People using a VPN to get around the OSA, how have you noticed the internet is different now you're on a different country's IP?

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ghadasir@reddit

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KeyJunket1175@reddit

I have been using Brave browser/VPNs before that, to avoid all the SEO optimised and paid crap google throws my way. A good way to avoid political propaganda too. Seeing a wider internet can give you some perspective.

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basarisco@reddit

Yes of course it's different same as literally every single time you travel anywhere (as shiukd be obvious). Wild to not use an ad blocker though.

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hamshanker69@reddit

Isle of Man is surprisingly similar to England in many ways. Who knew.

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Rubberfootman@reddit

I’m mostly getting incomprehensible Dutch adverts. You can’t even guess most of those words. It is worth it so I can view - shock! horror! - homebrewing alcohol subs.

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Minimum_Airline3657@reddit

Use Albania, no YouTube ads

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Beefcakeandgravy@reddit

I tried Albania, still got ads. Suggestions on what I'm doing wrong? (used phone as vpn connection thru Albania, connected samsung smart TV to the Internet thru my phone WiFi hotspot)

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Takklemaggot@reddit

Move to Andorra

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ScumBucket33@reddit

Just use an adblock or SmartTube on the TV. You definitely don’t need a VPN just to avoid ads. In fact it’s been so many years since I’ve seen a YouTube ad I forget they still existed.

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Wretched_Colin@reddit

I paid £40 to some Turkish lads and got YouTube premium for the year. I only know they are Turkish because I got a warning that my fake account was being accessed from there while they set it up. Ad free YouTube on all my devices. YouTube music instead of Spotify. And I’ve cancelled 3 Patreon subscriptions because my phone lets me listen to YouTube videos when it’s locked and those podcasts put themselves on YouTube ad free. Best £40 ever, I hope I can find them again next year.

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ScumBucket33@reddit

I could imagine. I pay £20 a year for an IPTV to watch all the football channels I could want and that has been well worth the money for me.

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Wretched_Colin@reddit

It’s the dudes that I have my IPTV sub from that sold me the cheap YouTube premium. I was happy with Sky, and all their adverts, until it went to £185 a month and I felt I had no choice but to start looking elsewhere. Now I’ll never go back.

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BrieflyVerbose@reddit

How did you determine who was safe when it comes to IPTV, or is that not a consideration? I've just ditched Sky because the prices were a fucking joke amd I only have Freeview right now, which basically means I don't watch any TV because it's shite. I wanna take a step with IPTV but I don't really understand where to look, or what to do?

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Wretched_Colin@reddit

My only concern has been that I pay for a year up front and the provider goes bust. I’m on my third year with the same guys now and am paying two subs, one for me and one for my dad. They specifically ask for personal introductions to new customers though, so i cant share their details here.

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BrieflyVerbose@reddit

> They specifically ask for personal introductions to new customers though, so i cant share their details here. Okay so that's actually a good sign for me. Maybe I should ask around my mates and see who's using what!

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Wretched_Colin@reddit

Yeah, then get a free trial for a couple of days, see if you’re happy then go for it if so. As well as my own, everyone I know has a Discord community to go with it and you can get “customer service” if things aren’t working, find out about ppv events in advance, get set up for subscriptions. This is what they’ve written about new subs. I presume others are the same. https://preview.redd.it/p9yc57l2l3yf1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6682cf5e14584a8e6206f0aa5325ed9027101593

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ScumBucket33@reddit

Personally after a free trial to test the setup I only with a 3 months subscription before committing to yearly ones. At the time a year was only £12 but it was £20 for my malt recent year which felt a low risk amount of money anyway.

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Divide_Rule@reddit

Yup for me it was when I worked out to watch my team on sky required a schedule of subbing and leaving various services over the season and it would cost about £1200 to do so if I want to watch NFL and F1 too.

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pib712@reddit

I pay £20 a month for Sky Sports, how did you manage that?

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Divide_Rule@reddit

I know a couple of people that get their sky package at heavily reduced price. The base Sky package now is £25 before add-ons. So for sky sports you'll be sold £45 pm unless you have access to people within the sales network. Then £25 pm for TNT. £9 pm for Amazon. Sky F1 is another £20 as well. All adds up.

