Althouse: "People in Mississippi can no longer use the social media platform Bluesky."

২৩ আগস্ট, ২০২৫

"People in Mississippi can no longer use the social media platform Bluesky."

"The company announced Friday that it will be blocking all IP addresses within Mississippi for the foreseeable future in response to a recent US Supreme Court decision that allows the state to enforce strict age verification for social media platforms.... The company says that compliance with Mississippi’s law—which would require identifying and tracking all users under 18, in addition to asking every user for sensitive personal information to verify their age—is not possible with the team’s current resources and infrastructure...."

From "Bluesky Goes Dark in Mississippi Over Age Verification Law/Bluesky has chosen to block access in the state rather than risk potential fines of up to $10,000 per violation" (Wired).

৬৮টি মন্তব্য:

Leland বলেছেন...: And nothing of value was lost…; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৮:২৯ AM
rehajm বলেছেন...: Good bye Mr. Bluesky…; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৮:৩১ AM
RMc বলেছেন...: I'll bet those six Mississippians are pretty upset!; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৮:৩১ AM
Leland বলেছেন...: Although, I think these age verification laws at a back door to full internet censorship and I disagree with them.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৮:৩১ AM
Aggie বলেছেন...: Whelp - looks like they lost both subscribers now.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৮:৩৩ AM
rhhardin বলেছেন...: All communication must be done in a way that protects children. That's a back door to something else.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৮:৩৩ AM
Dave Begley বলেছেন...: Lucky Rebs.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৮:৩৪ AM
rehajm বলেছেন...: Goooood bye, blueee sky, goodbye…; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৮:৩৬ AM
john mosby বলেছেন...: Anyone "sophisticated" enough to hold BlueSky-approved ideas is probably sophisticated enough to use a VPN.

RR
JSM; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৮:৩৭ AM
rhhardin বলেছেন...: Maybe have a math problem to log in. That will keep the kids out.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৮:৩৭ AM
gilbar বলেছেন...: wasn't Bluesky some sort of a thing, once?
or didn't some people try to make it some sort of a thing, once?
or; didn't some people SAY they were going to try?

Shouldn't we concentrate on REAL Things? That REALLY Exist?; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৮:৫১ AM
Iman বলেছেন...: Nothin’ but Bluescry from now on…; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৯:০৭ AM
Achilles বলেছেন...: While this is a nothingburger because nobody cares about Bluesky there are real problems with age verification for people using social media.

The most obvious problem is that it is just flat out impossible to enforce in a consistent manner.

We don't have the technology yet for digital identities yet. There are many working on it in the Crypto space and there are some good solutions available there, but if the law doesn't use any of those then it is a terrible law.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৯:২৫ AM
The Vault Dweller বলেছেন...: This feels like an area where the Left and Right can find agreement. I think it is an existential threat to Liberty for Governments to get involved in controlling who can have access to social media or the internet. Increases in Government control frequently start out with a 'for the children,' justification. I say this as someone who is actually worried about children being on social media, particularly young girls.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৯:৩২ AM
The Vault Dweller বলেছেন...: On a related note when Nikki Haley opined that Government should require that all social media users identities should be made public I immediately, and forever, wrote her off from ever having access to any levers of power.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৯:৩৫ AM
Jamie বলেছেন...: Three thoughts:

1. Seems like a rational decision on the part of Bluesky. Their other options would have been to pay the daily fine or to bring on staff to set up and perform the age verification, both of which appear to be beyond their financial means at present.

2. Like The Vault Dweller, I have misgivings about how to do age verification online without stomping all over people's privacy AND without opening the door to government deplatforming and other abuses. And at the same time, I want children safeguarded. This I consider to be a sticky wicket.

