Overview

• Users connecting from Mississippi IP addresses now see a notice explaining the shutdown, which Bluesky says will continue while litigation proceeds.
• Mississippi’s HB1126 requires age verification for all users and parental consent for under‑18s, with potential fines up to $10,000 per user for noncompliance.
• Bluesky says complying would necessitate collecting sensitive personal data from every account and maintaining records of which users are minors.
• The action follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to halt enforcement; Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a concurrence that the law is probably unconstitutional.
• The block applies only to the Bluesky app on the AT Protocol, and the company contrasts Mississippi’s universal checks with the UK’s narrower Online Safety Act; WIRED reported it is the first major platform to take this step.