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Wretched_Colin@reddit

I think sky give you a discount if you go for a 12 month contract, plus they have a notice period to cancel, which means it isn’t worthwhile to sub and leave. Very clever people, who have probably never watched sports, work out the best way to get most money from the subscriber base.

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RecycledTrashman@reddit

If you don't find them, Firefox with ublock origin allows all of this.

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Ulfgeirr88@reddit

Try Mongolia instead, works for me

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Palsta@reddit

That's a feature of using your phone as a VPN, I've had this before. Tethering doesn't use the VPN connection, you need to install a VPN client on your TV and connect to Albania through that.

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Sasiches_and_mash@reddit

Seriously?

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Minimum_Airline3657@reddit

Try it, you won’t use any other lol

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TheHornyGoth@reddit

As someone who speaks English and German, getting random Dutch on Reddit (the ads) is incredibly frustrating lol

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Ok_Adhesiveness_8637@reddit

Im getting the same Dutch ads because even though im old enough to get medical cannabis prescribed to me by a board of doctors, im not allowed to view information about said cannabis im legally allowed 🙃

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roygbiv1000@reddit

I'm also getting Dutch ads... Because I'm currently in the Netherlands. I'm the boring one.

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dysonology@reddit

Boooo!

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SneakybadgerJD@reddit

Thats like saying "I'm old enough to get medical cannabis prescribed to me, but I'm not allowed to buy cigs at the shop🙃" Which is obviously a nonsense statement. If you're old enough to get medical cannabis which you've proven your age for, you're old enough to get information online, you just don't want to prove your age. 2 totally different things, go to the library and get a book or something if the OSA scares you that much, but don't make out that you're "not allowed".

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Ok_Adhesiveness_8637@reddit

Tell me you have no idea about the intricate differences that relate directly to terpenes and how they individually change how ones endocanabanoid system reacts to them without telling me. Or how each and every batch of medication can be different. This is not a pill you swallow that is always exactly the same as every other pill you have taken from the same chemical structure. This is a plant. I shouldn't need to prove my age to get detailed user reports of the medication I take. I already have a Dutch VPN set up for my arr stack, so its always bypassed the need to prove my age anyways.

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EchoesofIllyria@reddit

> Tell me you have no idea about the intricate differences that relate directly to terpenes and how they individually change how ones endocanabanoid system reacts to them without telling me. I totally agree with you but this sentence is way too long for that “tell me…” format haha

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SneakybadgerJD@reddit

Hahahaha please, please stop. You're trying to sound smart but can't even spell endocannabinoid. I'm not new to the scene and I am aware of these things even if I don't have a deep understanding. What I don't get is why you're even bringing that up, could you elaborate please? Now you're moving the goal posts, no you shouldn't have to verify to access medical information I agree with you there. But that isn't what we were talking about. You were saying you can get the prescription, but aren't allowed to access message boards about it online. You're allowed, you just don't want to verify your age, which is fair enough. Also, speak to your doctor I'm sure they can offer you some information, or talk to a friend who isn't afraid of verifying their age to send you the information seperately. You could even send me the link (send me it anyway, I'd like to see for myself) and I'll send you the information some how if you wanted.

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Ok_Adhesiveness_8637@reddit

Because i access that info on reddit on the medical uk sub, which I wasn't allowed to under the new act. Sorry, my spelling isn't 100% accurate, im not a native speaker, but let's make sure we tell people they are stupid cause they dont spell every word correctly. I guess my MBiol is usless cause I didn't spell something correctly, my bad. I'll make sure to hand it back. I dont need you to access anything for me, I'm a grown ass man who has already worked around the issue.

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SneakybadgerJD@reddit

Hahaha calling me out for calling you "stupid" (I didnt) after you essentially did the same thing first acting like I'm dumb because you thought i didn't know something. If you're gonna take the stance of having more knowledge on something, and you make a blatant error, I'm gonna use it against you. I don't care. Its your fault for trying that line of argument and committing to it. Look, you're still trying it "look at me I have a masters" blah blah blah, you aren't the only one here with a degree, spelling a word wrong doesn't mean you have to send it back, please stop exaggerating I'm sorry if I've upset you. Love how you're hiding from the rest of the conversation though, like why even bring up terpenes and the endocannabinoid system? You're pretty quiet on the OSA front as well, struggling to move the posts some more?

