When you post anything on Bluesky, you give Bluesky a broad license to use, modify, display, and distribute your posts, including in promotional materials, across the AT Protocol and with third-party partners.
This analysis describes what Bluesky's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
The license covers adaptation and public display in any format or media and extends to promotional use and trusted third parties, which means your posts could appear in Bluesky marketing materials or be shared with partner services without further consent.
Your posts, photos, and other content can be reproduced and used in promotional materials, shared across the AT Protocol network, and accessed by trusted third-party partners, all under a license that persists while your content remains on the platform.
How other platforms handle this
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Subject to any applicable account settings that you select, you grant Company a fully paid, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive and fully sublicensable right (including any moral rights) and license to host, use, license, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perf...
By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all media or distri...
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"By sharing Content on Bluesky, you grant us a limited, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to: Operate and Improve Services: Use your Content to develop, operate, and enhance Bluesky, the AT Protocol, and future products and services. Adapt and Display Content: Reproduce, modify, adapt, distribute, and publicly display your Content in any format or media. For example, we may resize content for different devices or feature user posts in promotional materials. Enable Third-Party Tools: Allow trusted partners—such as content moderation providers—to use your Content as necessary to support Bluesky Social.— Excerpt from Bluesky's Bluesky Terms of Service
(1) REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: The content license grant implicates GDPR where user content contains personal data of EU/EEA residents, particularly regarding the lawful basis for processing and data minimization principles. The CCPA is relevant for California residents to the extent the license enables sharing of personal information with third parties. The FTC Act applies to disclosures about how user content is used commercially. (2) GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Medium. The license is described as limited and non-exclusive, and the terms state content will not be sold without user permission. However, the inclusion of promotional use, any format or media adaptation, and access by trusted partners is broader than a pure operational license and warrants review for organizational users whose employees post work-related content. (3) JURISDICTION FLAGS: GDPR requires a lawful basis for processing personal data contained in user content; organizations whose employees are EU/EEA residents should assess whether use under this license aligns with applicable data processing agreements. For California residents, sharing content with third-party partners may engage CCPA disclosure and opt-out rights. (4) CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: The reference to trusted partners as content moderation providers is not exhaustive, and the category of entities who may access user content under this license is not fully enumerated. Organizations should assess whether content posted on Bluesky could include confidential or proprietary information. (5) COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Legal teams should review whether the license scope, particularly promotional use and third-party access, requires updates to internal acceptable use policies for employees using Bluesky in a professional capacity. Data mapping exercises should account for personal data contained in user-generated content shared under this license.
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The license covers adaptation and public display in any format or media and extends to promotional use and trusted third parties, which means your posts could appear in Bluesky marketing materials or be shared with partner services without further consent.
Your posts, photos, and other content can be reproduced and used in promotional materials, shared across the AT Protocol network, and accessed by trusted third-party partners, all under a license that persists while your content remains on the platform.
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 26 platforms. See the full comparison.
No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Bluesky.