ICE Becomes One of the Most-Blocked Accounts on Bluesky After Verification

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has become the third most-blocked account on Bluesky following the account’s official verification on Friday, according to data from third-party tracking services. The development has prompted intense backlash from Bluesky users, many of whom have encouraged others to block the account directly or subscribe to block lists that include all official U.S. government accounts.

The block list gained traction after the White House and several federal agencies under the Donald Trump administration joined Bluesky last October. At the time, those accounts used the platform to post messages blaming Democrats for a government shutdown. Agencies that joined included the departments of Homeland Security, Commerce, Transportation, Interior, Health and Human Services, State, andDefencee, along with the White House itself.

That move quickly made the White House one of the most-blocked accounts on Bluesky. It currently holds the No. 2 spot, trailing only J.D. Vance, according to statistics shared by the tracking site Clearsky, which uses Bluesky’s API to monitor blocking activity.

ICE did not join Bluesky during the October wave of government sign-ups. Data from Bluecrawler shows that the account @icegov.bsky.social joined the platform on November 26, 2025. The account received its verification badge only a few days ago, according to the independently operated Verified Account Tracker. The delay has led to speculation that Bluesky either lacked sufficient information to verify the account earlier, was unaware of its existence, or was internally debating how to handle verification. Bluesky has not responded to requests for comment.

One tracking service now indicates that the ICE account is more than 60% of the way toward becoming the most-blocked account on the platform.

Image Credits:https://bsky.app/profile/verified.evil.gay/post/3mcla755rbs24

ICE already maintains a presence across numerous other social media platforms, including X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Except for YouTube, those accounts are typically verified when verification systems are available.

Bluesky aligns more closely with major social platforms

By choosing to host and verify on ICE, Bluesky is positioning itself more in line with larger, mainstream social media platforms than with the original ideals of the open social web, the fediverse. In the fediverse, users and server operators generally have greater control over which accounts receive visibility and engagement.

The fediverse consists of a network of independent but interconnected platforms, including Mastodon, Pixelfed, PeerTube, Flipboard, and, to a limited extent, Instagram Threads, though Meta’s service is not fully federated. While the U.S. government does not operate official Mastodon accounts, users can choose to follow accounts such as @potus on Threads from Mastodon if they wish.

One reason government agencies may avoid Mastodon is its smaller scale. Additionally, any government account joining the federated network could be blocked outright by individual server administrators. Although an agency could operate its own server, other communities could refuse to federate with it, significantly limiting its reach.

Mastodon founder Eugen Rochko, who stepped down as CEO in November, citing burnout, recently posted an anti-ICE message on Mastodon, stating that “Abolish ICE” does not go “nearly far enough” in addressing broader issues in the U.S. A day later, Rochko announced that he was opting his account out of the bridge that connects Mastodon with Bluesky.

That bridging technology includes Bridgy Fed, which connects decentralised platforms running different protocols — such as Bluesky’s AT Protocol and Mastodon’s ActivityPub. Coincidentally, Bridgy Fed recently launched a feature allowing users to apply domain block lists to bridged accounts, which could enable fediverse users to block government agencies posting on Bluesky.

When contacted for comment, Rochko declined to say whether ICE’s presence on Bluesky influenced his decision to leave the bridge, describing the move as a personal choice.

Tensions between the fediverse and what some describe as the broader “atmosphere” — a loose grouping of decentralised social platforms that includes Bluesky and newer networks such as Blacksky and Northsky Social — have existed for some time. Differences in philosophy around decentralisation have led to ongoing debates, with some users strongly opposing the idea that these networks should be bridged at all.