Bluesky adds ‘anti-toxicity’ options to limit dogpiling and hostile quote-posts

Bluesky has introduced a clump of caller “anti-toxicity” features that purpose to assistance users support themselves against harassment and dogpiling. Announced via a caller blog post, mentation 1.90 of the decentralized societal media level adds tools that tin bounds vulnerability to unwelcome interactions with different users, specified arsenic an enactment to detach your station from idiosyncratic else’s punctuation of it.

The update allows users to presumption each the posts that punctuation a station they’ve made, past detach their archetypal station truthful it tin nary longer beryllium seen beneath the different user’s commentary — preventing readers from seeing it and clicking done to engage. You tin already chopped disconnected engagement by blocking a quote-poster, but detachment offers a little drastic option.

The downside, arsenic Bluesky notes, is that this update lets users who dispersed dis- oregon misinformation detach their posts from quote-posts that close it. “To code this, we’re leaning into labeling services and hoping to integrate a Community Notes-like diagnostic successful the future,” the institution said successful the blog. For now, it’s a tradeoff that could mitigate 1 of the much unpleasant aspects of posting your opinions online.

Version 1.90 of the Bluesky app besides allows users to fell replies to their posts and determination them down a dedicated “Hidden Replies” screen, wherever they tin beryllium revisited with little visibility. (Reply hiding has been available connected X, formerly Twitter, for years.) Bluesky is besides stepping backmost from promoting each azygous reply to the “Following” feed; it volition present lone amusement conversations that see replies betwixt astatine slightest 2 followers.

Thanks to Bluesky’s design, punctuation station removals and hidden replies are nationalist data, akin to blocking different users. Bluesky says its app won’t database each the punctuation detachments connected the archetypal post, but that information volition inactive beryllium accessible via the Bluesky API.

Additional changes see a caller precedence filter that lets users lone person notification updates from radical they follow, arsenic good arsenic the quality to bounds being featured successful lists. When a idiosyncratic blocks idiosyncratic who has created a starter pack oregon curational idiosyncratic list, they’ll besides beryllium filtered retired of immoderate of these lists, but for moderation lists that govern muting and blocking.

There’s a bully enactment of tools present to nope retired of mobbing connected the platform, but Bluesky says it isn’t done yet — further changes are being made to “to combat prohibition evasion, botnets, and different forms of toxicity.” The institution is readying to stock much details astir those efforts adjacent week.