Bluesky launches Ozone, a tool that lets users create and run their own independent audit services

Decentralized Twitter/X competitor Bluesky today announced open source Ozone, a tool that lets individuals and teams collaborate to review and tag web content. The company plans to open up the ability to run their own independent audit services to individuals and teams later this week, meaning users will be able to subscribe to additional audit services outside of Bluesky’s preset audits.

The change will give users “unprecedented control” over their social media experience, Bluesky said in a blog post. The company’s vision for review is to build an ecosystem of stackable services, which is why it will start allowing users to install filters from independent review services on top of what Bluesky already requires. As a result, users will be able to create customized experiences based on their preferences.

For example, someone could create a moderation service to block spider images on the web. If you’re someone who freaks out when you see a spider, you can install a moderation service and have all tagged spider images disappear from your feed.

“A team can never be a perfect fit for the entire world, which is a world of diverse backgrounds, cultures, and preferences,” the blog post reads. “So we’re excited to open up this ecosystem to people with local backgrounds. experts, developers and users are able to provide their own opinions, which you can subscribe to in addition to Bluesky’s review service.”

Audit service filters will be available on Bluesky desktop first and will be available on mobile devices soon.

Bluesky says installing a filter from an independent review service is as easy as following another account. The moderation service will allow users to report content, so if you see an untagged spider image, you can report it to the service.

While Bluesky already allows people to run mute or blocked lists that other users can subscribe to, it’s often tied to a specific account, which doesn’t allow for collaboration and can be overwhelming if people start tagging you directly. Plus, unlike blocklists, which only allow you to add new accounts, Ozone allows you to flag specific posts.

Individuals and teams that create review services will have access to the report queue, eliminating the need for people to tag you directly every time. People running the moderation service will be able to set custom labels and determine their behavior. Moderation services are not tied to individual accounts, so multiple people can manage them together.

Bluesky noted that the moderation service would likely start as a community-run project, but hinted that “there’s nothing to prevent the moderation service from having paying subscribers.”

This open source tool can be found in the GitHub repository.