Bluesky’s handling of the situation involving journalist Jesse Singal has raised significant concerns, particularly regarding its failure to address death threats and doxxing attempts. Singal, who has been critical of the transgender agenda, faced hostile messages and threats upon joining the platform in December. Despite reporting these threats, including one that included his address, Bluesky did not take prompt action.
Singal, a progressive journalist who has been covering youth gender medicine, found himself targeted by users after his opinions about the transgender movement, which many on the left consider controversial. He was met with a barrage of hostile messages, some of which included explicit death threats. One user went as far as to post detailed instructions on how Singal should be killed.
Despite tagging Bluesky’s online safety handle and reporting the threatening posts, the platform took no immediate action. It wasn’t until Singal informed the moderation team and Bluesky CEO Jay Graber about the attempted doxxing that any response was seen. However, Bluesky’s initial response was too slow, with the threatening content remaining visible for hours. Singal had to follow up to get the posts removed, and the user who initially posted the threats was briefly suspended but later allowed to return to the platform.
Aaron Rodericks, Bluesky’s head of trust and safety, claimed the platform took action by removing the harmful posts. However, Singal pointed out that the original post with his address remained visible for hours after Rodericks’ claims, raising concerns about Bluesky’s moderation effectiveness. The incident has sparked outrage, especially among those demanding Singal’s removal for expressing views outside of the accepted leftist orthodoxy.