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Ok_Adhesiveness_8637@reddit

Answered osa in 2 replies now. Answered the question about terps in the first reply.

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SneakybadgerJD@reddit

No, you randomly brought up the fact that terpene profiles affect people differently. That's great, not what we were on about though. And you didnt elaborate when asked. That's what you ignored. I took issue with you saying you're "not allowed", that's it. And no again. All you tried to do was move the goal posts instead of address what I had said. That's fine, you don't have to at all, but I'm gonna call you out for trying to make it about something I didn't say. I'm not replying after this one though no matter what you say so we may as well leave it there.

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wartywarlock@reddit

The most ridiculous thing about the homebrewing subs being blocked is they still show on the main page and I can access any given post, reply etc.. just can't see the overview. Seems the same on all of them r/mead /r/winemaking etc We knew the OSA was a fucking farce but it's really quite the fucking farce!

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Ok-Mulberry-4600@reddit

Homebrewing!! DEVIANT!!

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Western-Victorys@reddit

I’ve gone Dutch too!

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Snoochtodabooch@reddit

I've been using a VPN for over a year, basically paid for 2 years of Surfshark about a year ago as the American streaming service, Peacock, had an offer where you could get 12 months of premier league football for $20. Absolute bargain, and it's also come in quite handy for unlocking films , TV shows from other regions on Netflix However watching YouTube with a VPN is mental , I remember seeing a paid ad from the Israeli government basically showing horrible footage after October 7th when I had my location set to the US, and obviously seeing American ads in general is just a wild experience, I think i saw an ad for HIV medication on Peacock, diabetes pills, all sorts.

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mall_grab07@reddit

We whine about the UK, but holy shit that's dystopian. I thought the paid Isr*eli and medication ads were a myth

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Single-Samurai@reddit

Why you censoring ‘Israeli’?

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Huge___Milkers@reddit

Because it’s such a disgusting word to even utter

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Mr_Reaper__@reddit

Spoken like a true anti-semite.

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Huge___Milkers@reddit

Ahh yes I forgot that it’s impossible to criticise the country of Israel without being an anti-Semite. That word doesn’t mean anything anymore. You’re the one being anti-Semitic by conflating Israel and Jewish people

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Mr_Reaper__@reddit

Says the person conflating the actions of a handful of authoritarian leaders with an entire country full of people.

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Huge___Milkers@reddit

Palestinian people are also Semitic 🥱🥱🥱

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Mr_Reaper__@reddit

Right...? Then saying all Palestinians are Hamas terrorists and calling for all of them to be punished would also be antisemitic then. I'm not arguing genocide is good. I'm arguing that accusing all people in a country of being complicit in their leaders actions is inaccurate at best and feeding oppressive and violent narratives at worst. Its the people who treat this war like a football game and picking their favourite side to support that are causing the violence to continue.

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Huge___Milkers@reddit

Getting accused of anti-semitism at this point is hilarious Means absolutely nothing. Criticise Israel you’re an anti-Semite. Call out Netanyahu you’re an anti-Semite. Say Israel should stop bombing children you’re an anti-Semite. Do you not get tired of calling everyone who is anti-Israel that word?

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mall_grab07@reddit

It doesn't mean anything anymore, and it's inaccurate. Most Isr@elis aren't even really Semitic, at least not compared to the people to whom the land actually belongs

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BeardedBaldMan@reddit

There's a few different reasons. It stops the invasion of bots harassing you and some people got into the habit because of TikTok .

