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Social networking startup Bluesky has made the decision to block access to its service in the state of Mississippi, rather than comply with a new age assurance law. <\/p>\n
In a blog post<\/a> published on Friday, the company explains that, as a small team, it doesn\u2019t have the resources to make the substantial technical changes this type of law would require, and it raised concerns about the law\u2019s broad scope and privacy implications.<\/p>\n Mississippi\u2019s HB 1126<\/a> 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<\/a> an emergency appeal<\/a> that would have prevented the law from going into effect as the legal challenges it faces played out in the courts.<\/p>\n As a result, Bluesky had to decide what it would do about compliance.<\/p>\n Instead of requiring age verification before users could access age-restricted content, this law requires age verification of all<\/em> users. That means Bluesky would have to verify every user\u2019s age and obtain parental consent for anyone under 18. The company notes that the potential penalties for noncompliance are hefty, too \u2014 up to $10,000 per user.<\/p>\n Bluesky also stresses that the law goes beyond child safety, as intended, and would create \u201csignificant barriers that limit free speech and disproportionately harm smaller platforms and emerging technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019s expected to comply with other age verification laws, like the U.K.\u2019s Online Safety Act (OSA), which only requires age checks for certain content and features. <\/p>\n Mississippi\u2019s law blocks anyone from using the site unless they provide their personal and sensitive information.<\/p>\n \u201cUnlike tech giants with vast resources, we\u2019re a small team focused on building decentralized social technology that puts users in control,\u201d the company\u2019s blog post read. \u201cAge verification systems require substantial infrastructure and developer time investments, complex privacy protections, and ongoing compliance monitoring \u2014 costs that can easily overwhelm smaller providers. This dynamic entrenches existing big tech platforms while stifling the innovation and competition that benefits users,\u201d it noted. <\/p>\n Some Bluesky users outside Mississippi subsequently reported issues accessing the service<\/a> due to their cell providers routing traffic through servers in the state, with CTO Paul Frazee responding<\/a> Saturday that the company was \u201cworking deploy an update to our location detection that we hope will solve some inaccuracies.\u201d<\/p>\n The company\u2019s blog post notes that its decision only applies to the Bluesky app built on the AT Protocol. Other apps may approach the decision differently.<\/p>\n This post has been updated to reflect user issues outside Mississippi and Bluesky\u2019s response.<\/em><\/p>\n We\u2019re always looking to evolve, and by providing some insight into your perspective and feedback into TechCrunch and our coverage and events, you can help us! Fill out\u00a0<\/em>this survey<\/a><\/em>\u00a0to let us know how we\u2019re doing and get the chance to win a prize in return!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n