Social media platform **Bluesky** has taken action to prevent its users from opening links to a recently published archive detailing over 41,000 employees and contractors of the **Department of Homeland Security (DHS)**. The platform is flagging these URLs as “malicious,” prompting concerns among IT security professionals and privacy advocates. ### The DHS Data Leak The leaked records, published by the transparency nonprofit **Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets)**, include names, contact information (email addresses and phone numbers), and internal group memberships of DHS personnel. In some instances, this information is tied to surveillance and undercover operations. A **WIRED** investigation into the files revealed intricate details about DHS's organizational structure, from senior leadership to individual immigration agents, and even potential access to specific technologies. Bluesky justified its decision by stating that the files contain personal contact information “shared without their authorization,” which violates its [community guidelines](https://bsky.social/about/support/community-guidelines). The company opted to block the links entirely rather than remove individual posts, asserting this approach was chosen “to avoid limiting public discussion or restricting broader access to reporting and commentary.” ### Moderation Challenges and Decentralization Users attempting to access the archive via Bluesky’s website or app are redirected to a “Blocked Link” page, which warns that the URL has been identified as “malicious” for their safety. Bluesky has not clarified whether the block was automated or if any government entity requested the restriction. Significantly, the DDoSecrets homepage remains accessible through Bluesky. Furthermore, at least one third-party Bluesky app, **Klearsky**, allows users to open links to the DHS archive without any warnings. This highlights the complexities of content moderation within decentralized social media architectures. Bluesky, which originated as a **Twitter** research project and became an independent entity, promotes a decentralized content moderation model. This allows users to select independent services for labeling or filtering posts. While its community guidelines explicitly prohibit sharing personal contact information, they also protect “factual reporting” on matters of public interest related to government transparency and public officials. The leaked DHS data, while containing work-related contact information, falls into a grey area that tests these guidelines. ### A Recurring Pattern for DDoSecrets **Emma Best**, cofounder of DDoSecrets, stated that this is not the first instance of a social media platform mislabeling their organization's website as malicious or restricting access to their publications. Best cited a previous incident where Twitter (before its rebrand to **X**) suspended DDoSecrets’ account and blocked links after the group published **BlueLeaks**, a significant trove of internal police records. Best suggests that tech platforms often succumb to government pressure but maintains that such actions ultimately fail to prevent information from spreading. “They can't stop the signal,” Best remarked. ### Competitor Responses The archive, dubbed “**Icepick**,” was provided to DDoSecrets and journalist **maia arson crimew** by a group calling itself the **Department of Peace**. Crimew also developed a searchable website for the records, which Bluesky has similarly blocked. In contrast, X’s **Grok** chatbot, developed by X’s parent company, has described the Icepick website as a “cleaned searchable web tool” and indicated that the complete dataset is available for download via DDoSecrets’ website or torrent. X has not yet commented on its stance regarding the leak.