Bluesky is breaking EU rules by not reporting user numbers across the bloc

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Blueskythe social network that is currently growing in popularity due to the migration of users from competitor X, violates European Union (EU) regulations that stipulate that all online platforms must regularly publish regional user numbers.

The Digital Services Act (DSA), which came into full force in February, is an online governance framework designed to promote greater transparency and tackle illicit and toxic content across various online platforms, social networks, marketplaces and elsewhere. While platforms and brokers that are classified as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) face the most stringent obligations, certain rules apply to all online service providers.

actually, Article 24 The DSA requires all online platforms serving the EU market to report regional user numbers twice a year “in a publicly available section of their online interface.” The social network formerly known as Twitter It does exactly thislike He does deadbut Bluesky seems to have missed the memo, per Financial Times report Earlier on Monday.

Under the Digital Services Act, penalties that can be imposed on platforms for failing to report information can be up to 1% of their global annual turnover.

Bluesky recently self-reported surpassing 20 million users globally. But to comply with the DSA, it needs to segment EU users specifically, and disclose information on its website using the EU’s twice-yearly reporting protocol.

Bluesky’s current global total of 20 million clearly means that the platform easily falls under the threshold of 45 million monthly users where it can be classified as a VLOP under the DSA. But because some of the regulation’s transparency disclosures apply to platforms generally, the European Commission (EC) wrote to member states, where general rules typically apply — asking whether they “can find any trace of Bluesky” in their country, as the Office He can contact him to ask for relevant information.

Thomas Regnier, a spokesman for the European Commission, said in a statement: “Article 24 of the Digital Services Act already requires all online platforms in the EU, including BlueSky, to report their user numbers twice a year (in February and August) on their own website.” “. Statement issued to TechCrunch. “This helps the Commission to monitor market developments and potentially designate – or de-designate – platforms as VLOPs if they meet the threshold of 45 million monthly active users in the EU.”

TechCrunch has reached out to Bluesky for comment. We will update this report if we hear back.

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