JD Vance's Bluesky Suspension Was About Verification, Not Politics
US vice president JD Vance speaks during the 61st Munich Security Conference on February 14, 2025 ... More in Munich, Germany. (Photo by)
Half an hour after Vice President JD Vance signed up for Bluesky on Wednesday afternoon, his account was suspended. It was shortly before 5 p.m. ET that Vance sent out his first post, writing, "Hello Bluesky, I've been told this app has become the place to go for common sense political discussion and analysis. So I'm thrilled to be here to engage with all of you."
Soon after the account was suspended from the platform that has become a popular alternative to X, the social media formerly known as Twitter. It didn't take long for supporters of President Donald Trump and the vice president to cry foul, suggesting that a conservative voice was being silenced on Bluesky.
Yet, as is all too often the case on social media, people jumped to conclusions before all the facts became clear. The only evidence that any politics were at play was that Bluesky has steadily attracted a liberal audience, including many who tuned out of X after tech billionaire Elon Musk purchased it.
On Wednesday evening, Bluesky reinstated the account and issued a statement explaining the rationale behind the suspension.
"Vice President Vance's account was briefly flagged by our automated systems that try to detect impersonation attempts which have targeted public figures like him in the past," Bluesky said in its statement. "The account was quickly restored and verified so people can easily confirm its authenticity."
"We welcome the Vice President to join the conversation on Bluesky," the company added.
Bluesky, which launched in February 2023 just months after Musk acquired the former Twitter, began to introduce a legacy-style verification system earlier this spring. By contrast, X now employs a subscription-based model for verification, replacing the legacy confirmation system that provided the famed blue checkmarks to the profiles of celebrities, journalists, civil servants, and other public figures.
Critics have warned that the paid model has led to an increase in fake accounts and those impersonating celebrities and other individuals who are frequently in the spotlight. Moreover, Twitter had initially introduced its verification systems after former professional baseball player and manager Tony La Russa sued the platform for allowing unauthorized accounts run by impersonators to use his name and likeness.
Yet, even after Bluesky reinstated the account for the vice president, many still believed it was a case of political bias. It serves as a reminder of the echo chamber that social media has become in recent years.
The issue of fake and impostor accounts has been steadily growing, but it has gained momentum after X changed its verification process. Earlier this year, Academy Award-winning actress Sandra Bullock and actor Brad Pitt each announced that scammers and cybercriminals had set up fake social media accounts using their respective names and likenesses.
Another issue has been "parody" accounts, which have been mistaken for official accounts on the platforms. That became a concern on X, to the point where Musk was forced to backpedal on his free speech absolutist ideals. In April, X announced that Parody, Commentary, and Fan accounts would be required to include "PCF-compliant keywords" to help distinguish them from official accounts, while PCF accounts were further told to avoid using identical avatars to help avoid confusion.
The final twist to this story is that VP JD Vance was back on Bluesky. As of Thursday morning, he already has more than seven thousand followers. Yet, according to social media user tracker Clearsky, the account @jd-vance-1.bsky.social had also been blocked by more than 78,000 users.
That also serves as a reminder that in echo chamber users are increasingly unwilling to welcome anyone from the other side of the political spectrum to the conversation.
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