U.S. Vice President JD Vance took a high-profile detour from X this week, opening an account on the rival network Bluesky in hopes of sparking “common-sense political discussion.” Twelve minutes later the account vanished—caught in Bluesky’s automated dragnet for impostors before being reinstated just as quickly. nypost.comtechcrunch.com
Vance had announced the move to his 4 million-plus X followers with a screenshot and a breezy invitation: “Hope to see you guys there!” His debut Bluesky post, equal parts greeting and policy commentary, applauded Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurrence in the Supreme Court’s recent ruling upholding state bans on gender-affirming care for minors. The post drew an immediate wave of reports from progressive users—many of whom treat Bluesky as a refuge from what they see as X’s right-leaning tilt. nypost.com
Within minutes, Bluesky’s anti-impersonation algorithm flagged the new profile as suspicious and disabled it. A company spokesperson later admitted the takedown was a false positive: “Public figures like the Vice President are frequent targets for impersonation; the system erred on the side of caution.” The account was restored and blue-check verified before the hour was out, and by Thursday Vance’s follower count had climbed past 7,000. timesofindia.indiatimes.comdw.com
The episode underscores both Bluesky’s growing pains and its determination to avoid the identity-chaos that plagued X after its 2022 rebrand. Analyst estimates put X at roughly 600 million active users versus Bluesky’s 30 million, but the smaller network’s liberal-leaning community wields outsized cultural influence—a dynamic likely to intensify as prominent conservatives test the waters. timesofindia.indiatimes.comnypost.com
For Vance, the brief hiccup may prove a net win: he now occupies a conspicuous perch on two rival megaphones, and Bluesky gains a marquee conservative voice to counter claims of ideological homogeneity. For Bluesky’s engineers, the incident is a reminder that even the smartest filter can back-fire when the Vice President walks through the door unannounced.
