Overview
- Vice President JD Vance joined Bluesky on June 18 and used his first posts to criticize transgender youth treatments while citing Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurrence in a recent Supreme Court decision.
- Automated safeguards flagged his new profile as a potential impersonation attempt, leading to its suspension within minutes of his initial post.
- Bluesky reinstated Vance’s account within about 20 minutes and added a verified badge to confirm the profile’s authenticity.
- His entry into the 30 million-user platform triggered significant backlash from liberal users, making Vance the most blocked account on Bluesky.
- The episode highlights the challenges social media networks face in balancing rapid moderation, accurate verification and politically charged free-speech debates.