Jack Dorsey, co-founder and former CEO of X/Twitter until he resigned in 2021, has left the board of X rival Bluesky, a decentralized social media network he helped create, fund, and promote.
Bluesky started as a small research project within then-Twitter in 2019 and became its own platform in 2022. The company’s goal is to create a common operating standard for social media platforms so that apps can work between them. It works a lot like Twitter, which it was designed to replace.
Dorsey has been on Bluesky’s board since the platform split from Twitter, now X, two years ago, but took to X on Saturday to simply write “no” when asked if he was still on the board.
no
— jack (@jack) May 4, 2024
He also posted and pinned: “Don’t depend on corporations to grant you rights. defend them yourself using freedom technology. (you’re on one)” on the same day, deeming X “freedom technology.”
Jack Dorsey. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
On Sunday, Bluesky posted an official statement on their site thanking Dorsey “for his help funding and initiating” Bluesky. The company stated it was looking for a new board member “who shares our commitment to building a social network that puts people in control of their experience.”
We sincerely thank Jack for his help funding and initiating the bluesky project. Today, Bluesky is thriving as an open source social network running on atproto, the decentralized protocol we have built.
— Bluesky (@bsky.app) May 5, 2024 at 4:11 PM
Dorsey also reportedly unfollowed over 2,000 people this weekend and weighed in on government surveillance.
Related: Jack Dorsey Blasts Mark Zuckerberg Over Threads Follow Request: ‘Too Soon’
He now follows just three people on X: Elon Musk, Edward Snowden, and Stella Assange.
The seemingly public approval of X is a change of tune for Dorsey, who openly called out Elon Musk’s leadership of X last year.
Dorsey also founded the fintech conglomerate Block, which the Department of Justice is currently investigating after a former employee alleged compliance issues.
Dorsey mainly dismissed the news report at Block’s earnings call last week.
Related: ‘Should Have Walked Away’: Jack Dorsey Says ‘It All Went South’ After Elon Musk Took Over Twitter