Government censorship has officially reached Bluesky. Following a formal request from Turkish authorities earlier this month, the social network restricted access to 72 accounts, sparking an intense debate over the platform’s commitment to decentralization and open speech.
According to a report by the Freedom of Expression Association, the move includes blocking 59 accounts under the guise of “national security and public order,” while another 13 accounts and at least one post have been rendered invisible to users within Turkey.
Is Bluesky Still Truly Open?
The decision to comply with Turkish mandates has triggered significant backlash from users who migrated to the platform specifically to escape the heavy-handed moderation seen on X. This community outcry questions whether the network is genuinely decentralized or if it is merely mirroring the operational constraints of its competitors.
On the official Bluesky app, users have no mechanism to opt out of the company’s moderation services. When Bluesky agrees to censor content in a specific region, those geographic labelers are enforced globally at the application level, leaving no room for users to bypass the restrictions.
The Third-Party App Loophole
While the official app is restricted, the AT Protocol ecosystem offers a technical workaround. Because Bluesky is built on a decentralized framework, third-party clients are not currently required to implement the platform’s geographic labelers. Apps like Skeets, Ouranos, Deer.social, and Skywalker currently allow users to view content without these regional constraints.
However, this “solution” remains fragile. Developers have largely avoided implementing geographic labelers due to the technical burden, not necessarily as an act of defiance. As these apps scale, they could face the same government pressure as the parent company, risking removal from app stores if they refuse to comply with local censorship laws.
Building for Resistance
Some developers are proactively engineering for a more censored future. Aviva Ruben, creator of the Deer.social client, is building features that allow users to entirely disable official moderation services in favor of third-party alternatives. The app also includes manual location configuration, effectively neutralizing geolocation-based blocks.
“I like the current policy, but I do fear it will get more restrictive,” Ruben noted, emphasizing the necessity for alternative “AppViews” to maintain the integrity of the network’s data.
With censorship now a reality on the platform, the community faces a new challenge: preparing for a future where government demands for content removal may extend far beyond illegal material, potentially reaching into political dissent across various global jurisdictions.
Update: As of April 20, 2025, new data indicates 63 accounts were impacted, with 19 accounts and 5 posts now hidden from view in Turkey.