Bluesky, a fast-growing social media platform, has come under scrutiny for failing to comply with European Union (EU) transparency regulations.
According to reports by Reuters the platform does not provide critical information mandated under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
A spokesperson for the European Commission disclosed that Bluesky has not established a dedicated page on its website to disclose its user numbers within the EU and its legal establishment.
This is a requirement under the DSA, even for platforms classified as small or below the threshold of a “Very Large Online Platform.”
“All platforms in the EU even the smallest ones which are below the threshold, which is the case for Bluesky, have to have a dedicated page on their website where it says how many user numbers they have in the EU and where they are legally established. This is not the case for Bluesky as of today,” the spokesperson stated.
The absence of this page puts Bluesky in violation of EU regulations designed to promote transparency and accountability among all platforms operating within the region.
EU’s approach to enforcing compliance
The European Commission has not yet directly reached out to the company. Instead, the Commission has engaged with the 27 EU member states to investigate Bluesky’s presence.
Bluesky has yet to respond to the Commission’s concerns or provide an explanation for its non-compliance.
Failure to comply with the DSA can result in financial penalties or restricted access to EU markets. While the platform has been expanding its user base, non-compliance could pose challenges for Bluesky’s growth and reputation.
What you should know
Bluesky was initially launched as a project by Twitter to develop an open social protocol aimed at decentralizing social media. The goal was to create a system that would allow different platforms to interact, giving users more control over their data and content.
- The name “Bluesky” served as a placeholder during its early experimental phase. Originally intended as a Twitter initiative, the project later became an independent entity, with Bluesky evolving into a social media platform focused on user autonomy and privacy.
- On November 19th, the CEO of Bluesky Jay Graber noted the social media platform has experienced remarkable growth, surpassing 20 million users and adding over a million new users daily.
- Currently, Bluesky operates with a compact team of about 20 full-time employees, each effectively supporting a user base of approximately 1 million people.
- One of the platform’s standout features is its customizable algorithmic feeds, which offer users the ability to create or subscribe to personalized content feeds instead of relying on a single “For You” algorithm. This innovation according to Graber has led to the creation of over 50,000 custom feeds, highlighting Bluesky’s emphasis on user-controlled content curation
In a significant move to address growing concerns about user privacy and content usage, Bluesky, in a post stated that it has no intention of using user-generated content to train generative AI tools. This statement came just as X (formerly Twitter) introduced new terms of service outlining how it would analyze user data to train its own AI models.
However, it uses AI internally for content moderation to ensure a safer user experience.
