Bluesky, which saw notable growth following the exodus of users from X, the Twitter network, is in the crosshairs of the European Commission for violation of European Union legislation. According to statements by Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier, Bluesky failed to comply with the transparency requirements established in the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The clash of Bluesky and European legislation
As reported by the Financial Times, the main flaw lies in the absence of a dedicated website which reveal the number of users of the platform in the EU and its legal establishment within the bloc. This information is mandatory for all platforms operating in the European Union, regardless of their size.
The European Commission’s intervention comes at a time when Bluesky has seen a massive increase in users, including figures like Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The platform took advantage of the controversy generated by Elon Musk’s decisions at X.
In response to this situation, the Commission contacted the 27 national governments of the EU toattempt to locate any trace of the presence of Bluesky on European territory, as an EU based office. So far, the Commission has not contacted the company directly.
Bluesky, an American public benefit corporation led by digital rights activist and software engineer Jay Graber, was founded in 2019 with the aim of develop a single standard on which social platforms and other developers could build their own operations. The platform now looks like X, with users posting short messages and images.
Although Bluesky has not yet reached the threshold of 45 million monthly users in the EU to be designated as a very large online platform, the Commission said that if member states can identify a representative of the EU-based company, Brussels will contact Bluesky.
This situation highlights the growing regulatory focus on social media platforms in the EU and the importance of complying with transparency and digital regulatory standards in the European market. Meanwhile, Bluesky continues to grow, with a 300% increase in app usage in the US and UK since US election day, reaching 3.5 million daily users according to research group data