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luciferslandlord@reddit

More dystopia then

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mall_grab07@reddit

Why wouldn't I at this point

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Snoochtodabooch@reddit

Oh yeah it's very real, whatever anyone thinks of the middle east and what goes on, just seeing a bunch of people in pain and distress is not the kind of thing you'd expect to see before an Uncle Roger video starts on YouTube So I've been using a VPN with apps like Tubi as well, as when you set your location to the US you get some good films for free, and it's the same on Tubi, all these medication ads pop up during ad breaks

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mall_grab07@reddit

I'm intrigued to see what the propoganda looks like. I knew that they were trying to push a narrative, but didn't quite believe it. I think the medication ads would be enough to put me off tbh

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IHeardOnAPodcast@reddit

The weird thing about the American medication ads is that it was Boot's the pharmacist that found/exploited the loophole that opened the floodgates. So it's sort of a British invention. It's because they were trying to advertise Ibuprofen which they'd recently invented. I find it amazing that there was a time when Boot's were inventing cutting edge drugs.

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teerbigear@reddit

That is a great fact re Boots. Although I guess some other companies' histories are more surprising, like TUI, the holiday company having manufactured the chemicals used to make sarin gas by Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Or Wrigley giving chewing gum away free with it's main product, soap.

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__Charlie93@reddit

Law ads in America are hilarious. "HAVE YOU DIED AND IT WASN'T YOU FAULT? DIAL 1-800-CALLME! THATS 1-800-CALLME!"

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Maybe_not_a_chicken@reddit

“Do you know that you have rights” “Constitution says you do”

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TheBlackMonk_@reddit

Set your VPN to Albania and you will see no ads on YouTube 👍

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BenedickCabbagepatch@reddit

It's 2025, why are you seeing ads on YouTube?

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ImTalkingGibberish@reddit

How did you get around the typical “local credit card” requirement

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ImTalkingGibberish@reddit

Albanian Youtube is the best

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hasnca@reddit

Use a country like Albania that doesn't have YouTube AdSense and you won't get ads at all.

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idek_just_for_fun@reddit

Vpn to Azerbaijan for no ads on YouTube

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discoveredunknown@reddit

What do you do for payment details for Peacock, does it require you to have a US address(

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Snoochtodabooch@reddit

I just used my regular PayPal account, signed up via their website with the VPN turned on, and my location set to America. The downside is this year they don't seem to be doing the great offers that they were doing last year unfortunately

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discoveredunknown@reddit

Thanks. No issues with PayPal either? I presume this is to watch football right? Had a quick look and they’re doing it for $11 a month or $80 for the year or something which is ok, what do you do when it asks for a ‘zip code’?

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pib712@reddit

90210

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CaptainMCMLVIII@reddit

FYI Imgur blocked the U.K.

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itsbleyjo@reddit

The only major difference is online shops changing the currency automatically to euros.

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PJP2810@reddit

I'm getting more and more annoyed with the lack of option to turn off the "Popular near you" recommendations in Reddit.

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mattyyellow@reddit

Profile>Settings>Content>Turn off "Show recommendations in home feed".

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PJP2810@reddit

I'm aware, but that doesn't just control the "Popular near you" it's all recommendations

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MarioGeeUK@reddit

Strange, I don’t get any recommendations. Have a second look at the settings. Maybe check on desktop too. I’m on iOS if it helps.

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autofill-name@reddit

Lol, you get that when shopping at Asda online. Why TF would I buy a random food product because someone else bought it in my area?

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AcreCryPious@reddit

If you can't make impulse purchases at the checkout we'll bring the random checkout purchases to you 😄

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bloodandglory31@reddit

I’m on holiday in Spain and it’s the first time since July that I’ve seen the restricted bits of reddit, Imgur and the web in general. Some of the normal but restricted subs I would like to see more of, but I can’t say I’ve missed the adult side too much.

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Hookton@reddit

I just find it very fucking annoying. Can't browse reddit and do my shopping at the same time because reddit's a cunt that keeps yeeting me back to home if I accidentally tap the name of a profile tagged NSFW, and half the supermarkets won't let you place an order if they believe you're accessing them from outside the UK.

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gogybo@reddit

Someone said this to me so I'll say it to you: just do the age verification. It takes less than a minute and you'll thank yourself for it afterwards.

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foulveins@reddit

proton allows for split tunnelling for moments like that, that’s been a god send

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Hookton@reddit

Ooh that's good to know, thanks! My current VPN subscription expires soon, so I'll look into Proton.

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mdzmdz@reddit

I notice the BBC website seems much more "Grown Up" - more news and less TV shows.

