In the aftermath of a judicial ban on X in Brazil, the microblogging service Bluesky has seen a striking upswing in its user base. Within 48 hours, Bluesky welcomed half a million new users, raising its active users to an estimated 7 million.
App Rankings and Posting Activity
This user influx spurred unprecedented engagement on Bluesky. By mid-week, the platform recorded 2.07 million posts, with Portuguese-language content making up 73.7%, and English trailing at 16.5%. Furthermore, Bluesky soared to the top spot on Brazil's free iPhone app chart, surpassing Meta's Threads.
Jay Graber, Bluesky's CEO, applauded the platform's surge in Brazilian users, remarking, “Good job Brazil, you made the right choice.” This marks a significant milestone for Bluesky, which only opened to the public in February and has humorously branded itself as “the short king of social apps.”
Evolution from Twitter Project to Independent Entity
Bluesky began in 2019 as a Twitter initiative aimed at creating an open, decentralized social protocol. Since then, it has transitioned into an independent public benefit corporation. Jack Dorsey, Twitter's founder, vacated his position on the Bluesky board earlier this year, emphasizing its autonomous status. The company then left its invite-only phase and became generally available.
The prohibition of X resulted from a dispute involving the platform and Brazil's Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, linked to X's refusal to block accounts accused of disseminating election disinformation. Following this, X announced its intent to leave Brazil, prompting the court to ban the platform and fine users employing VPNs to bypass the ban.
As the ban took effect, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva directed his audience to alternative social media, starting with Bluesky. Many users began exploring these new platforms, sharing their experiences and reconnecting online. However, the absence of features such as “trending topics” left some users seeking enhancements.
Musk Wades Into Controversy
X CEO Elon Musk is never too far away from the controversy that surrounds his company, often starting it himself. This time, Musk has been on a Tweet/Xeet storm over the past week, criticizing Brazil's government. Importantly, the ban is also flaming ongoing political and social tensions in the country.
Far right groups, often siding with former president Bolsonaro has hit back against the ban, claiming it is dictatorial. Musk has jumped on news reports of protests happening around the country following the banning of X.
His actions are against the will of the Brazilian people he is supposed to represent https://t.co/HTx1mEOSuU
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 2, 2024
Meta's Strategy with Threads
To capitalize on the situation, Meta utilized Instagram to encourage users to migrate to Threads through visible advertisements. Despite this campaign, Meta did not address the surge of Brazilian users by the weekend. Observations noted that Bluesky and Threads have not yet gained the same traction previously held by X.
It is worth noting that Meta has its own issues in Brazil. In July, the company temporarily paused its AI in the country over a privacy dispute. In June, Meta unveiled its first AI-powered ad targeting program tailored for businesses using WhatsApp at an event in Sao Paulo. The project aimed to use AI to improve ad targeting on the popular messaging app, aligning with Meta's broader AI integration strategy.
Despite Meta's assurances about the project, the ANPD halted Meta's new privacy policy that permitted the use of personal data for training AI systems. The regulatory body instructed Meta to revise its policy to exclude personal data processing for AI training. In reaction, Meta decided to pause its AI tools and entered into discussions with the ANPD.
