Bluesky is under scrutiny for failing to disclose key details and potentially violating EU regulations, but regulators claim they lack the authority to oversee the platform because it isn't classified as a "very large online platform" under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA).
Founded in 2019, Bluesky was initially funded by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey. It is a U.S. public benefit company with a platform resembling that of X, which was formerly known as Twitter before its acquisition by Elon Musk.
"All platforms in the EU even the smallest ones which are below the threshold, which is the case for Bluesky, have to have a dedicated page on their website where it says how many user numbers they have in the EU and where they are legally established. This is not the case for Bluesky as of today," Reuters reported quoting European Commission spokesperson, Thomas Regnier.
Regnier stated that the European Commission, the EU's executive body, had contacted the 27 national governments to check "if they can find any trace of Bluesky," including locating an EU-based office.
The DSA aims to hold platforms legally accountable for the content shared on their sites. However, since Bluesky has less than 45 million users, it does not meet the criteria to be classified as a "very large online platform" under the regulation.
Hence, the commission has not yet made direct contact with the company. If the member states identify an EU-based representative for the company, the commission will then "reach out to Bluesky," he added, The Financial Times reported.
The EU's move comes amid growing scrutiny of X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, for potential violations of digital regulations. EU has been looking into the platform since last year, specifically regarding claims of non-compliance with the DSA, with a particular focus on the spread of illegal content and misinformation.
Last month, EU regulators had asked YouTube, TikTok, and Snap for details on how they monitor AI use in their algorithms, fearing it could spread illegal or fake content.
Any violation of the law could result in penalties of up to 6% of a company's global annual revenue, with repeat offenders facing the possibility of being banned from the EU.
Since the US Presidential election, Bluesky's user count has surged from 15 million to 22.5 million in just 10 days. Meanwhile, app usage in the US and UK has jumped nearly 300%, reaching 3.5 million daily users, according to data from a tracking site put together by one of the platform's developers. The increasing user count will put Bluesky in EU radar.
