The White House’s attempt to extend its social media presence to Bluesky has backfired spectacularly. Within just two days of joining the platform, it has become one of the most blocked accounts — second only to Vice President JD Vance.
On Friday, the Trump administration launched official Bluesky accounts for the White House and several U.S. government agencies, including the Departments of Homeland Security, Commerce, Transportation, Interior, Health and Human Services, State, and even the Department of War.
The White House kicked off its Bluesky presence by posting a highlight reel featuring clips of President Donald Trump and a message reading, “What’s up, Bluesky? We thought you might’ve missed some of our greatest hits, so we put this together for you.”
Other agencies quickly followed suit, posting statements attacking Democrats over the ongoing government shutdown.
The Department of State wrote, “We heard this is a great place to have an open and honest dialogue, so we’re here to talk about how the Democrat shutdown is undermining our country on the world stage.”
Legal concerns and online reaction
Legal experts have suggested that such partisan posts by federal agencies may violate the Hatch Act, which restricts political activity by government employees.
The tone of the posts — described as “cheerful” and “trolling” — suggested that the administration expected, or even welcomed, backlash from Bluesky’s largely left-leaning user base.
That backlash came swiftly. Many Bluesky users responded by highlighting Trump’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Others opted for a simpler response: blocking the White House account altogether.
“The reason they’re coming after this place is because they can’t control the people on it and it drives them nuts,” commented Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion.
Bluesky users push back
Comedian Paul F. Tompkins was among several popular users urging followers to “block and move on,” calling it “weirdly fun to block the White House.”
According to ClearSky, a service tracking Bluesky engagement metrics, the White House account is now blocked by around 91,000 users — while only 10,000 have chosen to follow it.
Meanwhile, accounts for the newly created government pages ranked among the top five most blocked accounts within 24 hours of their launch. Right-wing users appeared to embrace the backlash, boasting about being part of the new wave of government-affiliated followers.
