Bluesky, a decentralized social network, has experienced a surge in user growth, adding 2.6 million new users in just a few days. This rapid expansion brings the platform’s total user base to around 8.8 million. According to Bluesky, an overwhelming 85% of these new users are from Brazil, totaling over 2 million.
This influx of Brazilian users comes on the heels of a ban on X, formerly known as Twitter, in Brazil. The country’s Supreme Court ordered internet service providers to block X after the platform refused to ban accounts accused of spreading disinformation. The court also directed Apple and Google to remove X from their app stores and imposed fines on individuals caught using VPNs to access the website.
In response to the ban, X owner Elon Musk accused the Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes of undermining democracy for political purposes. X also created a profile called “Alexandre Files” to highlight alleged abuses of Brazilian law by Moraes.
As X became inaccessible in Brazil, users flocked to alternative platforms, including Bluesky. The website saw a significant spike in daily activity, with unique likes, posters, and followers increasing substantially. According to engineer Jaz, likes on the platform jumped from 13 million to 104.6 million, follows grew from 1.4 million to 100.8 million, and reposts increased from 1.3 million to 11 million over a 96-hour period.
Bluesky developer Paul Frazee cautioned that users may experience outages and performance issues due to the unprecedented traffic surge. The platform, founded by Twitter-founder Jack Dorsey, has been expanding its features, including direct messaging, with plans to introduce group messaging, media support, and end-to-end encryption in the future.
