Bluesky has joined the Internet Watch Foundation in an effort to tackle the rising amount of child sexual abuse material that has accompanied the platform’s growth.
Bluesky’s user numbers have risen dramatically from 13 million in November 2024, to 30 million in January 2025, in the wake of which there has been a “predictable uptick in harmful content,” an Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) press release reads.
The platform is also growing its “content moderation team and safety tooling,” the release continues. Bluesky has an open vacancy for a senior trust and safety lead.
The IWF serves as a hotline for finding and removing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from the internet.
Members from across big tech platforms pay a fee to rely on IWF’s list of websites known for disseminating CSAM, and a hash list, which identifies known illegal CSAM material. Illegal content found by members feeds back into the IWF’s lists.
Meta, X, TikTok, and Telegram are all already members of the IWF.
Now Bluesky that has joined, it will be able to make use of IWF’s lists, including for non-photographic CSAM content.
Bluesky joining IWF is a “significant step forward” and the platform hopes to “keep its users safe from harmful content and ensuring a safer online environment,” Bluesky’s Head of Trust and Safety, Aaron Rodericks, said.
EU’s CSAM law stuck, but DSA also applies to Bluesky
The EU’s proposed Child Sexual Abuse Material regulation, meant to establish a framework for mandating platforms to monitor take down CSAM, is still being thrashed out.
Negotiations between EU countries are stuck over concerns that the legislation could allow law enforcement to access to encrypted messages.
The current framework relies on temporary derogations from the ePrivacy Directive, which allows companies to voluntarily monitor electronic communications for CSAM. However, the interim measures expire in April 2026.
Meanwhile, Bluesky is obliged to comply with the Digital Services Act (DSA) for taking down illegal content on its website. If Bluesky keeps up its growth and eventually reaches 45 million monthly users in the EU, an additional lawyer of DSA scrutiny kicks in.
Though Bluesky does not currently have a known headquarters in Europe, Rodericks is based in Ireland, which is also the European headquarters of X.
Bluesky had not responded to Euractiv’s request for comment at the time of publication.