Social media startup Bluesky has seen a surge in new users over the past week, more than doubling its user base to more than 15 million people as leftists flee X/Twitter. But rapid growth also posed significant moderation challenges for the young company. Because of its overwhelmingly left-leaning user base, the company has been inundated with flagged posts, requests for censorship, and even child pornography.
of new york times report As the social media landscape changes dramatically, Bluesky, a relatively new social network, is experiencing unprecedented growth. Founded by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Bluesky was initially introduced as an invite-only prototype with the goal of closely managing its growth. But over the past week, the platform's user base has more than doubled to more than 15 million people as people seek alternatives to established networks like X, Facebook, and Threads.
Bluesky's rapid growth has propelled the app to the top of both Apple and Google's app stores and currently holds the position of the most downloaded free app. This sudden influx of users forced the company, which consists of just 20 full-time employees, to adapt and expand its operations virtually overnight.
Blue Sky Chief Executive Officer Jay Graeber, 33, acknowledged the challenges that come with such rapid growth. “As a team, we pride ourselves on our ability to scale quickly,” she said in an interview. “But there are always growing pains.” Graeber said the app, while still significantly smaller than its competitors, is adding more than 1 million new users per day.
After several days of explosive growth on the platform, the Bluesky Safety team announced Friday that it had received 42,000 moderation reports in the past 24 hours. This compares to 360,000 in all of 2023. The most troubling thing is that the company admitted that it had received reports of “CSAM.” or child sexual abuse material, commonly known as child pornography.
On X/Twitter, users note that the new platform will quickly censor anyone who thinks the wrong way. That includes one user who was reportedly banned from his account the same day he signed up, reflecting previous Twitter moderation rules before Elon Musk bought the company.
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Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering free speech and online censorship issues.
