Bluesky blocked in Mississippi over age verification laws

The inhabitants of Mississippi no longer have access to Bluesky – one of the main alternatives to the X of Elon Musk – due to age verification laws.

A new Mississippi law requires age verification to access social media sites. This historical legislation goes even further than the other laws which require an age verification for sites with explicit content. Bluesky announced on Friday that it would cease to operate in the state due to the law, noting concerns about the cost burden and the confidentiality of its users.

He wrote in a blog article:

“The Mississippi approach would fundamentally change the way users access Bluesky. The recent Supreme Court decision leaves us in the face of a harsh reality: complying with the Mississippi age insurance law and each Users of the Mississippi Bluesky put sensitive personal information and undergo age checks to access the site – or risk massive fines. The law would also force us to identify and follow users, unlike our approach in other regions. We believe that this law creates challenges that go beyond its children’s safety objectives, and creates important obstacles that limit freedom of expression and disproportionately affect smaller platforms and emerging technologies.

Unlike the technology giants with vast resources, we are a small team focused on the creation of decentralized social technologies that put users in control. Age verification systems require investments in time of substantial infrastructure and developers, complex confidentiality protections and continuous compliance monitoring – costs that can easily overwhelm the smallest suppliers. This dynamic establishes platforms of large existing technologies while stifling innovation and competition that benefit users. “”

Bluesky stressed that the Mississippi law was particularly heavy and worried in terms of its confidentiality implications. The company noted, for example, that it follows the UK online security law, which does not require monitoring of children’s users and only requires age checks for certain materials.

Anna Iovine of Mashable covered the effects of age verification on the internet in depth. But what some legislators have said aims to protect children have already had generalized consequences. These laws, in general, make the Internet a less open place and a space that requires sacrificing privacy for access.