Bluesky, a social media platform in its nascent stage, is going through a collection of challenges whereas its person base continues to develop. With over 25 million sign-ups, it’s gaining mainstream consideration but in addition going through criticism and controversy.
The platform’s largest controversy erupted final week when journalist Jesse Singal joined Bluesky, resulting in backlash from LGBTQ+ teams. Mr Singal, who has written about gender transition reversals and is accused of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, grew to become essentially the most blocked person on Bluesky after a petition calling for his removing acquired over 25,000 signatures. Whereas Bluesky didn’t straight tackle the controversy, it mentioned that it doesn’t take away accounts primarily based on actions outdoors the platform. Mr Singal claimed he acquired loss of life threats.
As Bluesky grows, its moderation staff is struggling to handle a pointy enhance in points, together with scams, pretend accounts, and copyright violations. The platform acquired a file 42,000 moderation experiences in a single 24-hour interval in November. Aaron Rodericks, Bluesky’s head of belief and security, acknowledged the challenges, together with a surge in copyright complaints, significantly from Brazil following X’s suspension within the nation.
Scammers have additionally flocked to Bluesky, with romance and “pig butchering” scams on the rise. Bluesky has taken aggressive measures to take away fraudulent accounts however faces rising stress as dangerous actors adapt to the platform.
The positioning can also be grappling with the difficulty of impersonation. Final month, Bluesky started labelling pretend superstar accounts that didn’t determine as satire or fan accounts. Although the variety of superstar impersonators is just not as widespread as on bigger platforms, pretend accounts for figures like Ellen DeGeneres and Cristiano Ronaldo have been recognized.
Bluesky has additionally been scrutinised for its distinctive verification system. Relatively than verifying particular person identities, the platform permits customers to confirm their accounts by an official web site area. This method has been criticised for being too technically complicated for some customers.
The platform can also be coping with growing disinformation and potential propaganda, particularly from state-controlled information businesses like China’s China Every day and Russia’s RT. Whereas Bluesky depends on person ideas and automatic methods to trace and take away inauthentic content material, there have been indicators of state actor exercise on the platform.
Nonetheless, Bluesky continues to draw customers, lots of whom have migrated from Elon Musk’s X, and has not but reached the dimensions of bigger platforms like Fb or X.