3. I can't discern whether Bluesky 's framing of why they're blocking MI IPs is an effort to avoid being on the wrong side of an issue again, or an actual statement of their position. That is, did they frame it in financial terms because they really are too poor (so to speak) to hire people to get this effort going but have no objections to the requirement, or do they just recognize that to say, "To hell with safeguarding children! We'll pay the fine!" would be another bad look?; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৯:৫০ AM
Smilin' Jack বলেছেন...: "Bluesky Goes Dark in Mississippi Over Age Verification Law/Bluesky has chosen to block access in the state rather than risk potential fines of up to $10,000 per violation"

I hope X, Instagram, etc. go dark in solidarity. Send Mississippi back to the Dark Ages and see how they like it. On second thought, though, I hear they’re used to it.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৯:৫২ AM
JAORE বলেছেন...: Some time ago Alabama, where I reside, announced upcoming age verification would be required for adult content. I've not seen anything that said it has been withdrawn. I'm not sure how it is enforced (Did I ever tell you I'm a 28 year old, rodeo bull riding, male model, billionaire?). I don't know how well it has worked. But, at least in terms of effectiveness that should provide some evidence. I suspect there are other examples out there.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৯:৫৪ AM
Yancey Ward বলেছেন...: "Maybe have a math problem to log in. That will keep the kids out."

That would probably keep most adult Democrats out, too.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৯:৫৪ AM
gadfly বলেছেন...: . . . unless, of course, you use a VPN to declare an IP that is not your real MS internet address.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৯:৫৫ AM
Lazarus বলেছেন...: Are ages really verified? Or do kids just enter phony birthdays on the website? If we really want age verification shouldn't websites ask questions like, "What year was Bobby Thomson's 'Shot Heard Round the World' and what was it?" or "Which three celebrities who died at Clear Lake, Iowa and what were they famous for"?" Or Jeopardy-style, "She claimed to have inside information on the Kennedy Assassination and died under mysterious circumstances?" Multiple answers acceptable on the last one.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৯:৫৬ AM
Yancey Ward বলেছেন...: "This feels like an area where the Left and Right can find agreement. I think it is an existential threat to Liberty for Governments to get involved in controlling who can have access to social media or the internet."

Yeah, I don't think this is right, unfortunately. Democrats would happily give the government the power to censor conservatives as long as it couldn't be used against them. The GOP would, too, in the other direction.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১০:০০ AM
Eva Marie বলেছেন...: I think everyone should be policing children’s behavior except for their parents.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১০:১৫ AM
john mosby বলেছেন...: Lazarus: they caught the last train for the coast.

RR
JSM; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১০:১৭ AM
Paddy O বলেছেন...: "If we really want age verification shouldn't websites ask questions like..."

Are you trying to filter out anyone under 70?; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১০:১৯ AM
Paddy O বলেছেন...: "Send Mississippi back to the Dark Ages and see how they like it."

The mistaken assumption is that nothing of worth culturally was happening in the dark ages. Not at all true. More that what was happening tended to not be written down for later historians to study. Current social media is a new form of the dark ages as future historians will have very little to work with compared to earlier print media and recorded media eras of communication.

Might be that cutting off social media will bring Mississippi out of the dark ages the rest of us are going to be in for a while longer. Though cutting off bluesky will mostly mean future MS wont really be much more illuminated tham it is now; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১০:২৫ AM
wildswan বলেছেন...: Maybe there's a technological solution such as a law saying that children under 16 can't have smart phones. They have to have special flip phones which can only talk or text. Their parents could stay in touch but the kids couldn't access the dark web. It would have to be a law because only a society wide ban would stop the use of smartphones among the kids.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১০:৫৩ AM
Tom T. বলেছেন...: Britain has used age verification basically to end anonymity on the Internet. At least for ordinary people; I'm sure scammers and criminals find ways.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১০:৫৭ AM
gspencer বলেছেন...: What would surprise me is knowing that there more than a dozen people in Mississippi who would even want to use Bluesky.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১১:৩২ AM
Achilles বলেছেন...: Just so everyone knows there are Digital Identity systems being built in the Crypto Space that involve a similar third party token system like RSA Public/Private keys that allow people to verify personage and age otherwise known as KYC and they also provide anonymity as long as the 3rd party is trusted by both the user and the people requiring age verification.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১১:৩৩ AM
boatbuilder বলেছেন...: The company says that compliance with Mississippi’s law—which would require identifying and tracking all users under 18, in addition to asking every user for sensitive personal information to verify their age—is not possible with the team’s current resources and infrastructure...."

