White House on Bluesky: Already Heavily Blocked

Trump Administration's Arrival on Bluesky

The Trump administration has extended its practice of utilizing social media for political engagement to a new platform. Both the White House and a number of federal agencies established a presence on Bluesky on Friday.

Initial Post and Agency Participation

The inaugural post from the official White House account featured a compilation of Trump-related video clips and memes. It included the message, “What’s up, Bluesky? We thought you might’ve missed some of our greatest hits, so we put this together for you.”

Several government departments quickly followed suit, creating their own Bluesky accounts. These included the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Transportation, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of State, and the Department of War.

Criticism of Democrats and Potential Legal Issues

Each of these agencies promptly published messages critical of Democrats, focusing on the ongoing government shutdown. The Department of State stated, “We heard this is a great place to have an open and honest dialogue, so we’re here to talk about how the Democrat shutdown is undermining our country on the world stage.”

Legal experts have raised concerns that such statements from government entities may be in violation of the Hatch Act, which restricts certain political activities by federal employees.

Tone and User Reaction

The messaging employed a deliberately lighthearted and provocative tone. This suggests the administration anticipated, and perhaps even desired, a negative reaction from the user base of Bluesky, a platform generally perceived as leaning left politically.

Bluesky users responded accordingly. Many replies to the White House’s initial post referenced Trump’s associations with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender.

Observations from Platform Users

Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion, commented, “The reason they’re coming after this place is because they can’t control the people on it and it drives them nuts.”

A common response among many Bluesky users was to simply block the White House account and disregard its content. Comedian Paul F. Tompkins described this approach as “Weirdly fun.”

Blocking Statistics

Within 48 hours of joining, the White House account had become one of the most blocked accounts on Bluesky. Data from ClearSky, a tracking service, indicated approximately 91,000 blocks, with only 10,000 followers.

Vice President JD Vance, who joined Bluesky in June, currently holds the record for the most blocks on the platform.

Trending Blocked Accounts

By Sunday morning, the new government accounts collectively occupied the top five positions for most blocked accounts within the preceding 24-hour period. Furthermore, some right-leaning accounts openly celebrated following the Trump administration to Bluesky, seemingly welcoming the resulting blocks.

Key Takeaways

• The Trump administration is actively using Bluesky for political messaging.
• Government agencies are participating in these efforts.
• The administration’s approach is generating significant negative reactions.
• The White House account is rapidly accumulating blocks on the platform.