ICE becomes one of the most-blocked accounts on Bluesky

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has become the No. 3 most-blocked account on the social media platform Bluesky, according to third-party trackers. The development follows the agency’s recent verification on the platform, which has triggered significant backlash from Bluesky’s user base. The ICE account, which officially joined the network on November 26, 2025, was verified only recently, prompting many users to actively block the account or subscribe to shared blocklists targeting official U.S. government profiles.

With this ranking, ICE joins other U.S. government accounts at the top of the platform’s block lists. According to trackers, Vice President J.D. Vance holds the No. 1 spot as the most-blocked account on the platform, while the White House is the No. 2 most-blocked account. Data from trackers indicates that the ICE account is already over 60% of the way toward becoming the most-blocked account on the network, reflecting rapid coordination among users to filter out the agency’s presence.

The verification of these U.S. government accounts has reignited structural tensions between Bluesky and the wider fediverse—defined as a network of independent but interconnected social media platforms. While Bluesky operates on its own AT Protocol, other decentralized networks like Mastodon run on the ActivityPub protocol. Bridging technology, such as Bridgy Fed, is designed to connect these different decentralized platforms, allowing users on different protocols to interact. However, the integration of official U.S. government agencies has prompted pushback from proponents of the open social web, who favor a decentralized model where communities have more direct control over which accounts gain traction.

In a fully decentralized model like the fediverse, individual server operators can easily block or refuse to federate with specific servers, limiting a government account’s reach. In contrast, Bluesky’s centralized approach to hosting and verifying these accounts leaves individual users to rely on manual blocking or shared blocklists. Following the verification of ICE, Eugen Rochko, the founder of Mastodon, posted an “Abolish ICE” message. Shortly after, Rochko opted his account out of the bridge that connects Mastodon with Bluesky.

Why it matters

Bluesky’s decision to host and verify U.S. government agencies like ICE signals a shift toward traditional social media norms, distancing the platform from the decentralized, user-controlled ethos of the fediverse. By aligning its verification practices with those of larger, centralized social networks, Bluesky is moving away from the original expectations of its early, open-web-focused user base.