So--not a matter of principle.

As a matter of principle I personally have a problem with the tracking aspect of the law. How are the other platforms complying?; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১১:৪২ AM
Rabel বলেছেন...: The urge to control the behavior of others runs deep in some sections of the right as well as the left.

Also, I have a MS IP and have my VPN off and I can still access their trending page.

Coming to you live from the misty, dark Mississippi.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১১:৪৩ AM
stlcdr বলেছেন...: Smilin' Jack said...
...

I hope X, Instagram, etc. go dark in solidarity. Send Mississippi back to the Dark Ages and see how they like it. On second thought, though, I hear they’re used to it.

8/23/25, 9:52 AM

You mean without social media? Huh, not seeing a down side.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১১:৪৬ AM
n.n বলেছেন...: Gray and a pollution free sky is indicative of one less first-order forcing of catastrophic anthropogenic climate change.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১১:৪৬ AM
Kirk Parker বলেছেন...: "use a VPN to declare an IP "

How to tell us you know nothing about VPNs, or IP for that matter, without saying so explicitly.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১২:২১ PM
Achilles বলেছেন...: gadfly said...

. . . unless, of course, you use a VPN to declare an IP that is not your real MS internet address.

Please go to chatgpt and type in "what does a VPN do?"; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১২:২৯ PM
Leland বলেছেন...: How to tell us you know nothing about VPNs, or IP for that matter, without saying so explicitly.

By using the same nom de guerre for his comment is a way of telling us he knows nothing about the subject in which he is posting.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১২:৪৫ PM
Kirk Parker বলেছেন...: Achilles,

That question is far too advance. Gadfly needs to start here:

https://featureassets.amuniversal.com/assets/c83440a06d5901301d7d001dd8b71c47; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১:০৩ PM
Balfegor বলেছেন...: The weak point of all these age verification schemes is that there's no way you should be trusting random websites on the internet with personal information that would verify your age. Wasn't there just an incident with some site dedicated to scurrilous gossip about men having saved all their users' identity documents to an unsecured site? That information needs to be handled extra carefully until financial insititutions, phone companies, and the IRS make their systems more robust, to protect against use of that information for identity theft. And that isn't going to happen -- phone number spoofing is still an issue today!

The solution is probably going to be some kind of third party intermediary run by a big company, like Amazon or Microsoft, that will allow a user to upload documents for age verification in response to a query from random unknown site, and then spit back a yes or a no, nothing else. But since these age verification systems are mostly about limiting access to pornography, there's likely going to be reputational concerns that limit big companies' willingness to set up a line of business that mostly just facilitates pornography.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১:০৭ PM
loudogblog বলেছেন...: It's not possible for every social media company to keep everone's personal data safely. There needs to be a government program set up where people can verify their age to internet companies through a government portal (like the IRS or Social Security) and have the government verify their age and then tell the social media company if the person is of appropriate age or not. After all, these government agencies already have to have our identification information to function. So we already have to trust them with out identification information.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১:৩৮ PM
Keldonric বলেছেন...: That case you’re thinking of was the Tea app breach last month. They actually stored IDs, and when they got hacked thousands of government IDs and selfies spilled out. That’s why handing documents to random sites is such a bad idea. And even if you had a trusted middleman, IDs aren’t really age verification — they’re identity verification. A stolen or borrowed ID still “works,” and a parent or older sibling can always just hand over their verified access. To really lock it down you’d need draconian measures — constant checks, government-linked databases, maybe even device restrictions. Sure, that might work technically, but the price would be everyone’s privacy and liberty.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১:৫০ PM
Interested Bystander বলেছেন...: If you must, use a VPN. I’m running thru a Panamanian server.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ১:৫৭ PM
Keldonric বলেছেন...: Respectfully, I’m not sure about this idea of trusting the government. The OPM breach showed how even highly sensitive records, 21 million personnel files, clearances, even fingerprints can be compromised. Even if a portal like that existed, how could we be assured it wouldn’t end up being used to track activity? And then there’s the constitutional angle — Madison spoke of “few and defined” powers, and a national age-verification portal for social media doesn’t sound much like what he had in mind, even if it’s framed as common welfare.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ২:০৩ PM
Achilles বলেছেন...: Balfegor said...

