Bluesky has suspended its service in Mississippi, TechCrunch reported. The decision was made as an alternative to complying with the state’s new age assurance law.
In a blog post Friday, the company said that as a small team, it lacks the resources to implement the technical changes the law would require. It also raised concerns over the law’s broad scope and privacy risks.
Mississippi’s HB 1126 requires all users to verify their age, with those under 18 needing parental consent. Noncompliance could result in fines up to $10,000 per user.
Bluesky stated the law extends beyond child protection and poses threats to free speech, disproportionately affecting small platforms and innovation.
To comply, the platform would need to collect and store users' personal data — a sharp contrast to the UK’s OSA law, which only targets certain content and features.
Some users outside of Mississippi also faced access issues due to traffic routing through the state. CTO Paul Frazee said a location detection fix is in progress.
The company clarified that this decision applies only to the Bluesky app built on the AT Protocol. Other apps may handle the issue differently.
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