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Benzinga
Benzinga
Technology
Ananya Gairola

Bluesky COO Rose Wang Addresses Platform's Anti-Musk Label, Monetization Plans: 'We Would Never Put Speech Behind A Paywall'

On Tuesday, Bluesky COO Rose Wang addressed the platform’s stance on political neutrality amid it getting labels such as being anti-Elon Musk.

What Happened: During a conversation with Bloomberg TV,  Wang discussed Bluesky’s rapid growth following the 2024 U.S. Presidential election, noting that over 10 million U.S. users have joined.

She also responded to concerns about the platform being perceived as left-leaning or an anti-Musk network, stating that Bluesky aims to serve a global, diverse user base with no specific political agenda.

See Also: Features Delay In iOS 19, Tim Cook’s Trump Strategy, And Airpods Pro 2’s Hearing Aid Feature: This Week In Appleverse

The COO also shed light on the platform’s monetization model. She said that Bluesky would not charge for core functions like speech.

“We would never put speech behind a paywall,” but instead offer features like custom icons and longer video uploads through paid subscriptions.

When asked if Bluesky has any potential plans to relocate its headquarters to avoid confrontation with Musk or President-elect Donald Trump, Wang said that they are a remote team.

"We want to continue to be a remote team and to be able to be reactive to the different needs of our global audience," Wang stated.

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Why It Matters: Earlier it was reported that following Trump's win, Taylor Swift’s fanbase, known as “Swifties,” started migrating from Musk’s social media platform X, formerly Twitter to Bluesky.

Musk’s support for Trump clashed with the Swifties’ community values and was cited as the main reason behind this migration.

Similarly, earlier this year, the Tesla CEO's controversial remarks about the U.K. riots led to a surge in Bluesky’s user activity.

In October earlier this year, Bluesky raised $15 million in Series A funding with plans to introduce subscriptions.

Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link.

Image via Shutterstock

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