Bluesky Goes Dark in Mississippi over Age Verification Law

Bluesky’s Decentralization in Practice vs Theory

• Several commenters argue the Mississippi block “proves” Bluesky isn’t truly decentralized, since a single company can flip a switch and block a whole state.
• Others counter that the AT protocol is decentralized while Bluesky-the-company is just one large provider; users can already move to independent PDS servers and third‑party appviews.
• Skeptics respond that, in practice, most users use bsky.app and Bluesky’s infrastructure, so power is still centralized and vulnerable to pressure, similar to Twitter.

How the Mississippi Block Works and How Easy It Is to Bypass

• The “shutdown” affects mainly the official web frontend and mobile app, which on startup call a geolocation endpoint and show a block screen if a flag is set.
• This mechanism is client‑side and trivially bypassed with adblock, VPNs, or third‑party clients and alternative frontends/relays, which reportedly continue to work in Mississippi.
• Debate arises over whether this is “token/performative” compliance or a legally acceptable “best effort” under geo‑IP–based blocking.

Age Verification as a Pretext for Speech Control

• Many see the Mississippi law, and similar ones, as primarily about controlling speech platforms rather than protecting children, echoing concerns about the UK Online Safety Act.
• Commenters note that the rhetoric is “protect the children,” but the targeted services are those that influence public discourse.
• Some worry these schemes invariably create pressure to ban VPNs or heavily regulate them.

Comparisons: Mastodon, Nostr, and Other Networks

• Mastodon is cited as harder for a state to suppress because of its many independent instances in multiple jurisdictions.
• Nostr is praised as more resistant to state‑level attacks due to its relay model, though it has discovery and culture issues.
• Some feel Bluesky combines “the worst of both worlds”: central control over moderation plus partial decentralization complexity.

Effectiveness of Censorship and Social Dynamics

• Discussion extends to China and Russia’s firewalls: governments can’t reach 100% control but can effectively block most people.
• One thread argues that if only 1% can access censored ideas, they’ll be treated as cranks regardless of truth, drawing analogies to flat‑earth and religious belief to illustrate majority dynamics.