Overview

• In his inaugural Bluesky post, Vice President Vance quoted Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring opinion on Tennessee’s ban of transgender medical treatments for minors and criticized pharmaceutical funding of experts.
• The platform suspended Vance’s account about 12 minutes after his post, attributing the action to an automated security filter that mistakenly flagged potential identity fraud.
• Bluesky quickly reinstated and verified Vance’s profile within 20 minutes, with a spokesperson affirming his authenticity and welcoming his participation.
• Prominent Republicans and conservative commentators denounced the suspension as censorship and evidence of a left-leaning bias in Bluesky’s moderation policies.
• The incident underscores challenges for Bluesky as it expands beyond 36 million users and positions itself as an alternative to X in a politically polarized landscape.