Computer Help and Support

LeftInTX

(35,321 posts) Wed Jul 15, 2026, 10:49 PM 17 hrs ago

Blue Sky requires age verification for Texans, UK, EU, Australia, Brazil and US states with age verification laws.

The way their going about it: SSN, Credit Card or Govt ID.

I'm not giving them any info.

No other social media app is demanding this.

I can view BlueSky if I log out. (No, I'm not going to invest in a VPN. I don't post on Blue Sky enough and I can read posts and their responses on DU)

But if Blue Sky wants to grow, why are they trying to shrink their user base? Meta and Twitter and YouTube have explicility stated that they are not going to comply with the Texas law and they haven't. Seriously, asking for your SSN??? Your DL???

Update, September 26, 2025: Ohio has a law similar to South Dakota and Wyoming regulations, so we'll be implementing the same solution in Ohio, effective September 29th.

Update December 8, 2025: Virginia's age assurance law takes effect on January 1, 2026. We are making an update to comply and will not allow users in Virginia who are under 16 years old.

Update December 16, 2025: We have made an update to comply with Tennessee's age assurance law and will not allow users in Tennessee who are under 18 years old.

Update May 7, 2026: We have made an update to comply with Brazil's age assurance law and will restrict access to certain content and features for users in Brazil under the age of 18.

Update July 8, 2026: We have made an update to comply with Texas's age assurance law and will restrict access to certain content and features for users in Texas under the age of 18

https://bsky.social/about/blog/09-10-2025-age-assurance-approach
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Pretty soon Blue Sky will require age verification in CA and NY. That certainly won't help BlueSky.

Data Breach due to age verification:
https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/1o2uqme/discord_data_breach_15_tb_of_data_and_2_million/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_age_verification_in_the_United_Kingdom

As an upstart, wouldn't you want your user base to grow, not shrink?

6 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Blue Sky requires age verification for Texans, UK, EU, Australia, Brazil and US states with age verification laws. (Original Post) LeftInTX 17 hrs ago OP

Bluesky isn't doing it to users LearnedHand 17 hrs ago #1

But the other SM platforms are not doing this. It's their choice. LeftInTX 17 hrs ago #3

Interesting canetoad 17 hrs ago #2

Well, I read they're doing it in Australia because of age verification over there. LeftInTX 17 hrs ago #4

need this on truth social msongs 17 hrs ago #5

Really. It will tank. LeftInTX 17 hrs ago #6

LearnedHand

(5,716 posts)

1. Bluesky isn't doing it to users

Reply to LeftInTX (Original post)

Wed Jul 15, 2026, 10:54 PM

17 hrs ago

States are passing these ridiculous laws. But I’m with you about not giving them any ID. If my state passed such a law I’d simply not use BlueSky

LeftInTX

(35,321 posts)

3. But the other SM platforms are not doing this. It's their choice.

Reply to LearnedHand (Reply #1)

Wed Jul 15, 2026, 10:58 PM

17 hrs ago

Until the other SM platforms insist on this, then I will point the finger at them.

FWIW: I forgot my BlueSky password quite awhile back. I could not reset it for anything! It never worked. I even emailed. Heard back from them, "Oh we'll fix it". After a month, they never fixed it.

I was about ready to give up, until I found my password stored in my password manager under "bsky"....I was looking under BlueSky. Hence, I was able to log on again.

But the password issue shows their infrastructure...or lack of it.

canetoad

(21,365 posts)

2. Interesting

Reply to LeftInTX (Original post)

Wed Jul 15, 2026, 10:55 PM

17 hrs ago

I signed up to BlueSky using an old Google account left over from the days I edited websites. My ISP is local, ie Australian. I haven't been asked to provide verification, despite the info in the Google account being less than totally transparent.