NEW: People in Mississippi can no longer use the social media platform Bluesky due to age verification laws. In response, Bluesky has chosen to block access in the state rather than risk potential fines of up to $10,000 per user.
Replies
All I hear is dueling banjos.
aug 22, 2025, 10:27 pm • 1 0 • view
I'm out of my bailiwick on this point so just wondering if a VPN would defeat Mississippi's censorship.
aug 22, 2025, 10:28 pm • 5 0 • view
Yes. Or proxy server. Theres lots of easy ways around it. Tor browser has a built in proxy / rerouting function enabled by default.
aug 22, 2025, 10:30 pm • 14 1 • view
Meta and X would love nothing more to shut this site down and they have the money and the friends in govt to make it happen in red states. I fear this is only the beginning. Bluesky needs to FIGHT
aug 22, 2025, 10:28 pm • 19 1 • view
It's hard to fight it how easy would it be for right leaning voices to put up a bunch of accounts breaking the new law and then bankrupting Blue sky this is just the start
aug 22, 2025, 11:12 pm • 8 0 • view
Mainstream media needs to talk about this. I know today was a busy news cycle but this should be big news. Mississippi should try vpn to get around this in the meantime
aug 23, 2025, 12:08 am • 3 0 • view
wow, so they can keep accessing Fbook, Tick Tock and Twitter (I'll never call it by it's stupid name) and continue to be indoctrinated? Shocker.
aug 22, 2025, 11:25 pm • 8 0 • view
😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣🤣 idiots
aug 22, 2025, 10:20 pm • 2 0 • view
Mississippi? Yeah, always.
aug 22, 2025, 11:37 pm • 3 0 • view
Just another way to censor voices; and they know it.
aug 22, 2025, 10:22 pm • 26 0 • view
Wonder how “other platforms” are dealing with age verification laws or is Bluesky being targeted. I mean Bluesky would be the least of my worries.
aug 22, 2025, 10:29 pm • 3 0 • view
I doubt Twitter would have an issue. Any chance they can get to harsh your personal data, pictures and ID would be easy money for them. Same with other companies that comply with these stupid ass laws.
aug 22, 2025, 11:26 pm • 2 0 • view
Like I really believe Mississippi passed age verification laws because they care oh so much about kids. 🙄 What a crock of shit. www.publicnewsservice.org/2025-02-06/h...
aug 22, 2025, 11:21 pm • 2 0 • view
What is Twitter doing?
aug 23, 2025, 12:08 am • 0 0 • view
What about Twitter?
aug 22, 2025, 10:29 pm • 9 0 • view
I don’t imagine the threat of $10,000 fines scare them very much.
aug 23, 2025, 1:38 am • 2 0 • view
Also, Mississippi authorities would look the other way for Elon.
aug 23, 2025, 4:50 am • 4 0 • view
It’s not Chatterbate!!
aug 23, 2025, 12:27 am • 1 0 • view
Now do Florida
aug 22, 2025, 10:28 pm • 1 0 • view
Live look at MS legislature:
aug 22, 2025, 10:40 pm • 1 0 • view
Mississippi, what an awful State. Dirt poor and its crime rate high. Now this. Never believe them it's for our own good.
aug 23, 2025, 12:04 am • 0 0 • view
They will not be Mississ-ed.
aug 22, 2025, 11:18 pm • 1 0 • view
How is this possibly even a thing? How is it that a state can tell a corporation not to act bc some imaginary 12 year old has crappy parents (not the real reason, I know). But the proof should be on the state (via lawsuit)...like HOW is this even possible? They gonna watch every IP and fine BSKY?
aug 22, 2025, 11:44 pm • 1 0 • view
It's official. bsky.app/profile/sock...
aug 22, 2025, 11:51 pm • 1 0 • view
Great. Let me guess, Texas will be the next state to pass such a law.
aug 22, 2025, 11:10 pm • 1 0 • view
I guess they can start lynching again and it won’t be noticed as fast anymore ?
aug 22, 2025, 11:13 pm • 1 0 • view
I don’t understand why a privacy-conscious age verification solution of the kind now recommended by the EU cannot be used to access multiple platforms? Surely there is a reliable US-based version of this. digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/...
aug 22, 2025, 11:33 pm • 2 0 • view
Sadly it’s not about protecting kids…it’s about stripping people of privacy. There should be tangible ways for companies in America to age verify without using sensitive data, but they wouldn’t want that. Not sure where you live, but fascism is alive & well here. We enter our data, we go on a list.
aug 22, 2025, 11:41 pm • 3 0 • view
… shit. What do we do? This will probably happen to multiple states right? Bluesky is open source… maybe we should move?
aug 24, 2025, 6:47 pm • 0 0 • view
I'm pretty sure they're all using VPNs
aug 22, 2025, 11:15 pm • 1 0 • view
Sad for the decent folks that live in Mississippi, but this is what happens when you elect idiots
aug 22, 2025, 10:51 pm • 7 0 • view
Welcome to the authoritarian government you voted for
aug 22, 2025, 10:47 pm • 14 1 • view
They don't know vpns in Mississippi?
aug 22, 2025, 10:26 pm • 1 0 • view
Most people do not use VPNs, and I'm sure a significant number of internet users have no idea what they are. Presumably usage will go up in Mississippi!
aug 22, 2025, 10:36 pm • 4 0 • view
while they're legal. Next up is VPNs.
