Government censorship comes to Bluesky, but not its third-party apps ... yet
Earlier this month, Bluesky restricted access to 72 accounts in Turkey at the request of Turkish governmental authorities, according to a recent report by the Freedom of Expression Association. As a result, people in Turkey can no longer see these accounts, and their reach is limited.
The report indicates that 59 Bluesky accounts were blocked on the grounds of protecting "national security and public order." Bluesky also made another 13 accounts and at least one post invisible from Turkey.
Given that many Turkish users migrated from X to Bluesky in the hopes of fleeing government censorship, Bluesky's bowing to the Turkish government's demands has raised questions among the community as to whether or not the social network is as open and decentralized as it claims to be. (Or whether it's "just like Twitter" after all.)
However, Bluesky's technical underpinnings currently make bypassing these blocks easier than it would be on a network like X -- even if it's not quite as open as the alternative social network Mastodon, another decentralized X rival.
A Mastodon user could move their account around to different servers to avoid censorship targeted at the original Mastodon instance (server) where they first made posts that attracted the censors.
Users on the official Bluesky app can configure their moderation settings, but have no way to opt out of the moderation service Bluesky provides. This includes its use of geographic labelers, like the newly added Turkish moderation labeler that handles the censorship of accounts mandated by the Turkish government. (Laurens Hof has a great breakdown of how this all works in more technical detail here on The Fediverse Report.)
Simply put, if you're on the official Bluesky app and Bluesky (the company) agrees to censor something, there's no way to opt out of this to see the hidden posts or accounts.
Other third-party Bluesky apps, which make up the larger open social web known as the ATmosphere, don't have to follow these same rules. At least, not for now.
Because Bluesky is built on top of the AT Protocol, third-party clients can create their own interfaces and views into Bluesky's content without applying the same moderation choices. Meanwhile, the censored accounts in question aren't banned from Bluesky infrastructure, like relays and PDSs (which others outside the company can run, too).
Instead, the accounts are moderated by the geographic labelers at the client level. Currently, Bluesky doesn't require any third-party apps to use its geographic moderation labelers, which would force the apps to geolocate their users and then apply the appropriate regional restrictions. That means any app that doesn't implement the existing geographic labelers isn't censoring these blocked Turkish accounts.
In other words, apps like Skeets, Ouranos, Deer.social, Skywalker, and others can currently be used to bypass Turkish censors.
This "solution" comes with several caveats, unfortunately.
The app developers' choice not to use geographic labelers isn't necessarily intentional. Adding the geographic labelers would be extra work on their part, and most have simply not bothered to implement them yet. In addition, these third-party apps have much smaller user bases than the official Bluesky app, which allows them to fly under the radar of government censors. That also makes decisions like this less of a concern for the app developers — at least for the time being.
If these third-party apps grew popular enough, a government like Turkey's could also approach them and demand action. And if they failed to comply, they could risk their app being blocked in the country. (Several Bluesky app developers told us they won't worry about adding geographic labelers until Apple approaches them about a potential removal from the App Store, for instance.)
Because avoiding labelers is seemingly not a permanent solution, one developer, Aviva Ruben, is building an alternative Bluesky client called Deer.social that works differently. Here, users can choose to entirely disable Bluesky's official moderation service and labelers in favor of using other third-party labelers instead.
Plus, the app allows users to configure their location manually in its settings -- an option that would let users avoid geolocation-based blocks and censorship.
"I like the current policy, but I do fear it will get more restrictive or change in the future--a great reason to continue pushing on alternative App Views," Ruben said, referencing the need for alternative ways to access and view Bluesky's data.
Though today's government censorship concerns are focused on Turkey, Bluesky's community has to prep for a future where any government, including the U.S., could request that the company hide posts beyond only those that are blatantly illegal, like CSAM.
Ruben says Deer.social would add a "no location" option to the app at this point, so users could choose to avoid all geographic labelers.
Despite these possible loopholes, censorship has arrived at Bluesky. And considering the official app reaches the largest number of people, this is a notable evolution.
