Bluesky is at a crossroads as users petition to ban Jesse Singal for anti-trans views

Now with 25 million users, Bluesky is facing a test that will determine whether its platform will still be seen as a safe place and a safe haven from X. In recent days, a large number of users on Bluesky are urging the company to ban the newcomer with his ideas and shared activities both on and off the platform. .

Author and podcast host Jesse Singal joined Bluesky 12 days ago to the shock of much of the Bluesky community. Singal has been listed by GLAAD’s Accountability Project for her writings on gender and other issues. The GLAAD project “documents anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and discriminatory actions by politicians, commentators, heads of organizations, religious leaders, and law enforcement officials, who have used platforms, influence, and power to spread misinformation and harm LGBTQ people.”

He is now the most banned user on the social network, and the user’s anger at his participation on the platform is growing. People want Bluesky to take action: either a site that promises not to host bad actors like these, or a site that promises not to increase the reach of such bad actors because of its various moderation tools.

It cannot be both.

In Bluesky’s early days, trans users, like many other marginalized groups, as well as Black and queer users, flocked to the social network from Twitter (now called X) after Elon Musk bought it and began promoting right-wing views and radicalization. Bluesky has many custom tools that allow people to manage their social media experience, including block lists, layered moderation, custom feeds, custom algorithms, labeling services, and more. This allows users to do things like block groups of users they might not want to interact with – like MAGA supporters, for example, who can be found on a dedicated blocklist.

Many in the Twitter community now feel that their Bluesky experience is in jeopardy because of Singal’s joining. As a high-profile user, he can bring a network of followers with him, which can lead to increased harassment, they suggest.

Users can point to a wide number of Singal’s posts and comments as reference points for his bad reputation, but for Bluesky to ban him, he would have to directly violate its terms of service and guidelines.

Some Bluesky users say he’s done just that: he’s already engaged in targeted harassment on the platform, has a long history of harassing trans people, they say, and shared confidential medical information without patients’ consent — a charge Singal disputes.

A new Change.org petition is circulating arguing that Bluesky should just ban Singal.

As of the time of writing, a petition asking Bluesky to implement its guidelines already has over 18,000 signatures, including one from singer Lizzo.

Bluesky users also reported Singal’s account in droves, leading the company to ban him, reinstate him, and mark his account as non-compliant with its rating service. (That means users can go into their Bluesky settings to turn on or off or set to be alerted about posts that fall into this category.)

But many Bluesky users don’t just want to rate and ignore Singal, they want him gone. It has become a dealbreaker.

By keeping him, Bluesky risks hurting the community, losing its goodwill, and losing users, while sending a signal to others that bad actors and abusers are welcome there.

But by blocking Singal, Bluesky could come under fire from the next head of the FCC, Brendan Carr, who is ready to come after social media he believes stifles conservative views. Anything Bluesky does here will attract attention, good or bad.

This isn’t the first time Bluesky has faced user backlash over rating issues. The startup damaged its relationship with other Black users after failing to adequately eliminate hate speech and violence last year.

In February, the company hired former Twitter/X Trust & Safety executive Aaron Rodericks to lead Bluesky’s efforts and hopefully prevent further problems. Rodericks now receives a large amount of income from Bluesky users, prompting him to take action on Singal’s account.

Bluesky did not return requests for comment.