Twitter is working on a decentralised social media project called ‘Bluesky’. In a recent development, the Bluesky team has released its first batch of codes, while reinstating its commitment to moderate the content that would be allowed on its platform. Decentralised social media aims to move the space beyond the control of tech giants who currently control the platforms. Blockchain-based decentralised social networking apps will operate on independently-run servers, curbing possibilities of targeted censorship.
In a blog post titled “Working in Public”, Bluesky released its “Authenticated Data eXperiment” (ADX) protocol code.
The team revealed that the core of ADX is “self-authenticating” data, that shifts the network authority to the users.
Outlining its content moderation plans, the Bluesky developers noted that they will be creating two separate layers for ‘speech’ and ‘reach’ on its platform.
“The speech layer can be as neutral as publishing a website. The reach layer determines what gets amplified across the network,” the team wrote on Twitter.
Before you get too excited: this isn’t a launch! There’s no app or network, there’s only a command-line for testing. We’re releasing this to work in the open and share our progress. https://t.co/iB0u1BhrRa
— bluesky (@bluesky) May 4, 2022
A global view is achieved by indexers crawling the network the way search engines crawl the Web. There’s no one company that can decide what gets published; instead there’s a marketplace of companies deciding what to carry to their audiences.
— bluesky (@bluesky) May 4, 2022
The developers behind Bluesky have vouched to publicly share the development process of its platform by releasing details about its work, before its complete.
In the case public feedback urges the team to explore another direction, the developers wish to keep some buffer time handy.
Jack Dorsey, former Twitter CEO, first announced the Bluesky project back in 2019.
While Dorsey still remains a board member of Bluesky, the project went independent in February after receiving $13 million (roughly Rs. 100 crore) in funding from Twitter.
Now that Twitter has accepted Elon Musk’s buy-out offer of $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3,37,465 crore), speculations around Bluesky’s future had begun buzzing on social media.
Clearing the air, Bluesky developers have said that the changes will have no bearing on the company.
The timeline of Bluesky’s release remains unclear for now.