The solution is probably going to be some kind of third party intermediary run by a big company, like Amazon or Microsoft, that will allow a user to upload documents for age verification in response to a query from random unknown site, and then spit back a yes or a no, nothing else. But since these age verification systems are mostly about limiting access to pornography, there's likely going to be reputational concerns that limit big companies' willingness to set up a line of business that mostly just facilitates pornography.

Yes.

There are companies building these solutions right now. They are similar to public key/private key encryption solutions with trusted 3rd party verification.

This will of course require legislation protecting these 3rd party verifiers from government coercion and preventing warrantless collusion with government to identify people.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ২:১৩ PM
Achilles বলেছেন...: Keldonric said...

Respectfully, I’m not sure about this idea of trusting the government. The OPM breach showed how even highly sensitive records, 21 million personnel files, clearances, even fingerprints can be compromised.

China and whoever else got my SF86 TS/SCI application in that one. 60+ pages of every identifying characteristic about my life a thief or scammer could ever want about me.

I have completely given up on attempts to be anonymous on the internet since then. I will not waste any further energy on it.

But I will always remember the betrayal by my own government.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ২:১৮ PM
Keldonric বলেছেন...: @Achilles

At least everyone got LifeLock out of it. /s; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৩:০৫ PM
Keldonric বলেছেন...: I have completely given up on attempts to be anonymous on the internet since then. I will not waste any further energy on it.

When you have an idea of how things actually work, you can make rational choices about what’s worth the effort and what isn’t.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৩:০৯ PM
narciso বলেছেন...: it was that easy to block out Blue Asylum who knew,; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৩:১৭ PM
Jim at বলেছেন...: Bluesky. Where the possessed go to mingle.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৩:১৯ PM
Kirk Parker বলেছেন...: Leland,

Fair enough, though now that I focus on it, I think I have always taken "gadfly" as a statement of intent, not a summary of knowledge. (How this possibly comports with Althouse's requirement for good faith on the part of the commenter... Is left as an exercise for the reader.); ২৩/৮/২৫, ৩:৩০ PM
Kirk Parker বলেছেন...: "This will of course require legislation protecting these 3rd party verifiers from government coercion and preventing warrantless collusion with government to identify people."

Holy crap! Where is the real Achilles, and what have you done with him???

The *real* Achilles would never come within light years of this degree of naivety regarding the effectiveness of legislation.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৩:৩৬ PM
Kirk Parker বলেছেন...: I mean, that's as bad as the clipper chip and it's modern progeny that Tulsi just fought off from the UK: "we need a back door with government controlled keys, and none of government people will ever abuse it".

Yeah, right.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৩:৩৮ PM
narciso বলেছেন...: that seems...unlikely,; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৩:৩৯ PM
Freeman Hunt বলেছেন...: Those four people on Bluesky are going to be pissed.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৩:৩৯ PM
narciso বলেছেন...: they are not likely to be in missisippi, remember this is regarded as the responsible social mediia; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৩:৪৫ PM
Rabel বলেছেন...: "Those four people on Bluesky are going to be pissed."

