Bluesky, the decentralized social platform that once leaned into openness and experimentation, is making clear its plans to take a harder stance on rule enforcement.
The company has announced it will begin more aggressively moderating user activity in the name of fostering what it calls “healthy conversations,” a move that has immediately triggered renewed concerns over speech limitations.
The decision follows months of community input after Bluesky shared a draft of its proposed guidelines in August.
More than 14,000 users submitted feedback, much of it voicing apprehension about how the changes might restrict creative freedom or disproportionately silence marginalized voices.
In its new announcement, Bluesky stated that it’s now preparing to act on that input by tightening enforcement.
“After considering this feedback, and in a return to our experimental roots, we are going to bring a greater focus to encouraging constructive dialogue and enforcing our rules against harassment and toxic content,” the company said. “For starters, we are going to increase our enforcement efforts.”
Users can expect fewer chances to correct behavior before accounts are either restricted or removed. A product update is also on the way, aimed at flagging potentially rule-breaking content before it’s posted, encouraging users to self-police.
The murky standards around what qualifies as a ban-worthy offense continue to frustrate users. Those decisions have been widely viewed as inconsistent, leaving many unsure of where the boundaries actually lie.
While many frustrated voices come from the left, due to the nature of the platform’s audience, others argue that the platform is cementing itself as a politically homogeneous space.
Claims that Bluesky has become hostile to anything outside a progressive worldview are not new, nor are complaints that sarcasm and satire are being policed under vague “toxicity” standards.
The company also previewed other features meant to soften the edges of user interaction, such as a so-called “zen mode” and prompts aimed at nudging people into what it defines as more constructive discussion.
Bluesky plans to roll out the revised rules on October 15.
