Jordan Center Statement on Bluesky Cutting Off Mississippi

An important social media platform is blocking access in the state of Mississippi following enactment of a new state law mandating age-verification for users.

OXFORD, MS (August 25, 2025) — The Jordan Center for Journalism Advocacy and Innovation is deeply concerned by Bluesky’s decision to block access to its social media platform in the state of Mississippi following enactment of a new state law mandating age-verification for users.

“While Bluesky has explained that compliance would compromise user privacy and the security of its decentralized system, the result is that residents of one of the 50 states are now barred from a widely used digital forum for public discourse,” said Steven L Herman, the center’s executive director at the University of Mississippi School of Journalism & New Media.

Bluesky is a relatively small but fast-growing network built around principles of decentralization and user control. Larger platforms—such as Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter)—have not taken similar steps, even though they too are subject to the same state law.

“This contrast underscores the precarious position of smaller technology companies when confronted with sweeping regulatory mandates: they may lack the technological or legal resources and infrastructure to adapt without undermining their core values or exposing users to risks,” said Herman.

In its statement on Friday announcing the action, Bluesky noted that complying with Mississippi’s HB1126 would mean building verification and compliance infrastructure beyond the resources of the social media platform’s small team, “which is focused on developing safety tools and features for our global community, particularly given the law’s broad scope and privacy implications.”

The law includes potential penalties for noncompliance of up to $10,000 per user.

The implications for free speech and access to information cannot be overlooked, according to the Jordan Center.

“For decades, the United States has criticized governments that restrict or fragment the open flow of information online. In countries such as China, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, geo-blocking—whether imposed directly by governments or implemented by companies under state pressure—prevents access to platforms that facilitate open conversation. To see this happening at home, even if driven by legal and technical constraints rather than overt censorship, raises troubling questions about the trajectory of digital rights in this country.”

HB1126, known as the “Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act,” was prompted by the suicide in 2022 of 16-year-old Walker Montgomery of Starkville, Mississippi, after an online predator attempted to blackmail him with the threat to release a sexually explicit video of him. An FBI investigation revealed that those preying on the teen were overseas and other instances of predatory activity on minors in Mississippi were also reported.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to weigh in on the numerous state-level age verification laws being reviewed across the country.

The Mississippi law, approved with good intentions, unfortunately could be the catalyst for other legislatures to pass regulations that could carve the American internet into a patchwork of uneven access and protections, disproportionately harm communities in already underserved areas, including rural counties that are often “news deserts,” where social media platforms help fill critical gaps in the local information ecosystem.

“Laws that inadvertently encourage companies to restrict access do little to advance the public interest and may, in fact, erode democratic participation,” said Herman.

The Jordan Center urges policymakers, technology leaders and civil society to work together on solutions that strike a better balance between safety and openness. Mississippi residents deserve the same access to platforms of civic conversation as their fellow citizens in every other state.

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Contact: Steven L Herman, exec. director, Jordan Center for Journalism Advocacy & Innovation

stevenh@olemiss.edu

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The Jordan Center for Journalism Advocacy and Innovation is located at the University of Mississippi’s School of Journalism and New Media. The views of the Jordan Center do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Mississippi or the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning.