Bluesky blocks links to leaked DHS employee database
Platform built as X's freer alternative marks DDoSecrets posts malicious, agency pursues takedowns through ZeroFox while researchers still need the names for FOIA requests
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A screenshot showing Bluesky blocking links to DDoSecrets.Image Credits:TechCrunch /
Image Credits:TechCrunch /
Zack Whittaker
techcrunch.com
Bluesky has begun blocking links to the leaked Department of Homeland Security employee database, marking posts that point to the nonprofit transparency collective DDoSecrets as "malicious." The blocking came within days of TechCrunch's report that a hacker had obtained more than 40,000 user account records from Homeland Security's login system, including names, work-issued phone numbers and email addresses of employees and agents at CBP and ICE.
The platform built its brand as X's freer alternative has now found the limits of that promise under government pressure. Homeland Security is pursuing takedowns through the security vendor ZeroFox, which holds authority to act on the department's behalf until 2028 and has already filed a notice against a searchable copy of the data hosted by journalist maia arson crimew. That site went dark Thursday after its domain registrar placed the domain on "serverHold." DDoSecrets, whose own site is now blocked at Bluesky, also hosts a locally downloadable version of the dataset.
The data itself is roughly what a business card would carry — professional contact details, not home addresses. DDoSecrets co-founder Emma Best points out that researchers seeking records under the Freedom of Information Act need exactly this information to file requests, and that the government itself requires the public to supply it. Bluesky has not explained how professional contact information violates its community guidelines; a spokesperson told Wired the exposed data breaches the rules, while Best notes home addresses and personal contact information are absent from the set.
The department hunting the leaker has now been breached three times in recent weeks, and the cost of that failure is being collected from the platforms and intermediaries asked to forget it. Homeland Security has not commented on the takedown notice, and ZeroFox did not respond to questions. The whistleblower is presumably still out there — the data still loads on anyone's own computer.