Protecting the 2026 US Midterm Elections on Bluesky

On November 3, voters across the United States will cast ballots in the 2026 midterm elections, deciding contests at the federal, state, and local levels. Elections of this importance generate a great deal of conversation, and a significant share of it takes place on Bluesky.

Elections are how people decide who will represent them, and open conversation is central to that decision. We want people to speak freely about the election on Bluesky, and we want to keep the conversation free of content that harms the electoral process.

This post outlines how we are doing both: what our rules cover, how we are preparing, and how you can help.

Two commitments for the 2026 midterms

As the midterms approach, our work is guided by two commitments. Both follow from our Community Guidelines, which maintain baseline protections against serious harms while protecting expression, including journalism, education, and advocacy.

We act quickly on content that could cause harm. Some content can deter people from voting or endanger voters, candidates, or election workers. Threats, voter suppression, intimidation, impersonation, doxxing, and coordinated manipulation will be taken down.

We protect people’s right to talk about the midterms. Elections are moments when public debate matters most, and Bluesky is built for open conversation, including disagreement. Criticism, partisan opinion, debate about the voting process, and satire are all legitimate forms of expression and are welcome on Bluesky.

We hold these commitments together because neither is sufficient alone. These rules apply in the same way to every party and every candidate.

What we remove, label, and leave up

We remove:

• Threats or intimidation directed at voters, poll workers, election officials, or candidates
• False information about when, where, or how to vote
• Impersonation, including deepfakes
• Doxxing
• Coordinated harassment
• Fake account networks and influence operations

We label:

• Unverified claims stated as fact, such as a report that a voting machine has failed
• Premature victory claims while votes are still being counted. If official results show that a claim is false, we remove it.

Note: You control how posts labeled as unverified claims appear to you. In your moderation settings, you can choose to show, hide, or place a warning on these posts.

We leave up:

• Criticism of candidates, parties, and officials, provided it does not violate our Community Guidelines, including our rules on harassment and discrimination
• Opinion, predictions, and general statements about the validity of the election
• Debate about maps, laws, and election procedures
• Satire

This effort covers the 2026 US midterm elections. Elections elsewhere are governed by the same Community Guidelines but are not part of this dedicated program.

How we are preparing

Protecting an election is a company-wide responsibility. Here is what we’re planning.

• An election command center. A cross-functional group will coordinate our election work across teams.
• Shared moderator guidance. Our moderators will work from shared guidance on election-related policies so that decisions are fast and consistent.
• Specialist review for candidates and officials. Reports made by and against candidates and elected officials will receive specialist review, and the same standard will apply regardless of party.
• Proactive impersonation sweeps. We will search for accounts impersonating candidates, campaigns, and election offices rather than waiting for reports.
• Coordinated-behavior scans. We will proactively look for coordinated inauthentic activity, including bot networks and influence operations.
• Verification and account protection. We are engaging with campaigns and election officials through a dedicated process so that verification requests and account issues are handled consistently.

Building on work already underway

This election preparation draws on systems we have developed over the past year and a half.

• Influence operations. In 2025, we removed 3,619 accounts for suspected involvement in influence operations, the majority linked to foreign state-aligned actors. Our 2025 Transparency Report describes how we identify these networks, which relies primarily on behavioral patterns and technical indicators rather than on content alone.
• More precise reporting. We expanded post reporting options from 6 categories to 39, which routes reports to the right specialist team faster. Our moderation process update explains the change.
• Proportionate enforcement. Our strike system assigns a severity level to each policy violation so that consequences scale with the potential harm, from warnings to suspensions to permanent bans. Critical violations, including those that threaten immediate real-world harm, result in permanent removal.
• Verification. Bluesky's verification badges, together with our network of Trusted Verifiers (independent organizations that verify accounts within their own areas of expertise) and domain-based handles, help people identify relevant accounts.
• Community-informed guidelines. Our updated Community Guidelines were shaped by more than 14,000 community submissions and include protections for journalism, education, and advocacy. We describe the thinking behind them in “Building Healthier Social Media”.

Enforcement actions can be appealed, and every appeal receives human review. Appeals of account suspensions can be made in the Bluesky app, and appeals of post takedowns can be sent to moderation@blueskyweb.xyz. Soon you will also be able to submit appeals through a new moderation inbox.

How you can help

Report what you see. If you encounter content that you believe violates our Community Guidelines, report it in the app and choose the category that best fits—for example, “Misleading,” “Harassment or hate,” or “Violence.” Reports of impersonation, misleading content, harassment, and threats reach specialist reviewers. Reporting is more effective than quote posting, which can spread harmful content further.

Check before you share. Confirm claims about deadlines, polling places, and results with your state or local election office or another official source before passing them on. Look for a verification badge or a domain handle if you are unsure whether an account is relevant.

Make a plan to vote. Democracy Works is a nonpartisan nonprofit that helps voters find accurate information about when, where, and how to vote. Early voting is already underway in many places, so we encourage you to check TurboVote to explore your options and make a plan to vote.

Looking ahead

We will continue to be transparent about how we apply our policies, and we will keep refining our approach in the days ahead. We always welcome your feedback, which shapes our work, and we are committed to building this app hand in hand with the community it serves.