Instead of age verification: Bluesky completely bans users from Mississippi
Because the US state requires social networks to check the age of all users, Bluesky is withdrawing from them. The debate about this is interesting.
(Image: Diego Thomazini/Shutterstock.com)
The short messaging service Bluesky is blocking all users from the US state of Mississippi due to a law in force there that requires age verification for all users. Those responsible announced this in a blog post and at the same time explained why the procedure differs from that in the UK, for example, where age verification is now also mandatory in some cases. Anyone who wants to access Bluesky with an IP address from Mississippi will only receive a message explaining why this is not possible. The blockade will remain in place until the courts have ruled on objections to the law.
Direct debate between Bluesky and Mastodon
In the blog entry, Bluesky explains that Mississippi's law HB1126 requires age verification from all users, not just those who want to view certain content. The law makes it difficult for people to express themselves freely and is an obstacle if they want to do so in new ways. As a small team, the company does not have the luxury of large IT companies that can build the necessary tools quickly. In addition, the US state requires services such as Bluesky to collect sensitive personal information on all users and to record in detail what minors do on their portals. These are all reasons not to comply, but to avoid the state instead.
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Bluesky assures that it takes the protection of minors and children seriously and that the decision was not taken lightly. According to Bluesky, there is a 10.000 US dollar fine per user in Mississippi if the requirements are not met. Developing and implementing the necessary systems would require resources that are simply not currently available. At the same time, the team points out that similar requirements are being met in the UK. There, age verification is only required for access to certain content and functions, but at the same time it is not known which users there are not yet 18 years old.
Bluesky's announcement has provoked numerous reactions on its own network, including from Eugen Rochko, the chief developer of Mastodon. After he pointed out that the process made it clear how important decentralization is, a lively debate ensued. Among other things, it was pointed out that the law from Mississippi applies equally to Mastodon. It's just that many more authorities there have to decide individually how exactly they want to deal with it. What is also interesting about this part of the debate is that it was conducted between accounts on Bluesky and on Mastodon, which are connected via a bridge and can therefore communicate directly with each other.
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