No current plans for departments to join Bluesky – Starmer

PM says "reaching as many people as possible" is the "sole test" for whether to join a social media channel
Keir Starmer speaks at a press conference during the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: PA/Alamy

By Tevye Markson

22 Nov 2024

There are currently no plans for government departments to join Bluesky, the prime minister has said.

At a press conference during the G20 summit in Brazil, Starmer was asked if he planned to join the social media platform, or for government departments to open official accounts. He said: “No plans at the moment, we’re obviously still using Twitter.”

He added: “What’s important for a government is that we’re able to reach as many people and communicate with as many people as possible and that’s the sole test for any of this as far as I’m concerned.”

The government has, meanwhile, said that departmental communications teams can use TikTok in exceptional circumstances.

Usage of Bluesky has surged in recent weeks, with more than 1 million users joining per day and many Whitehall and Westminster watchers choosing to sign up. There are even potentially a couple of (unverified) permanent secretaries now on it.  

CSW is now on Bluesky too – you can follow us here – and you can still find us on X, LinkedIn and Facebook.   

Bluesky was co-founded by former Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey, who has since left the company.

The current owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, is now co-leading a charge to cut thousands of civil serivce jobs in the United States, and has said he wants to stop civil servants in the US from being able to work from home and to make it easier to fire them.

Incoming US president Donald Trump has appointed Musk as co-chair of the new Department of Government Efficiency, a proposed advisory commission which aims to "dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure federal agencies".

Share this page