aug 22, 2025, 10:40 pm • 0 0 • view
Maybe. Or not. I don't enjoy leaping ahead to future points where specific freedoms have been taken as though it's a done deal. That kind of thinking doesn't help us much.
aug 22, 2025, 10:44 pm • 1 0 • view
totally sorry, I meant VPNs targeted, not VPNs taken. For lots of folks, that's a cold dead hands line in the sand. nothing is a done deal, all these criminals will die unhappy and thwarted. "Texans who like porn, welcome to the resistance!"
aug 22, 2025, 10:47 pm • 1 0 • view
In UK so many people learned so fast how to use a VPN that the government had to make a public announcement asking the population not to use them 🤣
aug 22, 2025, 10:41 pm • 8 0 • view
I'm sure everyone did exactly as they were told!
aug 22, 2025, 10:44 pm • 2 0 • view
Ahem… VPNs.
aug 22, 2025, 11:53 pm • 0 0 • view
Correct response to a moronic law.
aug 22, 2025, 11:08 pm • 1 0 • view
So same for X? FB?
aug 23, 2025, 2:19 am • 1 0 • view
I was wondering this too.
aug 23, 2025, 3:45 pm • 0 0 • view
Pretext for censorship.
aug 23, 2025, 4:20 am • 0 0 • view
“We think this law creates challenges that go beyond its child safety goals, and creates significant barriers that limit free speech and disproportionately harm smaller platforms and emerging technologies,” the Bluesky team said in its statement.
aug 22, 2025, 10:19 pm • 229 36 • view
Also sounds like a setup for someone to profit and be able to use it against Bluesky for liability! Smart move Bluesky !
aug 22, 2025, 10:22 pm • 0 0 • view
Yes indeed.
aug 22, 2025, 11:29 pm • 0 0 • view
Whether or not these laws are actually effective at protecting children is unclear; the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) in the UK spiked just after its age-verification law went into effect as users deployed the tech to spoof their location.
aug 22, 2025, 10:20 pm • 151 16 • view
Thank you Bluesky 👍🏽
aug 22, 2025, 10:26 pm • 1 0 • view
They're not effective, never have been. The real way to keep kids safe is to educate the parents and pay them enough to not have to work so much that they have no time to be with kids.
aug 22, 2025, 10:24 pm • 40 0 • view
I'm genuinely asking -- why wouldn't X and Instagram be harmed much more?
aug 22, 2025, 10:33 pm • 3 0 • view
Cuz they have the money to afford the ridiculous demands of the law
aug 22, 2025, 10:34 pm • 1 0 • view
this is all about suppressing the free exchange of information and speech
aug 22, 2025, 10:22 pm • 14 1 • view
*this* meaning: Mississippi's age requirement tied to prohibitively excessive fines. If they cared at all about kids they would DEMAND the release of the Epstein Files.
aug 22, 2025, 11:35 pm • 6 0 • view
“Protect children!” But they’re not all that interested in Trump as a pedofile-
aug 22, 2025, 11:16 pm • 8 0 • view
if they wanted to protect children they'd stop arming israel
aug 23, 2025, 5:27 pm • 2 0 • view
They wont be effective. If Id had asked my parents to use their ID to sign up for something, they totally would have - without understanding what it is. They trusted me & didnt care what I read.
aug 22, 2025, 10:23 pm • 4 1 • view
Do Twitter and Truth social have age verification rules?
aug 22, 2025, 10:31 pm • 2 0 • view
We can’t has mississippians learning nothin
aug 22, 2025, 10:24 pm • 0 0 • view
Was this same requirement placed on X?
aug 23, 2025, 12:59 am • 0 0 • view
😡😡😡😡
aug 22, 2025, 11:12 pm • 1 0 • view
All social media should do the same. Dont serve states that want adults to provide senditive info to prove their age. It removes anonymity & is a security risk.
aug 22, 2025, 10:22 pm • 5 1 • view
Mississippi is one of the lowest rated states in education. Would make more sense to ban explicit media sites. Bluesky has a moderation, you can choose to whether or not you would like yo view something as an individual.
aug 23, 2025, 5:48 pm • 0 0 • view
“Some states have different minimum ages for males and females…. For example, in Mississippi, the age of consent to marry with parental consent is 17 for males and 15 for females.” Sure, Mississippi is so worried about young girls. worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankin...
aug 23, 2025, 6:53 am • 1 2 • view
Mississippi people need to look into a free VPN! There are a lot out there for free with no lag, ads, or anything else. I have been using Proton for a while and it’s available for all platforms. I have no affiliation with them just promoting privacy. protonvpn.com/free-vpn
aug 22, 2025, 11:26 pm • 11 2 • view
That state is determined to stay at the bottom of every ranking that matters.
aug 22, 2025, 10:23 pm • 16 0 • view
They're actually at the very top of one ranking that seems particularly relevant to understanding how much Mississippi cares about the welfare of children in their state - they're #1 in food insecurity. www.msfoodnet.org/about-us/hun...
aug 22, 2025, 11:24 pm • 6 0 • view
Zackly
aug 22, 2025, 11:26 pm • 2 0 • view
Gotta keep the populace uninformed, easier to control.
aug 22, 2025, 10:25 pm • 20 0 • view
Redneck zealots are a problem
aug 23, 2025, 2:15 pm • 0 0 • view
It's the armpit of the nation, but please, please, please don't block Louisiana!!
aug 22, 2025, 10:22 pm • 1 0 • view