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TheCannyLad@reddit

That is indeed interesting. I noticed recently that BBC News looks totally different from one day to the next, turns out that is probably because I'm either on the VPN, or not! I never really made the connection before.

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thefootster@reddit

This is pretty much the only difference I notice. Lots of people are saying about ads but I have an ad blocker so never see them anyway. Its odd that the BBC news international site is quite different, the red branding is gone and the stories are mostly different.

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Realistic-Muffin-165@reddit

Yes, when I am abroad the bbc throws up some genuinely interesting articles. They are obviously there somewhere on the uk site but buried deep in maze of links.

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AlchemyFire@reddit

Even the website layout is completely different. You hit the nail on the head - if feels more grownup, less entertainment, more news

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MassiveClusterFuck@reddit

What VPN/proxy you using OP? I've still been able to access imgur without issue using mine.

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haddock420@reddit (OP)

I'm using a Hetzner VPS with a Squid HTTP proxy.

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MassiveClusterFuck@reddit

Wonder if it's blocking based on the hosting provider considering it's one of the bigger/well known ones. I've been using a fairly small provider in Ireland as a VPS and haven't had any flags for it being a VPN/proxy as of yet, no additional capchas either when visiting sites.

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0oITo0@reddit

Reddit is now a lot more boring. So much so it's helped me beat my scrolling addiction. I've realized how much is now hidden depending on your location.

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ConnyC4@reddit

Care to expand? I haven’t noticed a dofference personally

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MassiveClusterFuck@reddit

Anything remotely NSFW is blocked and won't be shown on your front page even if you're subbed to the subreddit. This doesn't just mean porn though, subs for support with drinking/drug addictions etc are also blocked.

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Scarred_fish@reddit

Imgur isnt blocked, they have removed their service from the UK. Major difference. This is why people have been using VPN's for a couple of decades now, to be able to fully use the services the internet has to offer. The OSA hasn;t made any difference to this at all.

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Cirrus-Nova@reddit

But even with a VPN active, Imgur doesn't show.

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BrieflyVerbose@reddit

Yes it does. It did for me the other night on two separate occasions while using PROTON VPN.

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Cirrus-Nova@reddit

It seems it was dependent on which country you connected to 🙂

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Prior-Explanation389@reddit

Won't work if your VPN is connected to the UK, since it's blocked to all IP addresses. So you need to select a country (such as USA) that Imagur is accessible from.

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TheHeroYouNeed247@reddit

They are also aggressive with their VPN blocking. I've had to switch around a few times to get on it.

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Cirrus-Nova@reddit

I had it connected to the Netherlands. As per another user, I switched to Ireland and I can now see the images 👍

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listentomarcusa@reddit

I can get on there fine with a VPN.

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V65Pilot@reddit

Try connecting through Ireland, worked for me.

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vinylrain@reddit

It seems to block some locations. I think I tried Albania recently and it worked fine. Really annoying though, having to hop around just to view some pictures.

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Cirrus-Nova@reddit

Oh, that worked, thanks 👍

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IHeardOnAPodcast@reddit

If someone removes their services because they don't want to bother dealing with the OSA, I'd say the OSA has made a difference.

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harrythefurrysquid@reddit

They removed themselves out of spite because they were being fined for not adequately protecting childrens' data. Nothing to do with the OSA at all.

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TheHeroYouNeed247@reddit

Yes it is, sort of. The reason the UK think they don't protect children's data is because they treat it the same is everyone else's data. Becuase they don't do age checks.

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LexanderX@reddit

Age checks are not a requirement under the Children's Code part of UK GDPR. ICO states that the Children's Code is a code of best conduct, not prescriptive. Some sites use age checks, some require parental consent, a lot simply have 13 as a minimum age to create accounts. The fact imgur treat under 13s data as the same as anyone else's is the illegal part, because under UK GDPR you're not allowed to use targeted ads, targeted recommendations, public accounts, or public locations of users under 13 by default. If imgur was truly concerned about UK users privacy they could make all UK users have private accounts with no targeting. But they chose rather to pull out of the UK market than offer the barest of user data protections. Its also worth pointing out that the OSA regulator is OFCOM, GDPR is regulated by the UK ICO, and imgur pulled out after they were issued a fine by ICO, not in response to the OSA being implemented.