I follow a couple of local sports boards and you might be surprised how far the propaganda has spread.

I was. And they're exactly like the "progressives" on here.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৩:৪৬ PM
n.n বলেছেন...: X marks the spot.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৪:০০ PM
Mark বলেছেন...: By creating one central database of all our records held by the Feds, DOGE created something that could 'solve' this. If we trusted them.

No worries though. It's not like there was an OPM hack to preaage when every citizen gets hacked via DOGE's centralized records plan; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৪:১০ PM
wendybar বলেছেন...: Is that a porno site??; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৪:২৭ PM
Jonathan Burack বলেছেন...: Mississippi has adopted rigorous literacy teaching and its test results confirm that an educational renaissance may be underway there and other states adopting the same rigor. This might just be a sign the policy is working and certainly it will facilitate it.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৪:৩০ PM
narciso বলেছেন...: it does seem there is a 'you must be stupid' bar to be on Blue Asylum; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৪:৩৫ PM
MikeD বলেছেন...: Everybody ragging on MS should look closer. MS ranks 16th Nationally for K-12 education, compared to: CA rank of 30, MI rank of 44, WA 27, OR 43, RI 28, MD18 and Biden's own DE ranked at 37.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৪:৩৭ PM
Kakistocracy বলেছেন...: "Bluesky. Where the possessed go to mingle."

BlueSky is a compelling example of social media and networking done differently, prioritizing user empowerment over corporate control.

Many of us felt that the structure of social media—how it operated, who benefited, and who didn’t—was set in stone. It seemed like this was how it had always been, as if Elon Musk himself had designed it this way, and we were just living in that reality.

The status quo was: I give my content to a platform, they sell my data, and they flood my feed with ads. On top of that, people are often unkind. That was the essence of social media.

BlueSky breaks this mold with a decentralized social network that empowers users to shape their experience exactly as they want. It allows users to take their followers with them if they switch to another service or platform. It’s surprising this concept didn’t exist a decade ago.

You could argue all day about how “everyone fled Twitter” or “the lefties moved to BlueSky.” But when Twitter becomes an echo chamber for far-right provocateurs and extremists, the decision to leave isn’t hard to understand. From both a technological and human-centric perspective, BlueSky offers a better way to run a social media platform.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৫:০৫ PM
Iman বলেছেন...: Blue Cry crowdin’ the air
Nothin' but Blue Cry and I don’t care
Blue Mooks singin' their songs
Nothin' but Blue Mooks hittin’ bongs

I never saw the sun shinin' so bright,
never saw things goin' so Right
Noticing the gimps scurrying by,
I hold my nose, I can’t tell a lie

Blue Cry, and rending of clothes
The site is called Blue Cry, and it blows; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৫:১৯ PM
Smilin' Jack বলেছেন...: “ There are companies building these solutions right now. They are similar to public key/private key encryption solutions with trusted 3rd party verification.”

Just buy them from China. They’re way ahead of us on this sort of thing.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৫:৩৩ PM
Fritz বলেছেন...: Please don throw me in dat briar patch.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৬:৪২ PM
Josephbleau বলেছেন...: The problem seems simple, just have a manufacturer set a coded user inaccessible software switch that puts the phone in kid mode and parents that think it is a problem will get it for their kids, they can get it turned off later, but phones go obsolete so fast it wont matter.

This won’t make people happy either because what they really want is to tell other peoples kids what to do.; ২৩/৮/২৫, ৯:০৯ PM
Rusty বলেছেন...: To Rich @ 5:05.
OK groomer. Jay Graber owns th4e "Blue Sky" corporate name among others. so it is a corporation. A social platform money making scheme.; ২৪/৮/২৫, ৯:৪৩ AM

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২৩ আগস্ট, ২০২৫

"People in Mississippi can no longer use the social media platform Bluesky."

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২৩ আগস্ট, ২০২৫

"People in Mississippi can no longer use the social media platform Bluesky."

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