Bluesky to Introduce Age Checks in UK Ahead of Online Safety Act Deadline

Bluesky is preparing to roll out age verification for its UK users to comply with the country’s upcoming Online Safety Act requirements. In an update shared on Thursday, the platform announced that users in the UK will soon need to verify their age by scanning their face, uploading an ID, or using a payment card.

To handle this process, Bluesky will partner with Kid Web Services (KWS), a tool owned by Epic Games that helps developers add age verification and parental controls to their platforms. Users who choose not to verify their age, or those under 18, will still be allowed to keep their accounts but will face certain restrictions. Bluesky says it will block “adult-appropriate content” for these users and disable some features, including direct messaging.

The new measures come in response to the UK’s Online Safety Act, passed in 2023, which requires sites and apps hosting adult content to implement “highly effective age assurance” by July 25th. Failure to comply could lead to steep penalties — up to £18 million ($24 million) or 10 percent of a company’s global revenue, whichever is greater. Privacy advocates, however, have raised concerns that the law could create a more restricted and heavily monitored internet for British users.

Once the deadline approaches, Bluesky says it will display a notification prompting UK users to complete the age check. Shared screenshots suggest that users will first register their email with KWS and then follow instructions to verify their age.

“In addition to these updates, we’ll continue to look at how we’re doing to shield children from unwanted content, and how we can improve,” Bluesky noted in its announcement.