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TheHeroYouNeed247@reddit

Yes, exactly. So, without age checks, it's impossible for them to comply. So, they left because of age checks.

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LexanderX@reddit

It is possible to comply without age checks. Other sites comply without age checks. Even in an alternate world where OSA never happened, they would have still left.

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Scarred_fish@reddit

That's correct. But that's not what I was referring to in the second paragraph.

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Commandopsn@reddit

My porn is different now. Because laws are relaxed in a different county and so on etc So yes it’s different but most websites in the uk are the same I would say.

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itsheadfelloff@reddit

Reddit is a bit hamstrung, doesn't seem to really refresh whilst running through a VPN. Did have an email from Google saying they're going to change my location but other than that so far, so good.

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Confusedhole@reddit

sorry for the stupid question but why are google changing your location?

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itsheadfelloff@reddit

It's not a stupid question at all. I'm not going to paste the overly long email but essentially they said they associate my account to a region. With different regions comes different products, services and laws. So when I was using a free VPN to cover all my online use I'm guessing Google just looked at my online location and decided I should be relocated to Oregon. Now I'm using Proton VPN with split tunneling.

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Confusedhole@reddit

ah makes sense, i thought that would be the reason. thank you for the reply!

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Sburns85@reddit

I did the same and my Netflix library improved massively using finlands internet

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qualitycancer@reddit

I’ve been using VPN’s on and off since 2014. The online safety act is laughable given kids know how to circumvent internet blocks.

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StealthyUltralisk@reddit

The Imgur ban is what made me get a VPN too. A lot of my crafting hobby tutorials and communities were ruined before I had the VPN as people share their crafts via Imgur. I also have issues with my periods and hormones (sorry if TMI), some of the subreddits I used to go to for my issues were blocked by the OSA.

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Tony-Fresh@reddit

I'm in Brussels (or am I?) Took me like four months to realise the weather updates on my phone were not exactly local and yet surprisingly accurate. Seriously though Youtube is still a bit of a dick, no ads (add block + ublock seems to work for now) but it just takes ages to load. Also seems Surfshark isnt' great for cloudflare checks but it sounds like some others have better luck changing locations so I'll give that a shot.

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RecentTwo544@reddit

Have Proton VPN for occasional use (most decent porn sites aren't subject to the block in my experience) but the free version can be slow at times. Only difference I've noticed is the BBC website goes to the weird looking international version. Which is generally my reminder the VPN is still running. With AdBlock Plus and Ghostery running, you never see ads anyway.

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piracy_sex_and_arson@reddit

If you’re running Firefox I would recommend switching to uBlock Origin, it’s worked much better for me, especially with YouTube, than ABP did back in the day.

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RecentTwo544@reddit

Chrome, with just those two plugins. Never seen anything it doesn't knock out, never see YT ads for example. I did use uBlock Origin as a Chrome plugin but it said it was discontinued, not noticed a difference since to be honest.

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piracy_sex_and_arson@reddit

Absolutely if it works for what you’re doing, then keep at it. No reason to fix what isn’t broken. What might be worth knowing however, is that Chrome has dropped support for the underlying framework (Manifest V3) that ad blockers typically use under full effectiveness. This applies to all Chromium based browsers too (Edge, Brave, Opera, etc) I’ve been using Firefox instead of Chrome for years now, so I have no personal account of how it’s impacted people, but a lot of people in online circles suggest swapping to Firefox or a fork of it.

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RecentTwo544@reddit

I wouldn't particularly have a problem changing to Firefox, used to use it all the time until Chrome became big. I seem to remember Firefox went through a rough patch, but we're talking probably 15-20 years ago now. I've heard nothing but praise for it recently.

