Entrepreneur and media personality Mark Cuban is calling out Bluesky for what he sees as ideological rigidity—and warns the platform’s echo chamber effect is pushing users back to Elon Musk’s X.
Cuban, who initially joined Bluesky as a supporter of its open-source structure and “civil” tone, now says the platform has become intolerant of dissent. “The lack of diversity of thought here is really hurting usage,” Cuban wrote bluntly. He described how even neutral comments or data points that don’t conform to the dominant progressive narrative are quickly labeled as “fascist,” shutting down conversation.
While Bluesky was initially hailed as a haven for those disillusioned with X’s free-speech ethos under Musk, Cuban says the platform has veered too far into ideological purity. “It’s no longer about discussion or debate,” he added. “It’s about conformity.”
The timing of his criticism is notable: Bluesky has seen a steep decline in daily active users, dropping from over a million in February to just under 670,000 today. That’s nearly a third of its base gone in just a few months.
This isn’t just about user numbers—it’s about where digital town squares are headed. Cuban’s remarks reflect a growing recognition that platforms built around one political ideology may create safe spaces, but they don’t sustain long-term growth or serious dialogue.
His broader concern? That Bluesky’s inability to accommodate a range of viewpoints on major topics—whether it’s business, healthcare, immigration, or AI—will ultimately doom the platform to irrelevance, especially when compared to X, which continues to embrace open debate, even if it gets messy.
Cuban isn’t alone. More users are quietly returning to X, not because they agree with everything on it, but because they can at least speak freely without being mobbed for dissent.
As Cuban put it: platforms that can’t tolerate diversity of thought are bound to collapse under the weight of their own ideological rigidity.