Three days, 1 million users: Social media platform Bluesky sees massive surge in downloads as Brazil bans X

Bluesky

Bluesky, a decentralised social media platform, has experienced an unprecedented surge in downloads following Brazil’s ban on X, formerly known as Twitter. Bluesky was founded by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

According to a report by Tech Crunch, the ban, imposed by Brazil’s Supreme Court, has led to a significant migration of users to Bluesky. As per the report, Bluesky has become the top free app on the iPhone app chart in Brazil.

“Brazil, you're setting new all-time-highs for activity on Bluesky!,” said Bluesky on a post on the platform.

In another post, the social media platform said that it had added a million users in just three days. “wow… welcome to the ONE MILLION new users in the last three days!!!”

Why X was banned in Brazil

The court’s decision to ban X came after a prolonged legal battle between X and Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The conflict centreed around X’s refusal to block certain accounts accused of spreading election disinformation. As a result, X announced its intention to shut down operations in Brazil, prompting the court to enforce the ban and threaten fines against users attempting to circumvent it using VPNs.

Bluesky, which was initially launched as a Twitter-backed project in 2019, has emerged as a leading alternative for Brazilian users.

Bluesky CEO Jay Graber expressed his delight over the surge, stating, “Good job Brazil, you made the right choice.” The platform, which fully opened to the public in February 2024, has over 7.6 million users now.

Though a rival to X and Meta’s Threads, Bluesky is still not a mainstream social app. However, the million users — mainly from Brazil — have certainly given it a massive push.