A journalism advocacy organization says it has concerns about a decision made last week by social media platform Bluesky to block its services in Mississippi.
The decision came after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a controversial age verification law in the state, which requires online providers who distribute or allow access to sensitive content to ensure its users are 18 years old or older.
Non-compliance with the state law carries a fine of $10,000 per violation. Bluesky says it does not have the resources to comply with the stringent requirements of the law.
“While Bluesky has explained that compliance would compromise user privacy and the security of its decentralized system, the result is that residents of one of the 50 states are now barred from a widely used digital forum for public discourse,” Steve Herman, the Executive Director of the Jordan Center for Journalism Advocacy and Innovation at the University of Mississippi School of Journalism & New Media, said in a statement provided to The Desk on Monday.
Herman is a former White House bureau chief and Washington correspondent for Voice of America, who saw first hand the effects of government censorship and stifling of free speech and press during his final few months with the organization. Following deep austerity measures and massive layoffs imposed by President Donald Trump and members of his administration on Voice of America’s parent organization, Herman retired in May and accepted a new role at the University of Mississippi — and likely didn’t expect to find himself commenting on a similar matter involving government impositions.
“For decades, the United States has criticized governments that restrict or fragment the open flow of information online. In countries such as China, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, geo-blocking — whether imposed directly by governments or implemented by companies under state pressure — prevents access to platforms that facilitate open conversation,” Herman said. “To see this happening at home, even if driven by legal and technical constraints rather than overt censorship, raises troubling questions about the trajectory of digital rights in this country.”
The law has already affected at least one news organization in Mississippi: Earlier this year, the non-profit Mississippi Free Press decided to leave X (formerly Twitter) “for a lot of reasons” and move its core social outreach efforts to Bluesky.
“As a nonprofit publication, we do not take positions on specific legislation or laws,” Ashton Pittman, the News Editor at the Free Press, wrote in a post last Friday. “But whatever the Mississippi Legislature’s intent, we now find ourselves in a place where we are now having to grapple with how to ensure we can stay connected with all of our readers, many of whom follow us on Bluesky.”
Pittman continued: “We don’t know yet what this will mean for our ability to continue to post on Bluesky. Frankly, I’m more concerned about how this will prevent our readers who follow us on Bluesky from continuing to do so. I know that many of our more tech-savvy readers may find ways around IP blocks, but many won’t, and it’s up to us to ensure we’re still able to reach as many of you as possible.”
Pittman said the Free Press will continue to post on other platforms, including Threads, Mastodon and Facebook, while it considers its options for Bluesky. The news outlet also encouraged readers to sign up for its free newsletters delivered by e-mail.
“I promise, we are urgently thinking about the best ways to continue to reach everyone and to expand our reach,” Pittman said. “We’ve weathered storms before — like the downfall of Twitter as a platform where we could meaningfully connect with our readers — and we’ll weather this one.”