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Jimbobthon@reddit

To be honest, i've not really noticed much of a difference. I've been using a VPN for years as it bypasses the VPN lock my work has in place for streaming, so i can watch YouTube or Netflix whilst on my lunchbreak. Speaking of which, YouTube does tell me off for using a VPN, well more says i may get ads as i'm not using YouTube in the origin country i'm paying Premium from. Have yet to see any adverts, so i'm assuming i'm going to locations where Premium is a thing. That's not to say i have not age verified, as i have for Reddit and a couple of other places. Discord hasn't asked me, but then they probably checked with Google as i had a card on file so they think i'm old enough. Xbox has asked me to verify, which i have done. And i've verified for a well known adult site. I'm pretty sure PlayStation will be asking me one of these days, and i'll verify there as well. However, a VPN bypasses a lot of the checks, so outside the above, i've not age verified anywhere else. radio.garden. Hehe, Sweden has Spinning Seal FM. You'll thank me later, or not depending on how annoying it gets.

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Zavodskoy@reddit

All I've learned through my phone not having adblockers like my PC does is that Northern Ireland has some really catchy adverts for online casions

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Lazyscruffycat@reddit

I watched some YouTube vids through a VPN that routed me through the US. Every advert was, and I mean every advert, was for some sort of medicine that you should speak to your healthcare advisor about how it could help you with xyz. It was weird.

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Odd-Law-8723@reddit

It's wild how much of a quality of life improvement it is just to have ads in another language. Even if you don't understand them, the mental separation from the content you're actually trying to see is a game-changer. I've also found a few geo-blocked sites and streams are accessible again, which feels like the internet of old. The OSA really has made the UK web feel like a walled garden.

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JBSven@reddit

I've been using it to learn German better! Funnily though, my good friend who is a struggling addict can't access support forums for help anymore without giving his id over to American AI companies. I see you persona you lil rascals!

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techbear72@reddit

Internet is better because adverts are in Spanish and are much easier to avoid without even thinking about it because there isn’t that cognitive load deciding if it’s an advert or actual content (that remains in English).

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eggy900@reddit

I use Sweden & Norway for this reason. Can’t make any sense of the adverts injected into podcasts and they’re easier to skip

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Sate_Hen@reddit

Gotta be careful though, I'm getting ads in my BBC podcasts

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Wine_runner@reddit

Or bringing up BBC website and getting international version.

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thesteelmaker@reddit

I used a free VPN (5 Gb limit) with my Avast anti virus. They have now stopped the free VPN and now charge for it.

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local_meme_dealer45@reddit

I'm getting a lot of Icelandic ads, besides that nothing. I have it set up to start up on boot so I don't have to think about it. Also having high bandwidth apps like Steam split tunneled to bypass it so it doesn't affect download times. You also have to clear cookies from some sites like Twitter to get it to stop remembering you're from the UK.

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deadeye-ry-ry@reddit

Thanks to the government forcing me to use a vpn I've now started using piratebay again which I haven't done in like 10+ years ROFL so good job government;)

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tacticall0tion@reddit

Honestly little difference, other than Swedish ads tending to be nicer, and certain websites being actually usable as they're not plastered in ads anymore. I was using a VPN prior to the OSA, it was a habit I got into a few years ago when virgin issued a load of letters to people for torrenting content.n

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ENNLRon@reddit

Could I set a VPN up to only work when accessing particular sites like YouTube and Twitch?

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Crazy_Hazy@reddit

The term that might help you is "split tunnelling". My phone VPN doesn't route certain apps' traffic because I have those apps set to use it.

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ENNLRon@reddit

Thanks! I'll check it out.

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YetAnotherInterneter@reddit

For me I’m getting more “you are not a robot?” recaptcha tests which is slow and frustrating If you want to hide ads but still have English as the default language choose a VPN in **Trinidad and Tobago**. Very few ads target there and it is an English speaking country so websites shouldn’t automatically translate to a different language.

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mc0uk@reddit

Everything is now priced in Swedish krona

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TheHeroYouNeed247@reddit

You can watch new taskmaster episodes on YouTube. (And other channel 4 stuff) It's also like an ad block because my brain just scrolls past German now.

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AutomaticInitiative@reddit

I use SurfShark and it blocks ads, even on my phone, that's a pretty cool benefit. I use Ireland and it's mostly the same, keep finding sites to add to bypassed tho because either they block VPNs (RateYourMusic) or because I need the UK version of the site (shops).

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dick_piana@reddit

In Ireland (using the mobile app), you can see how many views each post has. No idea why this isnt a universal feature

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FlappyBored@reddit

It is universal.

