently.
Re: Decentralized? (Score:2)
That sounds like most of Bluedky if they can enforce their will over the core protocol.
Re: (Score:2)
Right, they could just blacklist the BlueSky IP address on the Mississippi state firewall.
Oh wait, there's no state firewall. Oh, and no BlueSky IP address, since it's decentralized.
Re:Why doesn't Mississippi just block it? (Score:4, Interesting)
> Oh wait, there's no state firewall.
Not yet anyway. Two states over, [1]Oklahoma will require teachers from NY, CA to prove they back 'America First' [usatoday.com]. So how long until (some, probably Red) states decide to shield residents from information on the Internet they find objectionable? Slippery slope ...
From that article...
> Regardless of the subject or grade they teach, they'll have to show they know "the biological differences between females and males" and that they agree with the state's American history standards, which includes elements of a conspiracy theory that the Democratic Party stole the 2020 presidential election from President Donald Trump, which fact checkers have said are false.
> The state Department of Education will implement the new certification test for teachers from the two largest Democrat-led states "who are teaching things that are antithetical to our standards" to ensure newcomers "are not coming into our classrooms and indoctrinating kids," Oklahoma schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, said in an interview with USA TODAY. [oblivious to the obvious irony]
[1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/08/17/oklahoma-requires-blue-state-teachers-america-first-curriculum/85510568007/
Re: (Score:2)
It's already been proposed to make ISPs block all abortion related information. [1]https://capitol.texas.gov/tlod... [texas.gov]
Page 24.
[1] https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/pdf/HB02690I.pdf#navpanes=0
Are the big guys going to comply? (Score:2)
I'm curious what Facebook, Bytedance, and X are planning to do to comply with this new legislation.
I'd imagine that Facebook will use it's new friends in the US Federal government to get this overturned, Elon probably doesn't have that kind of political clout anymore, though.
Re: (Score:2)
They will happily comply because once they do they've got your personal information. It's a level of tracking that they previously could only dream of.
It really does show that the right wing has absolutely no morals or principles just allegiances. If somebody higher up on the food chain tells them what to do they do it no questions asked.
If You know anything about the right wing it should hardly be a surprise. The core of the right wing is a belief that hierarchies solve all problems. It's popular
The little guys might have to (Score:2)
I think nearly every forum on the internet would have to comply if I read this correctly.
SECTION 3. (1) This act applies only to a digital service provider who provides a digital service that:
(a) Connects users in a manner that allows users to socially interact with other users on the digital service;
(b) Allows a user to create a public, semi-public or privat
Is that really the intent? (Score:5, Insightful)
> "Bluesky also stresses that the law goes beyond child safety, as intended"
If that really IS what is intended by all this nonsense. Because what it actually does is punish ADULTS by forcing them to positively identify themselves with sensitive information. And that is surely a boon to yet more tracking, targeting, and chilling of free speech. Last I checked, I can walk into any library and look at whatever I want without identifying myself. And if I want protection for my [theoretical] children, I won't allow them to go there unsupervised.
Protecting children effectively from the wild insanity of the Internet has to go way beyond a few popular social media sites and should be based on what physical devices minors are given and driven by parents. Parents need more options for easy and effective lockdown/whitelisting on mobile (and other) devices. These types of laws do not do that.
One of the things we don't talk about (Score:2)
Is how Mississippi is deep red and it's got a 37% black population. Missouri is even worse at over 40%.
There is a saying in politics. There are no red states, there are just States where people are allowed to vote.
Anyway this kind of bullshit wouldn't be happening if people could vote.
Re: (Score:2)
Because sometimes Black people vote Republican.
Also you're racist.
Re: (Score:2)
> Is how Mississippi is deep red and it's got a 37% black population. Missouri is even worse at over 40%. There is a saying in politics. There are no red states, there are just States where people are allowed to vote. Anyway this kind of bullshit wouldn't be happening if people could vote.
People vote, but their districts are so Gerrymandered it doesn't matter. Republicans are now cranking that up even more, at Trump's specific direction, starting with Texas in attempt to get 5 more Republican House seats. Democrat/Blue states, like California, are now forced to "fight fire with fire" by doing the same. Though, to be fair, Texas politicians rammed this through w/o any input from constituents while California is putting it on the ballot and letting its citizens decide. Republicans are act
Just wondering (Score:2)
How do Bluesky feel about VPNs ?
Truth Social? (Score:4, Interesting)
I take it Truth Social is exempt?
Had to happen (Score:2)
Because we had over three decades to justify less regulation of our internet use and all we get from big head free speech talkers who are actually corporate shills is more alienation, more misinformation, more social programming, more hurtful marketing ,.....