Mississippi passed a law requiring social platforms to collect true identities (name and age) of all state users and to get parental permission for anyone under 18. The law imposes penalties up to $10,000 per non-compliant user and applies broadly to social platforms regardless of content. Bluesky blocked access in Mississippi, citing heavy infrastructure, privacy protections, and ongoing compliance costs that can overwhelm smaller providers and entrench dominant tech companies. The law's broad scope contrasts with targeted age-gating for pornography recently upheld in other jurisdictions, raising concerns about competition and user privacy.
At issue is a bill the Mississippi Legislature passed into law last year that requires social platforms to (a) obtain the true identity - at minimum, name and age - of all their Mississippi users, and (b) for any users under age 18, to obtain parental permission for them to use the service. Lawmakers wrapped this new policy in rhetoric about protecting children from sexual exploitation online, and yet somehow crafted a law that "protects" them from vast swaths of the internet.
Unlike tech giants with vast resources, we're a small team focused on building decentralized social technology that puts users in control. Age verification systems require substantial infrastructure and developer time investments, complex privacy protections, and ongoing compliance monitoring - costs that can easily overwhelm smaller providers. This dynamic entrenches existing big tech platforms while stifling the innovation and competition that benefits users...While we share the goal of protecting young people online, we have concerns about this law's implementation: Broad scope: The law requires
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