Bluesky Is Clearly Not a Johnny Cash Fan

Bluesky recently suspended the account of author and liberal influencer Sarah Kendzior, leading to confusion on the left-leaning social media platform about what she did. According to Bluesky, Kendzior was suspended for, “expressing a desire to shoot the author of an article,†a pretty shocking allegation. Until you learn the context, sparking its own debate about where platforms should draw the line when it comes to moderation.

“The post, made 11/10, stated: ‘I want to shoot the author of this article just to watch him die,’†a spokesperson for Bluesky explained to Gizmodo in an email Wednesday morning.

“The account owner was immediately notified of the reason for the content takedown and engaged back and forth with our moderation team. Our community guidelines prohibit content that threatens or wishes harm to others,†the spokesperson continued.

Bluesky’s safety team also shared a similar statement online Wednesday, not long after Gizmodo received its statement via email. But Kendzior, who’s based in St. Louis and has written political books like The View From Flyover Country (2018) and Hiding in Plain Sight (2020), told Gizmodo there’s more to the story.

“I posted that line as a quote tweet above a terrible article about Johnny Cash,†Kendzior said. “My post references the famous lyric from his song Folsom Prison Blues: ‘I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.’â€

Kendzior was quote-posting a reference to the Wall Street Journal’s article from Oct. 9 about Johnny Cash, which was widely mocked for being out of touch. Titled, “It’s Finally Time to Give Johnny Cash His Due,†social media users poked fun at the idea that Cash, one of the most well-respected musical artists of the 20th century, had not received proper recognition.

Kendzior pointed out that Bluesky made no mention of the Johnny Cash lyrics: “Notably, they did not send you a screenshot of my full quote-tweet, but only that one line, isolated from the Johnny Cash context.†The author says that when she received an email about the suspension, she wasn’t sure if she was dealing with “an actual employee or some sort of prank. But my entire account is gone, so it is real.â€

Kendzior told Gizmodo that she thinks her post was actually sent around Oct. 9, over a month ago, but can’t check the exact date because her posts on Bluesky have been deleted. Bluesky initially told Gizmodo the tweet was sent Nov. 10, but later issued a correction in a post that Kendzior’s post was actually sent Oct. 10.

Kendzior, who regularly writes about politics at Substack, doesn’t believe that the Johnny Cash lyric was the real reason for her suspension on Monday, but didn’t elaborate on what she believed the actual reason might be.

“The reason I do not think my suspension is about a reference to a Johnny Cash lyric—beyond the obvious fact that getting suspended for defending the honor of Johnny Cash is ridiculous, and beyond the fact that the post is over a month old and caused no outcry—is because they could have removed that one post instead of deleting my entire account,†Kendzior said.

“I disagree strongly that my post deserves removal. But deleting an entire account is a tremendous violation of my free speech and does harm to everyone who cites or engages with my work and who now deal with dead links,†she continued.

Bluesky users seemed divided on whether the post from Kendzior warranted a suspension, with many users pointing out that it didn’t seem fair, given the fact that she was responding to an article about Johnny Cash. But others thought it was a reasonable decision under the theory that a death threat is a death threat and moderators shouldn’t have to decide who is joking and who isn’t.

Paul Frazee, a software engineer at Bluesky, posted about the idea that people could abuse a system where moderators are forced to determine what’s an actual threat versus a joke.

“The company has a pretty no-nonsense policy about death threats, and it really doesn’t take jokes or references as sufficient padding to excuse them,†Frazee wrote on Bluesky Wednesday. “It’s one of those things that just comes from this being a big public space. Everybody will claim they’re ‘just kidding.’â€

This isn’t the first time that Bluesky has gotten heat for its moderation decisions. The platform has received criticism for being too heavy-handed in banning Palestinians on the platform who are trying to fundraise or simply increase awareness of their plight as Israel’s war on Gaza has driven them to desperate measures.

There was also outcry recently when a user named Link was permanently suspended after posting images of Charlie Kirk that were interpreted as a threat of violence. Link, who says he does nonprofit work in Washington D.C., told Gizmodo he’s confused about the suspension and said one of two reasons Bluesky gave included a factual error. Link’s suspension appears to be permanent, whereas Kendzior’s may last just three days.

Gizmodo reached out to Bluesky about Link’s case, but didn’t get an explanation by press time. We did at least get an acknowledgement of our emails. That hasn’t always been the case, and perhaps suggests Bluesky is pivoting away from its old communications strategy, where emails were often met with silence.

Aaron Rodericks, the head of Trust and Safety at Bluesky, suggested it was indeed a conscious change in strategy, writing Wednesday: “Here’s a shift towards being more transparent,†while quoting a post about why Kendzior was suspended.

Again, that post didn’t include the context that Kendzior was making a reference to a classic Johnny Cash song. But there might be a switch in the broader strategy for Bluesky as it navigates the growing pains of a larger userbase. Bluesky currently has over 40 million users, up from 30 million in January. And while social media moderation is notoriously difficult, and often nuanced, nobody is happy unless the rules and the enforcement of those rules are clear.