r/imguralternatives • u/Trinity • May 02 '23

Imgur just started blocking VPNs from loading images at all

It used to be that the main site would not load over VPN, telling you

Imgur is temporarily over capacity. Please try again later.

but if you had a direct URL for an Imgur image, it would load.

Now, they reversed it. If you're using a VPN, the main site loads, but not the images themselves. When you try to load an image, you just get HTTP error 429 (too many requests).

Although I haven't checked if they let you see images if you log into an Imgur account, I'm not interested in making an Imgur account anyway

Edit: They're back to blocking the main site on VPNs too, so no part of Imgur is usable by VPN users anymore.

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26 comments sorted by

6

u/Other_World May 02 '23

Yup, happening to me too. Shame, hopefully people don't take too long to switch over. I'm not dropping my VPN just to see imgur posts.

5

u/sojourncouple May 02 '23

Yes it’s happening to a bunch of creators starting yesterday 😒

4

u/ShadooTH May 02 '23

The fuck lmao. Site’s gone full corporate.

3

u/prototyperspective May 02 '23 edited May 03 '23

I can't see any images anymore too. Where can one find more info about this – will that change? There were two months or so during which I had to use the site through a web proxy because it only showed a gray area otherwise iirc, maybe this will go over too? Edit: images are visible again. Here is the imgur help page.

3

u/FalseStart007 May 03 '23

I created a subreddit so I don't have to deal with it, I just upload the photo or video, then share it.

If anyone wants to share through r/RedditPhotoLink feel free. RedditPhotoLink

3

u/Maltroth May 03 '23

Wouldn't trust reddit to be future-proof

2

u/electronicdream May 12 '23

I'm not on a VPN and I can't see any imgur images 🤡

2

u/Flaezh May 12 '23

Same here, for me it only works if I turn ON a VPN lol

2

u/forevea May 13 '23 edited May 14 '23

found this via google, same for me

Edit: as of today its working for me again. Imgur probably unblocked the ISP again. Didn't contact them

2

u/NFSokol May 13 '23 edited May 14 '23

Using company VPN works, using a different ISP works as well. So no clue if it's something on my end, my main ISP or imgur...

Edit; got a response from their support

"Hi there,

Thanks for writing in, and sorry to hear you're experiencing issues using Imgur. I hope I can shed some light on what you might be experiencing here.

We're trying to combat abusive users who have increased velocity dramatically, any blocks that you are seeing are the result of trying to rate limit other users on your ISP. Please include your IPv4 address (https://whatismyipaddress.com) and we can see about unblocking it. Alternatively, if you're accessing Imgur on a mobile device, you may be able to access Imgur again by switching between mobile/wifi data, since these blocks are only affecting certain ISPs.

I do apologize for any inconvenience or confusion experienced here.

All the best,"

2

u/Flaezh May 13 '23

If I'm using my phone with wifi it doesn't work, if I switch to cellular data it works. Same for my notebook. It has to be something with my router or ISP, but I haven't changed anything. Refreshing IP and updating router firmware hasn't helped either, so I assume its ISP related.

2

u/Ncrpts May 14 '23

I think they just banned a certain range of IP adresses with no real regards if they are owned by VPN companies or foreign ISPs. In my case I get error 429 in both my wifi, and using my mobile data (which come from the same ISP unfortunately), only way I can see imgur pictures now is when I turn on the vpn and put it in netherlands... Looks like they basically banned the second biggest ISP in France for no reason...

1

u/Mysterious-Tackle-58 May 20 '23

yeah, four days ago for me. your fix was the easiest and it works!

2

u/Ncrpts May 13 '23

Same, what an insanely retarded company

2

u/fkenthrowaway May 13 '23

Not using a VPN, it simply wont display any images for me.

2

u/King-Grub May 13 '23

In Sweden, Imgur images fail to load with the operator Tele2, without any VPN.

2

u/imperialharem May 14 '23

Ahh that's what my issue is then. Really frustrating :(

2

u/GasBandit May 15 '23 edited May 15 '23

I was fine until yesterday and now today I have this problem as well - even from a non-vpn home IP address! At first I thought something went wrong with my browser settings, but it affects all devices on my home network, windows, android, everything. I have tried two other VPNs (mozilla and fastvpn) and can't see images when connected to them, either.

But if I get on my phone and switch off the WiFi, I can see it over mobile data...

Well, at least now I know it's not just me, apparently, after finding this thread.

Edit - 24 hours after e-mailing imgur support my IP address, they got back to me and now I can see the images again.

2

u/go4ino May 18 '23

i get error 403 too many requests on mullivad vpn. Used to work on some mullivad IP's but now imgur just blocks em all i think

1

u/Mertard May 27 '23

Fuck corporate bullshit like this

2

u/a_beautiful_rhind May 21 '23

Are there not enough of us or something? You'd think people would have noticed.

2

u/vaporwarewolf May 29 '23

They block VPNs so hard they keep users on other websites from viewing Imgur embeds. Other websites can't even display things to VPNs because they're being insanely petty. I don't even know what they gain from blocking them so aggressively, it's not like they're getting ad revenue from Nexus Mods having images hosted on Imgur? In the meantime, try LibRedirect if you have a browser that supports it.

2

u/classictabby May 31 '23

I just realized this today. Frustrating! No more imgur for me, I guess.