Bluesky suspended service in Mississippi due to legal reasons

The Bluesky social network has stopped providing service in the state of Mississippi. This was reported by Zamin.uz.

This information was provided by the TechCrunch publication. The decision was made due to non-compliance with a new law enacted in the state regarding age verification.

In a statement published on its blog on Friday, the company said that being a small team, they do not have the capability to implement the technical changes required by the law. Additionally, the broad scope of the law and its impact on privacy were also criticized.

Mississippi's HB 1126 law requires all users to verify their age. Parental consent is also necessary for those under 18 years old.

Failure to comply with the law can result in fines of up to $10,000 per user. Bluesky emphasizes that this law, while aimed at protecting children, restricts freedom of speech and negatively affects small platforms and technological innovation.

To comply with the law, the company would need to collect and store personal data of all users. This differs from the OSA law in the UK, which only requires age verification for certain content.

Furthermore, some users outside Mississippi are also unable to access the platform because their mobile operators route network traffic through Mississippi. According to the company, this decision applies only to the Bluesky app, and other apps based on the AT Protocol may handle this issue differently.