What parents need to know about Bluesky, the decentralised Twitter-style network gaining UK teen users, including the AT Protocol, the labelling system, and how moderation differs from X/Twitter.
Official age
13+
We recommend
16+
Developer
Bluesky Social PBC
Risks
4
Bluesky is a public microblogging service built on the AT Protocol, an open standard the company developed so that accounts, posts, and recommendation feeds can move between providers. The app feels similar to early Twitter - short text posts, replies, reposts, and quote posts - but the moderation architecture is unusual. Bluesky enforces a baseline against illegal and harmful content, and on top of that any community group can run a 'labeller' which tags content as, for example, adult, political, or graphic. Users choose which labellers to subscribe to and what each label should do: hide, warn, or show. This gives older users fine-grained control, but it also means a child's experience depends heavily on which feeds and labellers they follow, and there is currently no UK family-pairing tool.
UK teenagers are using Bluesky as a calmer alternative to X/Twitter, especially for fandoms, art and writing communities, queer support spaces, and tech and news commentary. Some follow curated 'custom feeds' for specific interests rather than relying on the default discover feed. Many bring their handle from X across, and a small number cross-post the same content to both. Because the feed can include adult-rated posts from accounts the child has not personally followed - via reposts, quote posts, or recommended feeds - children can encounter unmoderated material faster than on a platform with stronger algorithmic safety rails.
Adult Content
Location: Settings -> Moderation -> Adult Content
Set to: Disabled for under-18s
Bluesky requires users to confirm they are 18+ before enabling adult content. Keep this toggled off on a teen's account.
Content Labels
Location: Settings -> Moderation -> Content Filters
Set to: Hide adult, graphic, and intolerance categories
Set each label category to 'Hide' rather than 'Warn' so the post is filtered out completely instead of behind a tap.
Logged-Out Visibility
Location: Settings -> Privacy and Security -> Logged-out visibility
Set to: Hide profile from logged-out users
Stops scrapers and unauthenticated users from seeing your child's posts in search and on third-party AT Protocol clients.
Direct Messages
Location: Settings -> Privacy and Security -> Direct Messages
Set to: From users I follow
Limits DMs to accounts the child has chosen to follow, blocking unsolicited messages from strangers.
Subscribed Labellers
Location: Settings -> Moderation -> Subscribed Labellers
Set to: Bluesky default only
Avoid adding community labellers you do not understand - some are run by partisan or adult-content groups whose 'warnings' can backfire.
Sit with your child while they configure the Moderation menu and set adult, graphic, and intolerance labels to 'Hide'
Time: 15 minutes
Explain how custom feeds and labellers work, and agree not to add new labellers without discussing them first
Time: 15 minutes
Talk through how quote posts and reposts can pull strangers' content into your child's feed even when they have not followed those accounts
Time: 10 minutes
Agree a no-real-name, no-school, no-precise-location rule for the profile bio
Time: 5 minutes
Last reviewed: 2026-06-14