Decentralized Twitter alternative Bluesky faced criticism recently for its failure to monitor usernames, resulting in users being able to register accounts with racial slurs. Created by Jay Graber and funded by Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, Bluesky was seen as an alternative platform after Elon Musk acquired Twitter. However, the ability to use racial slurs as usernames quickly garnered backlash.
The Bluesky team promptly addressed the issue, releasing a statement emphasizing their community guidelines and values. They made it clear that racism and harassment had no place on the platform. The team took immediate action, removing accounts with racial slurs within just 40 minutes. They also patched the code that allowed such usernames to be created.
Bluesky acknowledged the need for improvements and investments in their moderation tools, policy clarity, and support systems. They reassured users that they were committed to addressing these issues as the platform grows. However, some users expressed dissatisfaction with the response, feeling that the technology issue was resolved while the people issue remained unresolved.
While Bluesky assured users that necessary changes had been made and work was ongoing to make the platform better, it is clear that there are differing opinions on the effectiveness of their response. The incident highlights the challenges faced by alternative social media platforms in ensuring user safety and community guidelines.
