Bluesky Harassment: Block, Mute, Report or Moderation Lists

A post of yours has been quoted by someone with a big following, and now the replies are full of strangers. Some are rude, some are worse. Bluesky gives you more tools than most apps for this, but they do different things, and some of them are public in a way that surprises people.

This guide follows Bluesky's own Help Center, blog and Community Guidelines as they read today. Some of those pages date from 2023 to 2025, so we say where a detail comes from. It covers what block and mute do, what stays public, moderation lists, hiding replies, detaching quote posts and reporting. One wrong step can cost you the account, so know what you are doing before you start, especially before you fight back with lists of your own.

Last checked: 29 October 2026.

#Quick Answer: How Do You Deal With Harassment on Bluesky?

Bluesky's Moderation and Custom Feeds Help Center page says muting stops you seeing an account's notifications and top level posts without them knowing, and blocking prevents interaction both ways. It says you report a post from its three dot menu, and a whole account from the three dot menu on its profile. For a pile on, Bluesky's anti toxicity features post from August 2024 added the option to detach your post from quote posts and to hide replies on your own threads.

#The Bluesky Tool Matrix

This table pulls together what each tool does and what the other person can still see, using Bluesky's own pages.

#Block or Mute: Which One First?

Bluesky's user FAQ, published in 2023, lists what is public and private on the network. It says posts and likes are public, blocks are public, mutes are private, mutelists are public lists, and your mutelist subscriptions are private. It also says there are currently no private profiles on Bluesky.

The AT Protocol team's post on why blocks on Bluesky are public explains the reason. It says blocks have to be enforced by many servers and apps, so each account's block records must be readable by them. It says blocked accounts cannot like, reply, mention or follow you, that they will see they have been blocked if they go to your profile, and that they can still view your content by logging out or using a different account. It adds that old replies or mentions are not deleted by a block, just not shown.

So mute is the quiet option: the other person is not told. Block is the stronger option, but it is visible. If you think a block will make the person angrier, mute first and report.

#Moderation Lists and Why Blocks Do Not Remove You From Them

The August 2024 post says Bluesky has three kinds of lists: starter packs, curated user lists and moderation lists. It says that when you block the creator of a starter pack or a curated list, you are filtered out of lists they create, but that blocks still have no effect on moderation lists, because that would defeat their purpose.

Bluesky's Trust and Safety update from September 2024 adds that some people use lists to harass others. It says lists with names or descriptions that break the Community Guidelines will be hidden in the app until their creator changes them, and that Bluesky will act against users who repeatedly create abusive lists. Lists with abusive names or descriptions break the rules, so if you have been put on one, report the list where the app offers that option.

We do not recommend any particular shared block list here. Lists are run by other users, and you should read who runs one and what it covers before you subscribe.

#Stopping a Pile On: Quote Posts, Replies and Notifications

1. Detach your post from the quote post. The August 2024 post says you can view all quote posts on your post and detach your original post from someone's quote, to limit dog piling. It notes removals are public data.
2. Hide abusive replies. The same post says only the person who started a thread can hide replies, and hidden replies move behind a Hidden replies screen.
3. Filter your notifications. Bluesky's July 2025 post on notification controls says the older priority notifications filter has been replaced. In Settings, then Notifications, set replies, mentions and quotes to People you follow, which Bluesky says has the same effect.
4. Report the worst posts and accounts. Moderators cannot act on what they never see.

#How to Report on Bluesky and What Happens Next

The Help Center page says to report a post from its three dot menu, and a whole account from the three dot menu on its profile. Bluesky's Community Guidelines, last updated 19 September 2025, ban harassment, bullying, threats and sharing home addresses, personal contact information, financial or medical data or ID documents. They also ban stalking, persistent targeting and single purpose harassment accounts.

On outcomes, Bluesky's November 2025 moderation update says the report menu in the app now has more specific categories, and that a moderation inbox to move notices about moderation decisions from email into the app is an upcoming project. Check both your email and the app for updates. The guidelines say Bluesky makes the final decision on whether content crosses into harassment, and that its appeals process lets you say if it got something wrong.

#Keep a Record Before You Block

Blocking hides content from you, which makes it harder to gather later. This is our own suggestion, not a Bluesky step. Before you block, screenshot the posts with the handle, date and link visible, and save links to any lists you have been added to. Our guide on collecting evidence before reporting harassment explains a simple method.

If posts include threats or your personal details, take your record to the police. In Malaysia, see our guides on making a police report for online harassment and on Malaysian law and the Online Safety Act. If someone has set up an account pretending to be you, our guide to a Bluesky account impersonating you covers that report.

#What the Pages Do Not Say

• Some of the pages are from 2023 to 2025, and the app may have changed since. We have only described steps the pages state.
• They do not give a time for Bluesky to review a report.
• They do not say whether the reported account is told who reported it.
• They do not explain step by step how to create a moderation list in the current app, so we have not described it.

#When It Is Safer to Get Expert Help

Most people can handle a rude reply or two with mute and block. Some cases are harder. Blocks are public, so a block can be seen by the person you are trying to avoid. Being on an abusive list means reporting the list, not just the people. Fighting back with lists or mass reports can break Bluesky's own rules. And when abuse follows you from another platform, reports on Bluesky alone will not stop it.

If the harassment is coordinated, crosses platforms, or affects your work, having an experienced team handle the reports is the safer choice. AwareXone helps people document harassment and file through each platform's official routes. See our social media problem solutions. You can apply for a case review to see whether we can help.

#When a Case Review Makes Sense

A review helps when abuse keeps returning from new accounts, when you have been added to abusive lists, or when the same people target you on several apps. SocialSafe by AwareXone is a Malaysia-based service, independent of Bluesky, that works only through Bluesky's own reporting and appeals routes. We never ask for your password, app passwords or login codes, and Bluesky makes the final decision. Read how we work on our trust page.

#Frequently Asked Questions