It sounds like Bluesky is getting serious about giving some users the boot, with the company saying it will be doing more to “enforce our moderation policies to better cultivate a space for healthy conversations.”
This is part of a broader update to the social media company’s community guidelines, after Bluesky asked users in August to provide feedback on an earlier draft of these changes. In a new blog post, the company said it received comments from more than 14,000 community members and that it “especially heard from community members who shared concerns about how the guidelines could impact creative expression and traditionally marginalized voices.”
“After considering this feedback, and in a return to our experimental roots, we are going to bring a greater focus to encouraging constructive dialogue and enforcing our rules against harassment and toxic content,” the company said. “For starters, we are going to increase our enforcement efforts.”
As part of that enforcement, Bluesky said that it will “more quickly escalate enforcement actions towards account restrictions.” When asked for more details, a Bluesky spokesperson told TechCrunch that moving forward, users who violate the guidelines will be getting fewer warnings before their accounts are deactivated.
In addition, the company will be “making product changes that clarify when content is likely to violate our community guidelines” — so perhaps users will also see more warnings before they post content that might run afoul of the guidelines.
Who gets banned and why remains a fraught issue for Bluesky (as it is for most social networks). For example, there have been recurring complaints that accounts fundraising for Palestinians in Gaza have been unfairly suspended.
More recently, many users criticized Bluesky’s decision to temporarily suspend the horror writer Gretchen Felker-Martin due to her now-deleted comments about the shooting of Charlie Kirk. Writer Roxane Gay described Bluesky’s decision — along with DC Comics’ cancellation of Felker-Martin’s “Red Hood” comic book — as “unacceptable,” “ridiculous,” and an “absolute shame.”
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Felker-Martin responded succinctly to Bluesky’s post announcing the new guidelines, writing, “thanks this sucks.”
In addition to criticism from its more left-leaning users, Bluesky also faces ongoing complaints that it has become a liberal echo chamber. (And there definitely seem to be users who can’t take a joke.)
The company’s post mentions other upcoming product changes, including a “zen mode” that would set new defaults for users who want a calmer social media experience, as well as “prompts for how to engage in more constructive conversations.”
Bluesky said the actual guidelines have been further revised based on user feedback, with more specific language in some sections, as well as a new section about protected expression, such as journalism and education.
Since these changes were announced on Friday, much of the response on Bluesky has focused on guidelines that forbid “sexual content involving non-consensual activity,” even if the content is animated, illustrated, or synthetic. (Gaming marketplaces, including Steam and Itch.io, recently faced backlash after seeming to crack down on games with edgy or even illegal adult content.)
One user, for example, complained that Bluesky should “worry less about whether or not a cartoon has rights and more about whether real life trans and Palestinian people do.” Another said this language “has literally always been there because it’s boilerplate social media stuff” and suggested that users were confused because of “bluesky’s dogs–t comms.”
The Bluesky spokesperson said, “There’s been some misunderstanding here — we haven’t changed anything about our enforcement in this area and have no intention of doing so.”
The new guidelines are scheduled to take effect on October 15.
