Blue Sky has a systemic racism issue that needs to be addressed.

In the wake of instability issues with Twitter, many users have been searching for alternative social media platforms. Among these, three apps have gained prominence, particularly among creatives. Bluesky, Threads, and Spill have all become popular choices, but on July 12th, a major issue with Bluesky was revealed.

Users began to report incidents where the n-word was included in the usernames of certain accounts. Incredibly, Bluesky had no moderation protocol for usernames, which meant that any user was able to create accounts with offensive names.

Bluesky responded to the reports, but their response was delayed and they framed it as a one-off “mistake”, as opposed to a serious oversight. In a post to their official Bluesky account, they wrote: “On 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. 40 minutes after it was reported, the account was taken down, and the code that allowed this to occur was patched.”

Their response was not taken seriously until a LinkedIn post from Scott Hirleman, the host of Data Mesh podcast on Spotify, went viral. In the post, he criticized the company for not investing in Trust and Safety, and questioned whether they cared about marginalized groups.

The problem of anti-Blackness in the tech space has been a problem for years, and this is reflected in the lack of diversity in both employment and leadership. The most recent figures show that Black employment is at 7%, while white and Asian employment stands at 63% and 20% respectively.

The lack of diversity is also reflected in how Black users experience their digital lives. Under Elon Musk's tenure as the de facto leader of Twitter, white supremacists have been emboldened, and the platform has become a safe space for hate. Sacha Roytman Dratwa, the CEO of Combat Antisemitism Movement, tells News Direct that “a single tweet from someone like Nick Fuentes or Ye has the power to sow seeds of hate for years to come”.

[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]