- Bluesky has decided to leave Mississippi in response to the new time verification law
- According to the law, social media platforms must verify all of users’ ages before giving them access
- People in Mississippi may be able to keep access to Bluesky by forgery of their IP address with a VPN
Bluesky has decided to Complete Mississippi in response to the new age verification law, which now requires social media platforms to verify the age of any user before giving them access.
Elon Musk’s X -Rival warns that the new requirements “would fundamentally change how users have access to Bluesky” while opening privacy and security challenges that would especially influence smaller providers.
As of Friday, August 22, 2025, Bluesky is blocking all traffic from Mississippi IP addresses. However, this means that users based in the state may be able to turn to the best VPN services to continue using the app.
“We’re not making this decision easily,” Bluesky wrote in his official announcement while ensuring that child security remains a core priority. Yet, “We believe this law creates challenges that go beyond its childhood safety goals, and create significant barriers that limit free expression and disproportionate damage minor platforms and new technologies.”
As a decentralized platform, the block applies only to the Bluesky app based on the protocol. “Other apps and services may choose to answer differently,” the provider explains.
Why is Bluesky worried about Mississippi’s age verification method?
Under Mississippi’s HB1126 law, which was maintained by the US Supreme Court on August 14, all social media platforms must verify that any user who has access to the platform is over 18 and gets custody of all minors who want to use the app.
The law also requires tech providers to identify and keep track of all teenage and child users. Fines for non -compliance can reach up to $ 10,000 per year. User.
“Building the required verification systems, custody workflows, and compliance infrastructure infrastructure would require significant resources that our small team is currently unable to save when investing in the development of security tools and functions for our global community,” Bluesky explains.
However, the financial burden is only half the story.
Bluesky is also concerned that “the broad extent of the law” can affect all citizens of Mississippi (not just minors) to use their favorite platforms, affecting their right to freedom of expression and access to information.
The provider also warns against the consequences of privacy that can come from collecting and storing such sensitive information about all users, as well as from tracking minors online.
Unfortunately, Bluesky is not available in Mississippi right now due to a new state law that requires age verification for all users. While we are intended for child security, we believe that this law poses wider challenges and creates significant barriers that limit free utterance and damage less platforms like ours.
– @BSKY.APP ( @bsky.app.bsky.social) 2025-08-26T14: 19: 50.674Z
Age control is also not the real problem here. Bluesky was actually one of the first providers to enforce age confirmation rules in the UK.
Still, there is a significant difference between the two laws.
According to the UK Online Safety Act, Bluesky and similar providers may only verify users’ age to access content that is considered legal but harmful.
“Mississippi’s law, on the other hand, would block anyone from accessing the site – teens and adults – unless they hand over sensitive information, and once they have done so, the law in Mississippi Bluesky requires to keep track of which users are children,” the provider explains.
Can a VPN help?
The Bluesky app is now set to block access to all Mississippi IP addresses “until legal challenges for this law are resolved,” the provider explains.
However, a virtual private network (VPN) can help you get back online. A VPN is security software that not only encrypts all your Internet connections, but also falsifies your IP address by redirecting your traffic via one of its international servers.
Therefore, if you are in Mississippi and want to keep access to Bluesky, all you need to do is connect to a VPN server based where the app is available.
However, remember to use only reliable and secure services to ensure your data remains secure. At the time of writing, NordVPN Techradar is the top recommendation. If you are not willing to pay for a subscription yet, I suggest you check our best free VPNs guide, where Privadovpn and Proton VPN are today’s top choice.
