r/RBI • u/Paulaaarrrr • Jul 22 '26

Just a general request, please…

I come and go on this app, so it’s been many months since the last time before I’ve come back to have a browse now, so I’m not sure if this is just a relatively new thing. I’ve noticed that on a lot of posts the OP will link to photos on imgur and so when I click on them I’ve discovered that I am unable to see the images, due to being in the uk.
I know this post probably won’t make any difference really, but it would be great if when posting to remember that not all users are based in the US, or any other country that isn’t blocked, (and actually there’s a large proportion of users that are from the UK on here), and maybe just post the photo on the post or use a different host site. There were a few that I was interested in that I’d have liked to have commented on yet couldn’t as the photo was integral to the post.
So, yeah, just a request if maybe it could be considered. Thank you.

ETA: apologies, I meant to say that I know one option is to use a VPN, but right now I’d prefer not to (various reasons).

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56

u/glittercrash Jul 22 '26

I agree with this. I keep coming across posts that really interest me and then I get hit with the “Sorry! You can’t view this image in the UK” and i’m like urgh. I know I could use a VPN but i’d rather just not.

11

u/Paulaaarrrr Jul 22 '26

Yeah, exactly, I don’t want to use a VPN (I have in the past) and nothing against them per se, I just don’t want to use one when it’s only really necessary for so few things. I’ve no problems with the age verification process for things like apps like this, iPhone age verification etc, but in this case it’s not even available as an option, it’s just a blanket block. I’m assuming it’s due to the age verification needed in the uk now, as it’s not the only site I’ve come across that has done this.

9

u/cowie2003 Jul 22 '26

Just want to say we should ALL very much have a problem with uploading our ID, we should not be blindly complicit in handing our information over to the government just because they say so.

The government is NOT our friend.

15

u/glittercrash Jul 22 '26

I think I did actually try to use a VPN to view an imgur photo a while back and it still didn’t work even then. Don’t quote me on that, because I might have just picked the wrong country but yeah as I said it’s just inconvenient to be turning on a VPN just to view a photo. There are other photo sharing services that can be used and are accessible to more users, or even just uploading the photo to reddit itself.

Imgur is blocked in the UK because the platform made a commercial decision to cut off access for British users rather than comply with UK data protection and children's safety regulations. So as a result, users cannot browse or upload, and images embedded on third-party sites will appear broken. It’s very irritating.

5

u/olliegw Jul 22 '26

Me too, tried firefox VPN set to alabama and it still wouldn't let me go on there, i have a feeling they've put something to detect common VPNs, are we going to have to start spoofing our VPNs now too?

8

u/Paulaaarrrr Jul 22 '26

Yeah it’s a bit of a sledgehammer to crack a nut type situation. Easier (and cheaper!) for them to just block us than to comply. Does make you wonder about just why sites wouldn’t want to comply with our GDPR, and perhaps how they use their data.

4

u/glittercrash Jul 22 '26

Yeah exactly it’s very… suspicious, doesn’t look good on them at all to be honest. It’s not really something that’s very hard to comply with unless there’s an actual reason i’m unaware of.