This isn't good. A lot of the images posted by members of this site (including myself) use Imgur. I'm going to have to find an alternate image hosting site, at least for this place. I hope they manage to get it together.
"Imgur yanks Brit access to memes as parent company faces fine" |
The Register (https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/01/imgur_exits_uk/)
QuoteThe UK's data watchdog has described Imgur's move to block UK users as "a commercial decision" after signaling plans to fine parent company MediaLab.
It opened an investigation into various companies, including TikTok and Reddit, in March, focused on how these major platforms handle children's data and verify their ages, which led to issuing a notice of intent to fine MediaLab in September.
[. . .]
Before Imgur published a dedicated page related to the block, attempts to visit Imgur in the UK were met with a 400 error page.
It now states that "content is not available in your region," and links to a brief explainer.
"From September 30, 2025, access to Imgur from the United Kingdom is no longer available," the page reads.
"UK users will not be able to log in, view content, or upload images. Imgur content embedded on third-party sites will not display for UK users."
Users and former users can still request copies of their data, or delete it and their accounts, under UK GDPR, via the platform's Help Center.
[Continues . . . (https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/01/imgur_exits_uk/)]
I have noticed that for some time now. I am not located in the UK currently, but my default VPN location is the UK, so the Imgur issue affects me. I use a very simple workaround in my favourite browser, Vivaldi. It is faster and more convenient than changing my location in ExpressVPN. There is a free Proton VPN app built into Vivaldi. It is activated by clicking the VPN button top right in Vivaldi:
(https://i.imgur.com/rk8GByx.jpeg)
One gets another button to connect to the default VPN location in the Netherlands, where Imgur can be accessed. I just click the VPN button before I enter the Imgur site, then disconnect when I leave Imgur. In the meantime, my ExpressVPN is running in the background, set in the UK location.
(https://i.imgur.com/KR1vWlK.jpeg)
So, there is no need to find another image hosting site.
I don't know whether a built in VPN is available in other browsers as well.
https://mundobytes.com/en/Vivaldi-European-browser-with-integrated-VPN/ (https://mundobytes.com/en/Vivaldi-European-browser-with-integrated-VPN/)
Reasonable option, thank you hermes. Opera has a VPN function as well.
A serious pain in the arse.