Vice President JD Vance’s debut on the social media platform Bluesky on June 18 quickly turned into a digital disaster, with his account suspended within 12 minutes of his first post and subsequently becoming the most blocked user in the platform’s history.
Vance joined Bluesky on Wednesday evening, posting at 4:50 p.m. with what he described as an intention to engage in common sense political discussion. His inaugural message stated he had been told the app was the place for thoughtful political analysis and that he was thrilled to engage with users.
The Vice President’s first post included a screenshot of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurring opinion in United States v. Skrmetti, which upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors. Vance referenced Thomas’ argument that medical experts had used questionable science to promote experimental therapies for youth, and added his own claim that scientists were receiving pharmaceutical funding to promote these treatments to children.
Within 12 minutes of the post, Vance’s account displayed a suspension message. Bluesky explained to Fox News that the account was flagged by automated systems designed to detect impersonation attempts. The company noted that there had been many past attempts to impersonate Vance on the platform, and his account was mistakenly caught in that detection pattern.
A Bluesky spokesperson indicated that the account was quickly restored within 20 minutes of the suspension and received a verified badge to help users confirm its authenticity. The company welcomed the Vice President to join the conversation on their platform.
Despite the brief restoration, Vance’s presence on Bluesky triggered an unprecedented blocking response from users. According to ClearSky data, which tracks user activity on the platform, more than 111,000 users blocked Vance within days of his joining, making him the most blocked account in Bluesky’s history since its public launch in February 2024.
The blocking total eclipsed the previous record held by journalist Jesse Singal, who had accumulated 81,270 blocks. Singal responded to losing his dubious distinction with humor, noting that he had worked his whole life to achieve something great only to have it taken away.
Bluesky, originally started in 2019 by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, has become a popular alternative to Elon Musk’s X platform. The service operates as a decentralized social media app with features similar to Twitter but emphasizes user control and choice. Following Donald Trump’s 2024 electoral victory and changes on X, Bluesky’s user base grew from 10 million to 30 million between November 2024 and May 2025.
The platform has attracted many left-leaning and LGBTQ+ users who sought what they perceived as a more inclusive environment with progressive moderation policies. This demographic composition helps explain the hostile reception Vance received for his posts about transgender youth medical care.
Prominent users on the platform encouraged others to ignore or block Vance. Actor and activist George Takei, who has 1.2 million followers on Bluesky, advised users to treat Vance like Donald Trump’s birthday parade – to ignore it and not show up to watch it, predicting he would become sad and dejected.
Academic experts weighed in on the situation, with Jennifer Stromer-Galley from Syracuse University suggesting Vance could improve his social media standing by stopping what she characterized as trolling of science and transgender youth. She noted that Vance created his account and immediately attacked science and gender-affirming care support, making the widespread blocking unsurprising.
Scott Talan from American University observed that the blocking wasn’t surprising given Bluesky’s predominantly left-leaning user base and Vance’s history of comments that many on the left would find oppositional. He suggested that some might argue Vance joined Bluesky specifically to troll users there.
As of the reporting period, Vance had approximately 9,000 followers on Bluesky but was blocked by more than 10 times that number. His blocking count approached 100,000 users, representing a significant portion of the platform’s 36 million total users. The Vice President was not following anyone back on the platform, and it remained unclear whether he would continue using the service.
The current top five most blocked accounts on Bluesky, according to ClearSky data, include Vance at number one, followed by Jesse Singal, Now Breezing, Brianna Wu, and Mark Cuban. The incident highlighted the polarized nature of social media platforms and how political figures can face immediate and overwhelming rejection when entering spaces dominated by opposing viewpoints.
