\n<\/p>\n
Bluesky\u2019s moderation woes continue as users threaten to leave the site in protest of its failure to flag slurs in account usernames.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Many users \u2014 particularly Black users \u2014 are frustrated that <\/span>Bluesky<\/span><\/a> hasn\u2019t apologized for allowing racial slurs to slip through its moderation tools even though they violate the platform\u2019s community guidelines. It\u2019s the latest miss for the company, which has been under backlash for <\/span>being slow to crack down on hate speech<\/span><\/a> and threats against marginalized communities.<\/span><\/p>\n The platform is also under fire for removing numerous racist, ableist and transphobic slurs from its list of flagged words in a contentious update last week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur community guidelines published yesterday reflect our values for a healthy community, and we\u2019re working on becoming better stewards every day,\u201d Bluesky CEO Jay Graber said in a <\/span>post<\/span><\/a> on Saturday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Last week, users <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> an account that used a racial slur as its username. The account had been active for 16 days before users flagged it. Bluesky removed the account the same day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cUser handles that are slur words are a form of harassment,\u201d Bluesky said in a post. \u201cWe\u2019ve deployed a change so that these handles can no longer be created in the app.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Bluesky updated its banned word list, which includes slurs, expletives and celebrity names that cannot be used as usernames when creating a new account. But the change didn\u2019t account for already existing accounts, and one user was able to change their handle to a racial slur hours after the update.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Users <\/span>flagged<\/span><\/a> that account, and questioned why it was able to slip through Bluesky\u2019s banned words filter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As many users <\/span>pointed out on GitHub<\/span><\/a>, the update also removed numerous racist, ableist and transphobic slurs from the list of words that users are not allowed to use in their handles. The update prompted fierce debate in the GitHub comments, in which some users argued that certain words that are considered slurs in English have innocuous meanings in French and Spanish. Others noted that the list only prevents users from including flagged words in their usernames, not from using them in posts. Bluesky eventually locked the thread and marked it as \u201ctoo heated.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe next time I hear someone say code can\u2019t be racist or ableist, I\u2019ll just point them to this commit,\u201d GitHub user siobhandougall <\/span>commented<\/span><\/a> on the update before Bluesky locked the thread. \u201cAnything to say about it? Or are you just gonna lock comments so you can all pretend there are no consequences?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In protest of Bluesky\u2019s missteps and lack of apology for failing to implement a slur filter, swaths of users threatened to leave the platform. Rudy Fraser, who created Blacksky \u2014 a custom feed for Black Bluesky users \u2014 said he would delete his account if Bluesky didn\u2019t respond.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSomeone else can host the feed if they\u2019d like,\u201d he <\/span>posted<\/span><\/a>. \u201cBluesky\u2019s silence has made y\u2019all bold.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Others vowed to stop engaging with the platform entirely. The Twitter-famous Dril <\/span>announced<\/span><\/a> a \u201cposting strike from here until they make every one not racist or whatever.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Some users did follow through. Aveta, a software engineer who shaped Bluesky\u2019s usership by inviting hundreds of Black Twitter users during Bluesky\u2019s early days, mourned the shrinking Black community on the app.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAll the beautiful people that [I] helped invite over that left,\u201d she <\/span>posted<\/span><\/a>. \u201cLiterally this is my community, black tech. damn man.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The next day, Bluesky <\/span>announced<\/span><\/a> updates to its <\/span>terms of service<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>community guidelines<\/span><\/a>. The community guidelines forbid users from using the platform to \u201cbreak the law or cause harm to others,\u201d the company said in a post. Users are also expected to \u201ctreat others with respect,\u201d and Bluesky does not allow conduct that \u201ctargets people based on their race, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, disability, or sexual orientation.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the comments, users pressed the company on whether it\u2019ll enforce the community guidelines, and questioned whether Bluesky will hire more human staff to its trust and safety team, instead of relying on automated moderation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The company did not reply to user comments, but posted a <\/span>thread<\/span><\/a> the next day, stating that racism and harassment have \u201cno place on Bluesky.\u201d The company also said it invested in expanding its trust and safety team, improving and clarifying policies and prioritizing moderation tools.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOn Wednesday, users reported an account that had a slur as its handle. This handle was in violation of our community guidelines, and it was our mistake that allowed it to be created,\u201d Bluesky stated in the thread, which was posted after midnight EST. \u201c40 minutes after it was reported, the account was taken down, and the code that allowed this to occur was patched. To make this a great place as we grow, we\u2019ll continue to invest in moderation, feedback, and support systems that scale with the number of users on the app.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Bluesky did not issue a public apology. Embittered users don\u2019t expect it from the platform.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure why anyone is waiting on the Bluesky staff to apologize,\u201d software developer Angie Jones <\/span>posted<\/span><\/a>. \u201cObviously, they aren\u2019t sorry, nor regretful. You think they forgot to exclude that word?! Of course not.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At least one Bluesky developer has apologized. Bryan Newbold, who was widely tagged on GitHub for publishing the banned words update, explained that the update replaced the \u201cpublicly contributed list of slurs\u201d with an \u201cemergency list\u201d that was based on identifying slurs targeting Black users. The emergency list also included antisemitic terms, he said in a GitHub comment. The banned words list was a \u201ctemporary measure\u201d that has since been replaced with a \u201cmore complex mitigation\u201d that will \u201csurely need to be revised over time.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n