Bluesky restricts dozens of accounts in response to Turkish government censorship requests, but third-party apps can circumvent the restrictions
It has become clear that the Turkish government has requested Bluesky to restrict access to several accounts, and that the company has actually taken steps to make the accounts invisible to Turkish users. However, the restricted accounts can still be accessed without any problems if you use a third-party app other than the official Bluesky app.
X users in Turkey migrate to Bluesky amid censorship
Bluesky, censorship and country-based moderation – The Fediverse Report
https://fediversereport.com/bluesky-censorship-and-country-based-moderation/
Bluesky, birçok hesabı Türkiye'den görünmez kıldı – İfade Özgürlüğü Derneği
https://ifade.org.tr/engelliweb/bluesky-bircok-hesabi-turkiyeden-gorunmez-kildi/
Government censorship comes to Bluesky, but not its third-party apps ... yet | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/23/government-censorship-comes-to-bluesky-but-not-its-third-party-apps-yet/?guccounter=1
On March 19, 2025, Ekrem Imamoglu, a rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan , was arrested in Turkey. Imamoglu's supporters held large-scale protests, but the Turkish government requested that various SNS operators restrict SNS accounts that shared information related to the protests. As a result, restrictions were imposed on 44 accounts on Bluesky.
Bluesky uses a mechanism called 'labels' to moderate posts, allowing users to control which posts appear on their timelines, such as hiding posts labeled as adult content or warning users before displaying posts labeled as conspiracy theories or unreliable information.
The viewing restrictions in Turkey are implemented using a system called '
Posts on Bluesky are managed based on a protocol called the ' AT Protocol ,' and anyone can freely view them using the API. In addition, many third-party Bluesky apps that support the AT Protocol have also been released. The current viewing restrictions are implemented using labels only, and do not prohibit viewing via the API, so even Turkish users can view restricted users using third-party apps that do not support 'geography-specific labels.' In addition, since many third-party apps are designed to allow users to select their own labels, you can also choose not to enable 'Bluesky Moderation Service (Turkey).'
However, that could change if the Turkish government demands restrictions on third-party app developers as well.
In an interview with GIGAZINE in April 2024, Bluesky's technical advisor, Why , said, 'Third-party developers have no need to worry that Bluesky's API will become unusable in the future. In the first place, due to the specifications of the AT Protocol, it is impossible for us to prohibit the use of the API. Therefore, there is no need to worry that the API will suddenly become unusable, like Twitter or Reddit.'
I asked the people at Bluesky everything I want to know right now, including 'Bluesky's ambitions,' 'Bluesky's monetization plan,' 'Bluesky's official server specifications,' 'Will the API ever become unusable?' and 'The relationship between Jack Dorsey and Bluesky' - GIGAZINE
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in Web Service, Web Application, Posted by log1o_hf