Social networking platform Bluesky lifted its registration ban on heads of state this weekend. This means that various function holders can join the platform. Bluesky’s decision comes ahead of major general elections expected to be held this year in countries including the United States and India.
Last year, during Bluesky’s invite-only period, the company said it didn’t allow heads of state to sign up and asked users to contact the startup before inviting VIPs .
“We appreciate everyone’s enthusiasm in sending out invitations, but our current policy is that we cannot yet welcome heads of state to join us in our beta. This also applies to recent/prominent heads of state,” the company said at the time.
Notably, in February, the company opened up the platform allowing anyone to sign up for the service after remaining in invite-only mode for almost a year.
Bluesky faced moderation issues early in its life and struggled with issues such as allowing racist slurs in handles. Furthermore, users have continually pushed the platform to crack down on hate speech.
Last December, Bluesky added moderation lists as well as automated moderation tools. Last month, it announced the Ozone tool, which allows users to create their own moderation and labeling services.
With the social network now allowing political leaders to join the platform, there could be new types of moderation issues that it has not yet faced. And you will have to prepare for different possibilities.
Bluesky’s rival Threads has distanced itself from actively recommending political content. However, Bluesky users do not need to rely on a central algorithm to review different types of political content, as they can subscribe to different feeds.
techcrunch
