Decentralized social network Bluesky, a competitor to X and Threads, was announced on Wednesday that he is making further changes to the mitigation process. Specifically, the company said it is introducing new updates to how it monitors Community Guidelines violations and enforces its policies. This includes the inclusion of new report categories in the app, changes to the “strike” system for violations and more guidance provided to those who break the rules.
Moderation changes are released with the latest version of the Bluesky app (v1.110), which also includes a dark mode app icon and a redesigned feature to control who can reply to your post.
The company says the moderation updates are a result of Bluesky’s rapid growth and the need for “clear standards and expectations for how people behave with each other” on the platform.
“On Bluesky, people meet and fall in love, discover themselves as artists, and have conversations about niche topics in cozy corners. At the same time, some of us have developed a habit of saying things behind screens that we would never say in person,” the company shared in a statement explaining the changes.
However, the news also follows the most recent moderatorIin the dust on the platform, which saw a suspended user for making a comment that Bluesky interpreted as a threat of violence. Author and influencer Sarah Kenzior had written in a post on Bluesky that he wanted to “shoot the author of this article just to watch him die” – a reference to a Johnny Cash song lyric. That choice of words was apt because she was commenting on an article about Johnny Cash that she didn’t like.
Bluesky’s team said Kendzior was suspended for expressing “a desire to shoot the author of the article” — a very literal reading of her comment.
With the updated rules, Bluesky seems focused on making sure the platform maintains a sense of community and doesn’t devolve into the toxicity that now fuels X, where snide comments, snubs and hateful comments are often the norm.
For starters, Bluesky is expanding reporting options on posts from six to nine, allowing users to be more precise in flagging issues and helping moderators take action on critical reports faster. For example, you can now report things like youth harassment or bullying or eating disorders, which would help address Bluesky’s need to comply with new laws designed to protect minors online. In addition, it will allow users to flag potential Trafficking content to meet the requirements of the UK Internet Safety Act.
To help with this, Bluesky has enhanced its internal tools to automatically track violations and enforcement actions in one place. The system will also ensure that people get clear information about what happened and where they are.
The company notes that it is not changing what it enforces, only that it has improved its tools so it can be more consistent and transparent with its enforcement.
As part of this, Bluesky’s strike system will now assign content a severity rating, which will help dictate the enforcement action to be taken. For example, content flagged as “critical risk” would result in a permanent ban. Other content may receive a lower, medium or higher penalty. And if an account registers violations, the user could also risk a permanent ban instead of a temporary suspension.
In addition, the company says users will be notified when they are subject to an enforcement action with information about the Community Guidelines they violated, the severity level assigned, the total number of violations, how close they are to their next account-level action limit, and the duration and expiration date of any suspension. Enforcement actions can also be appealed, the company said.
The changes also follow the release of the update from Bluesky Community Guidelines in October, as part of its broader focus on getting more aggressive with moderation and enforcement on the platform.
But even as the company emphasizes its stricter rules, some Bluesky users remain upset that the company still allows a user widely criticized for his transgender writing to keep his account on the platform. That controversy erupted again in October, when Bluesky CEO Jay Graber appeared to dismiss user criticism in a handful of posts.
At the root of the issue is how Bluesky wants to be perceived versus what it actually is today.
The company doesn’t want to be known as just a left-wing or liberal version of Twitter. It wants to be a home where many different communities can network and thrive, without the hassles of a central social network. However, much of the community that adopted Bluesky did so as they no longer felt represented on Twitter/X, which has become more right-wing under new owner Elon Musk.
In addition to wanting to shape its image, Bluesky must balance its goals with a growing number of laws and regulations that require social platforms to protect their users from harm or face potentially serious consequences, such as huge fines. For example, earlier this year Bluesky blocked its service in Mississippi, saying it didn’t have the resources to comply with the state’s Age Assurance Act, which would have fined the network up to $10,000 per user for noncompliance.
