Our Response to Mississippi's Age Assurance Law

Mississippi law vs UK rules

• Commenters highlight Bluesky’s own distinction: UK Online Safety Act targets specific features/content, with optional age checks and no tracking of minors’ status.
• Mississippi’s law is described as requiring site-wide age verification, persistent tracking of who is a child, and collection of “sensitive” IDs, seen as far more intrusive.

Bluesky’s IP block and community reaction

• Many support blocking Mississippi as the “only correct response” to an overreaching law and a way to pressure courts and lawmakers.
• Others argue this isn’t “fighting” but surrendering part of the market to stay safe legally.
• Some suggest fully exiting US jurisdictions or leaning more on the underlying protocol so alternative apps can circumvent state rules.

Child safety, porn, and social media harms

• Strong split between “parental responsibility and filters are enough” vs “that’s technically hard and many parents can’t or won’t do it.”
• Some see the real problem as addictive algorithmic feeds and social media’s correlation with teen mental health issues, more than porn itself.
• Others note obvious workarounds (VPNs, shared devices, open Wi‑Fi) will limit effectiveness, making these laws mostly “security theater.”

Motives and competence of lawmakers

• Widespread belief that legislators don’t understand internet technology or second‑order effects.
• Some speculate that think tanks and culture‑war agendas (anti‑LGBTQ, anti‑porn, broader surveillance) drive these laws under “protecting children.”
• Hypocrisy is noted: same factions talk about parental autonomy but seek broad content control.

Impacts on speech, small platforms, and power

• Many see age‑verification mandates as de facto speech regulation that burdens small and emerging platforms most, while big players and politically allied sites may be shielded.
• There’s concern this delegitimizes the state and legal system when enforcement is visibly selective.

Age verification schemes and infrastructure

• Ideas raised: centralized or app-based age-verification, government-backed digital IDs with zero-knowledge proofs, browser/HTTP headers marking “adult” content.
• Skeptics warn these create markets for “age-verified” accounts, push toward device-identity binding, and are a dream for surveillance and ad targeting.

Circumvention, enforcement, and broader trend

• VPNs, Tor, and private tunnels are seen as the only practical workarounds; some ask for low-friction, privacy-focused options.
• Questions arise about how states can fine out-of-state or foreign platforms; answer: interstate commerce and pressure on local ISPs.
• Other states (Wyoming, South Dakota) are cited as even more extreme, and there’s a sense this era is pushing toward wider internet fragmentation and control under the banner of child safety.