Now, Bluesky, a decentralized social networking platform, is stepping up. As part of its response to Mississippi’s new age verification law, HB 1126, it will suspend its services in Mississippi. This bill would mandate that every social media platform determine the ages of users under 18 before they’re allowed on the service. Consequently, all users of these platforms are required to disclose personal data.
The law has already been dealt multiple legal blows. It requires platforms to get parental consent before signing up users under 18 years old. Failure to comply can lead to fines of $10,000 per individual user. Last week, three U.S. Supreme Court justices rejected an emergency appeal. Unfortunately, this major decision means the law can come into full effect and adds new layers of confusing compliance for the little tech companies.
In a recent blog post, Bluesky detailed how the law will impact the platform’s operations. As a traditionally small team, our work is centered on advancing decentralized social technology. Sadly, us and all of our peer organizations don’t have the funding necessary to make the hundreds of technical changes the law requires.
“Unlike tech giants with vast resources, we’re a small team focused on building decentralized social technology that puts users in control,” Bluesky stated in their announcement.
The company expressed concerns about the wide reach of the law and the privacy risks it may pose. Bluesky wrote about how age verification systems would require significant infrastructure and developer hours to even put in place. These systems need robust privacy safeguards and continuous compliance enforcement. These burdensome requirements disproportionately affect smaller providers and unintentionally solidify the largest technology companies in the marketplace.
Furthermore, Bluesky noted that Mississippi’s law differs significantly from other age verification regulations, such as the U.K.’s Online Safety Act (OSA), which only mandates age checks for specific content and features. That stark difference begs the question of whether it’s practical to expect enforcement of such strict requirements in a fast-moving and continuously innovating digital space.
Sarah Perez, a long time transportation, policy, and tech reporter over at TechCrunch, has been tracking this story for days. Prior to coming to TechCrunch, she traveled the world for over three years with ReadWriteWeb. She comes with deep experience in I.T., having worked in banking, retail and software industries.
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