Bluesky removed 8,526 'state-sponsored public opinion manipulation accounts' in one year.

Bluesky has announced that it has removed 8,526 'state-sponsored public opinion manipulation accounts' since May 2025.

Since May 2025, we have removed 8,526 accounts on Bluesky that were involved in state-sponsored manipulation of public opinion. Of these, 4,907 were dealt with in 2026, which is about twice the rate compared to last year.

The tactic of using hijacked real accounts to spread propaganda is a strategy these attackers have used on other platforms for years, but this is the first time it has been observed on Bluesky. Many of the affected accounts were old and inactive, but some active accounts were also included. 1/3🧵

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— Bluesky Japanese (official) ( @jp.bsky.app ) May 27, 2026 16:36

Bluesky removed 8,526 'state-sponsored public opinion manipulation accounts' in the year from May 2025. Since January 2026, they have removed 4,907 accounts, doubling their removal pace compared to 2025. In most cases, removal is carried out within a few hours of the initial post, and the average number of views before removal is kept to around 50.

It appears that the manipulation of public opinion was carried out by hijacking existing accounts. While many of the hijacked accounts were old, dormant accounts, active accounts were also sometimes compromised. The account hijacking was not carried out through an attack on the Bluesky system, but rather through unauthorized access using 'credentials that had been leaked in a previous data breach.'

To prevent account hijacking, Bluesky recommends the following measures: 'Use a strong password specifically for Bluesky, rather than reusing it for other services,' 'Use a password manager,' and 'Enable two-factor authentication.' To enable two-factor authentication in Bluesky, first click 'Settings,' then click 'Privacy and security.'

Clicking 'Enable' to the right of 'Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)' will take you to the two-factor authentication settings screen.