Bluesky is facing technical difficulties once more. The social platform announced that certain components are offline and it is probing an event affecting services in a specific area (Bluesky's spelling error, not this report's). The problem seemingly began at 1:42 a.m. Eastern Time and continued until at least 11 a.m. Eastern Time when this article was first drafted. Afterward, the platform has dealt with sporadic disruptions, occasionally impacting even its own status page meant for tracking service issues.
Later, at 7:47 p.m. Eastern Time, Bluesky revealed efforts to counter a complex Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) assault that grew stronger over the course of the day. The assault led to glitches in users' timelines, alerts, conversation chains, and search functions, disruptions that the Engadget staff directly encountered multiple times during the day. Although such DDoS incidents often serve as distractions for potential breaches, Bluesky reported no signs of illicit entry into confidential user information. The service also suffered a short interruption earlier in the same month.
The disruption persists in an on-and-off manner, resembling a staggered failure rather than a complete shutdown. Bluesky indicated plans to issue further details on the matter by 1 p.m. Eastern Time on April 17.
Update, April 16, 8 p.m. Eastern Time: This article has been revised post-publication to incorporate an official statement from Bluesky regarding the service issue.