Mississippi’s age assurance law puts decentralized social networks to the test

An overly broad age assurance law in Mississippi is leading to arguments about which platforms — Bluesky, Mastodon, or others — offer the best solution for avoiding crackdowns on internet freedoms.

The company that makes the Bluesky social app announced last week that it would block access to its service in the state of Mississippi, rather than comply with the new age verification law. In a blog post, the company explained that, as a small team, it lacked the resources to implement the substantial technical changes required by the law, and it…