Bluesky blocks access from Mississippi, saying it lacks resources to comply with new age verification laws
Social media site Bluesky has announced that it has blocked access from Mississippi, citing a proposed age verification law in the state, explaining that Bluesky 'does not have the resources to develop an age verification system.'
Our Response to Mississippi's Age Assurance Law - Bluesky
Bluesky blocks service in Mississippi over age assurance law | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/24/bluesky-blocks-service-in-mississippi-over-age-assurance-law/
On August 23, 2025, Bluesky updated its official account, reporting that Bluesky was no longer available in Mississippi, saying, 'Unfortunately, due to a new state law in Mississippi requiring age verification for all users, Bluesky is currently unavailable in the state. While this law is intended to protect children's safety, we believe it raises broader challenges, restricts free speech, and creates significant barriers that negatively impact small platforms like ours.'
Unfortunately, Bluesky is unavailable in Mississippi right now, due to a new state law that requires age verification for all users.
— Bluesky ( @bsky.app ) August 23, 2025 4:54
While intended for child safety, we think this law poses broader challenges & creates significant barriers that limit free speech & harm smaller platforms like ours.
The bill in question is ' HB1126,' a bill being considered in the US state of Mississippi. This bill would require all users to verify their age before accessing services like Bluesky. If this bill becomes law, all services would have to verify the age of their users, and users under the age of 18 would be required to obtain parental consent before accessing any service. Violations would be subject to heavy fines of up to $10,000 (approximately 1.5 million yen) per user.
'Building the necessary authentication systems, workflows for obtaining parental authorization, and compliance infrastructure would require significant resources that a small team like ours, which is invested in developing safety tools and features for our global community, currently cannot afford, especially given the broad scope and privacy implications of this law,' Bluesky said, claiming that it lacks the resources to build an age verification system.
Additionally, Bluesky pointed out the following concerns about HB1126:
Broad Applicability: This law requires age verification for all users, not just those accessing age-restricted content, and affects the ability of all users in Mississippi to use Bluesky.
Barriers to innovation: Compliance requirements disadvantage new, small platforms like Bluesky, who cannot afford large teams to develop the necessary tools. The laws make it difficult for people to express themselves freely and inhibit opportunities to communicate in new ways.
Privacy implications: Laws require the collection and storage of sensitive personal information from all users, including detailed tracking of minors.
The UK Online Safety Act (OSA) also requires age verification for some services, and Bluesky claims to comply with the OSA. In the UK, Bluesky remains accessible to anyone, and age verification is only required to access certain content and features. Bluesky does not know whether UK users are under 18 or track them. Meanwhile, Mississippi law denies access to Bluesky to all users, from teenagers to adults, unless they provide sensitive information. It has been pointed out that the Mississippi age verification law aims to track 'minors' and 'adults,' while the OSA aims to track 'unknown (treated as minors)' and 'adults,' resulting in differences in age verification methods.
Following Bluesky's blocking of access from Mississippi, the Mississippi Free Press , a local media outlet in the state, reported, 'Bluesky has blocked Mississippi IP addresses, citing Mississippi's age verification law, freedom of speech, and privacy concerns.' Mississippi Free Press reportedly left X (formerly Twitter) in early 2025, and since then, Bluesky has become its main social media platform with the most followers. Therefore, Mississippi Free Press wrote, 'As a nonprofit publication, we do not take a position on any particular bill or law. However, regardless of the intentions of the Mississippi Legislature, we are currently facing the challenge of how to maintain our connection with the many readers who follow us on Bluesky.' 'We do not yet know how this will affect our ability to continue posting to Bluesky. Frankly, we are more concerned about how our readers who follow us on Bluesky will be able to continue following us in the future. Tech-savvy readers may be able to find a way around IP blocks, but many will not. It is our responsibility to continue delivering articles to as many people as possible.'
Ed Note | State Law Compels Bluesky to Block Mississippi IPs
https://www.mississippifreepress.org/editors-note-bluesky-blocks-mississippi-ips-citing-states-age-verification-law-free-speech-and-privacy-concerns/
In addition, various opinions have erupted on the social media bulletin board Hacker News regarding Bluesky's decision to block access from Mississippi in response to the state's age verification law.
Bluesky Goes Dark in Mississippi over Age Verification Law | Hacker News
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44990886
One user commented, 'I strongly agree with Bluesky's decision. Jurisdictions and politicians are enacting laws that they don't understand the technical basis for, and they're not considering the secondary effects,' expressing respect for Bluesky's decision. Another user agreed, saying, 'Bluesky's response is the only correct response to these burdensome laws. I believe all sites affected by overreach have a moral obligation to do the same.'
Another user wrote, 'The situation is even worse in Wyoming and South Dakota, where laws have been passed requiring age verification on sites that contain material that could harm minors. What a shameful time we live in. These fools are denying the legitimacy of the state and the justice system.' He also pointed out that other states are preparing similar or even worse age verification laws.
Other users also pointed out that such a law would make VPN services even more profitable.
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in Mobile, Software, Web Service, Posted by logu_ii