Bluesky, a rapidly growing competitor to X, is breaching European Union regulations that require platforms to disclose their user numbers, the European Commission said today.
All social media platforms operating in the E.U. “have to have a dedicated page on their website where it says how many users they have in the E.U. and where they are legally established,” said European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier. “This is not the case for Bluesky as of today.”
Under the E.U.’s Digital Services Act, platforms must report their E.U. active user numbers every six months “in a publicly available section of their online interface”.
The European Commission has not yet contacted Bluesky, according to Regnier, as it is not large enough to qualify as a Very Large Online Platform under the Digital Services Act. The platform would need to host 45 million monthly users in the E.U. before the European Commission could regulate it directly.
Instead, regulators will ask the E.U.’s national governments to identify Bluesky offices based in those countries.
Bluesky now has 22.5 million users, according to statistics updated by a Bluesky developer. The platform reached 15 million users just 11 days ago, having seen major growth after the United States election this month.
The Digital Services Act entered into full effect on February 17.
Companies found violating the Digital Services Act may be fined up to 6% of their annual global revenue. Breaching the user reporting requirements can lead to a 1% fine on annual global revenue.
Bluesky launched to the public in February 2024. The company is privately held.