'Decentralized Twitter' Alternative Called Bluesky Lets Users Register Racial Slurs as Usernames: Platform Decides to Ban Accounts

Threads isn't the only app trying to chip away from users who don't want to use Twitter. There's also another app called Bluesky, which has recently been in trouble for its inability to monitor usernames.

Users Were Able to Create Handles that Included Racial Slurs on Bluesky, a Decentralized Twitter Alternative

According to the story by Mashable, Bluesky, described as the decentralized Twitter alternative, is experiencing massive backlash after it failed to properly monitor usernames. Because of the lack of monitoring, users were able to create accounts with racial slurs in them.

Jay Graber and the Bluesky team own Bluesky, while it was funded by Jack Dorsey, the actual co-founder of Twitter, who also sits on the company's board, according to Tech Crunch. Initially, users looked to the app as an alternative to Twitter after Elon Musk bought the platform, but it did come with some faults.

One of these was how users were able to use racial slurs in the usernames. This was something that the community was able to find, and the team was quick enough to deal with the issue, releasing a statement regarding the occurrence.

The Official Bluesky Team Highlighted How the Incident Doesn't Align with Their Company Values

The official Bluesky team highlighted how their community guidelines are a reflection of the company's values. With that, they said that there was no room for racism and harassment on the platform.

They also noted that they would continue to take action when it comes to upholding their policies, meaning they would address the problem reported regarding the usernames. The Bluesky team noted that they got hold of the reports and were able to deal with them instantaneously.

They noted that within just 40 minutes, they removed accounts that included racial slurs. The team also noted that it was able to patch the code that resulted in allowing users to create these types of handles within that short timeframe.

Other Measures Bluesky Will be Investing on Moving Forward

Bluesky also noted that they made significant investments into their T&S team along with other investments. These included improving as well as clarifying their policies while also prioritizing working on certain moderation tools.

The team then said that they would continue to invest in moderation, feedback, and even support systems that start scaling while the app grows in terms of the number of users. The team also replied to Mashable, giving a statement regarding the incident.

Bluesky Said It Will Continue to Make Necessary Changes

While Bluesky gave assurance that they have already enacted the necessary changes and were continuing to work forward to make the platform better, Mashable also spoke to actual users of the platform regarding the matter.

It was noted that for multiple users, the fact that the main issue wasn't actually the fact that the handles including racial slurs were allowed. It was noted that many users had a problem with the response, saying that although they fixed the technology issue, they weren't able to fix the "people issue."