Popular social media platform blocked for all Mississippi residents as new law comes in

A popular social media platform has been blocked for all Mississippi residents as a new law comes into effect.

Bluesky has become increasingly popular in recent months after Elon Musk bought X, formerly Twitter, back in 2022.

Following his involvement with the Trump administration earlier this year, Bluesky became an alternative social media app for people to use.

However, the platform is now no longer available to use for people based in Mississippi due to a new state law.

The law requires sites to follow strict age verifications, which the firm has said would mean that they would need to track users and collect sensitive information.

In a blog post, Bluesky said: “Keeping children safe online is a core priority for Bluesky. We’ve invested a lot of time and resources building moderation tools and other infrastructure to protect the youngest members of our community.

“We’re also aware of the tradeoffs that come with managing an online platform. Our mission is to build an open and decentralized protocol for public conversation, and we believe in empowering users with more choices and control over their experience.

“We work with regulators around the world on child safety - for example, Bluesky follows the UK's Online Safety Act, where age checks are required only for specific content and features.”

However, the platform has said that the approach by Mississippi would ‘fundamentally change’ how its users would be able to use Bluesky.

The platform explained that it had been left faced with either forcing every user in the state to ‘hand over sensitive personal information’ or run the risk of ‘massive fines’.

The site continued: “The law would also require us to identify and track which users are children, unlike our approach in other regions. 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.

“Unlike tech giants with vast resources, we’re a small team focused on building decentralized social technology that puts users in control.

“Age verification systems require substantial infrastructure and developer time investments, complex privacy protections, and ongoing compliance monitoring - costs that can easily overwhelm smaller providers. This dynamic entrenches existing big tech platforms while stifling the innovation and competition that benefits users.”

Now, Bluesky users in Mississippi will see a message appear when they try to use the app which explains that the platform isn’t available.

The company has said that this block will remain in place while courts deliberate on whether this new law will stand.