This article originally appeared on TechCrunch at https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/23/government-censorship-comes-to-bluesky-but-not-its-third-party-apps-yet/
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You can pin custom feeds that will show up at the top of your timeline as different tabs to pick from. The feeds you pin, or save, are located under the 'My Feeds' menu in the app's sidebar. In March 2024, the company announced 'AT Protocol Grants,' a new program that will dole out small grants to developers in order to foster growth and customization. One of the recipients, SkyFeed, is a custom tool that lets anyone build their own feeds using a graphical user interface. Is Bluesky on iOS and Android? Yes. Bluesky has rolled out to Android users after it was initially launched to iOS users. Users can access Bluesky on the web here. How does Bluesky tackle misinformation? After an October 2023 update, the app will now warn users of misleading links by flagging them. If links shared in users' posts don't match their text, the app will offer a 'possibly misleading' warning to the user to alert them that the link may be directing them somewhere they don't want to go. 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Though Bluesky's architecture is similar to Mastodon's, many users have found Bluesky to be more intuitive, while Mastodon can come off as inaccessible: Choosing which instance to join feels like an impossible task on Mastodon, and longtime users are very defensive about their established posting norms, which can make joining the conversation intimidating. To remain competitive, Mastodon recently simplified its sign-up flow, making the default server for new users. However, the launch of federation will make it work more similarly to Mastodon in that users can pick and choose which servers to join and move their accounts around at will. Who owns Bluesky? Though Jack Dorsey funded Bluesky, he is not involved in day-to-day development and no longer sits on the company's board. The CEO of Bluesky is Jay Graber, who previously worked as a software engineer for the cryptocurrency Zcash, then founded an event-planning site called Happening. 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Bluesky rolls out massive revamp to policies and Community Guidelines
Two years after launching, social network Bluesky is revising its Community Guidelines and other policies, and asking for feedback from its users on some of the changes. The startup, a competitor to X, Threads, and open networks like Mastodon, says its new policies are meant to offer improved clarity and more detail around its user safety procedures and the appeals process. Many of the changes are being driven by new global regulations, including the UK Online Safety Act (OSA), the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), and the US TAKE IT DOWN Act. Some of the changes represent an effort by Bluesky to purposefully shape its community and the behavior of its users, nudging them to be nicer and more respectful of others. This comes after a series of complaints and media articles suggesting the community has a tendency towards self-seriousness, bad-news sharing, and a lack of humor and diversity of thought. For regulatory compliance, Bluesky's Terms of Service have been updated to comply with online safety laws and regulations, and to require age assurance where required. For instance, in July, the UK's Online Safety Act began requiring that platforms with adult content to implement age verification, which means Bluesky users in the country have to either scan their face, upload their ID, or enter a payment card to use the site. The process for complaints and appeals is also now more detailed. One notable update references an 'informal dispute resolution process,' where Bluesky agrees to talk on the phone with a user about their dispute before any formal dispute process takes place. 'We think most disputes can be resolved informally,' Bluesky notes. That's quite different from what's taking place at larger social networks, like Facebook and Instagram, where users are being banned without any understanding of what they did wrong and no way to get in touch with the company to complain. 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San Francisco | REGISTER NOW Bluesky also says it will allow users to resolve certain claims of harm in court, instead of through arbitration. This is also somewhat unusual for tech companies that often prefer to mediate disputes outside the courts. However, Bluesky users may be more interested in the proposed changes to the Community Guidelines, which they're invited to offer feedback about. (The changes go into effect Oct. 15, 2025 after the feedback period completes). These revised guidelines are organized around four principles: Safety First, Respect Others, Be Authentic, and Follow the Rules. These general principles are meant to guide Bluesky's moderation decisions around whether content should be labeled or removed, if the company can suspend or ban your account, or, in some cases, report you to law enforcement. Bluesky's rules include many common-sense policies around not promoting violence or harm (including self-harm and animal abuse), not posting content that's illegal, that which sexualizes minors (including in roleplay), and disallowing harmful actions like doxxing and other non-consensual personal data-sharing, or posting spam or malicious content, among other things. It carves out provisions for journalism, parody, and satire. For instance, journalists engaged in 'factual reporting' can post about criminal acts and violence, mental health, online safety, and other topics, like warnings of online viral challenges that may be harmful. Where Bluesky may get into trouble is with the nuances of what's considered a 'threat,' 'harm,' or 'abuse.' The policy states that users should 'respect others' by not posting, promoting, or encouraging 'hate, harassment, or bullying.' As an example, the policy bans exploitive deepfakes and content that 'incites discrimination or hatred,' meaning posts that attack individuals or groups based on 'race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or other protected traits.' This is an area where Bluesky has faltered before, when, in earlier days, its moderation decisions strained its relationship with the Black community, and, in another case, when its failure to moderate angered the trans community. More recently, the company has been facing backlash that it's become too left-leaning, where users were quick to criticize, post hateful replies, and where the community generally lacked humor. The original idea behind Bluesky was to provide users with tools to create the community they want, including not only blocking and reporting tools, but others, like subscribable block lists or opt-in moderation services that align with your values. However, Bluesky users have still shown a preference for the app itself to handle much of the moderation, railing against its trust and safety department when it made decisions they disagreed with. In addition, Bluesky's Privacy Policy and Copyright Policy were also rewritten to comply with global laws around user rights, data transfer, retention and deletion, takedown procedures, transparency reporting, and more. These both go into effect on September 15, 2025, and there is no feedback period for either.