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planeloise@reddit

It's not for me in the UK you

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manksta@reddit

A game I play forces me to login again when I change network, but now I'm always on the same IP so I don't get kicked off anymore while I'm on the move. That's been a huge win for me.

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mall_grab07@reddit

No - I connect to Albania. No ads on YouTube, less targeted ads in general because of how I've set stuff up since cracking down on my privacy. I get the odd r/Albania post, but that's about it

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Beefcakeandgravy@reddit

I tried Albania, still got ads. Suggestions on what I'm doing wrong? (used phone as vpn connection thru Albania, connected samsung smart TV to the Internet thru my phone WiFi hotspot)

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lol_ginge@reddit

I use protonvpn and they have this stupid server option called smart routing where the server is physically located in one country but “shows” as another. It basically doesn’t block ads on this setting you just get adverts for the country the server is located in. I just make sure I don’t pick one of those servers

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barriedalenick@reddit

I'm the other way round - I'm a Brit living in Portugal and I use a VPN for iPlayer and other services. I left it on yesterday when browsing Reddit and genuinely thought Reddit was having a AWS moment. No weed subs, no brewing subs, no porn of course, no imgur...

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unabatedshagie@reddit

It's a pain in the arse. Constant Cloudflare checks. Having to disable it on a bunch of sites for various reasons.

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CaveteCanem@reddit

Which vpn provider are you using? I'm with ProtonVPN, and ExpressVPN for about 5 years - rarely did I have an issue with checks. When it did, I just switched location.

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Andurael@reddit

I’m on ProtonVPN and the Cloudflare checks are quite egregious.

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b0xd@reddit

Yeah I’ve been with proton for a few years but it’s basically unusable now, only really turn it on when the mood strikes which kind of defeats the purpose. It’s a shame cause I’m on legacy pricing so only pay a few quid for their full suite and I really like the rest of their products.

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unabatedshagie@reddit

I'm using Surfshark.

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jackHD@reddit

Same. Biggest pain for me is following a link from an email for say tracking a Royal Mail package, and because my vpn has me in the Netherlands the web link throws a confused fit.

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pancakelady2108@reddit

Yeah I have a Firestick for bedroom TV and I can't have my VPN on if I want to change the channel using my phone because the two devices can't connect.

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merp1991@reddit

Some will have an option to allow connections on a local network or will let you whitelist a specific app to not use the VPN

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Milam1996@reddit

I got a 100% Cashback offer through Quidco and now I’m permanently in Albania I’ve got no ads.

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Jimbob136925@reddit

Albania is pretty good for speed in the UK, not too much slow down, and guess what? Zero Ads!

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number5of7@reddit

I use Proton vpn and UK servers and never see adverts. There are occasional sites I can't view as it detects the vpn but they never of significance or important. I do occasionally need to change the server from say Manchester to Edinburgh or Belfast to load up the BBC but have the widget and it allows quick switching for up to 6 servers.

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Mynameismikek@reddit

Way fewer casino adverts.

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KoBoWC@reddit

The number and tone of Anti Zohran Mamdani during the mayoral primaries in New York was truly upsetting, I fear that coming here (or that it might be here already).

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Zaphod_79@reddit

My phone won't connect to my car via android auto while Proton vpn is active. Other than that, not much. I just turn it on and off as required. I'll try going via Albania to dump YouTube ads as others suggest though.

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TheMagicTorch@reddit

I only turn it on to 'do my thing' and then turn it off, so everything's the same really.

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toady89@reddit

Well I guess that explains why I couldn't log into Imgur when I was setting up a new phone, had no idea it was blocked and since I only used it for posting to Reddit I think I can manage without. I've found you have to turn the VPN off again for things like Ticketmaster and other websites that need to battle bots. Beyond that it affects my tiktok and Reddit feeds plus adverts are localised but that's no different to when you travel anyway.

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EuroSong@reddit

I didn’t know about Finland - but if you change your VPN location to **Albania**, you can watch YouTube with zero adverts.

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Ok-Style-9734@reddit

Danish adverts on YouTube are for either food or I assume banks? I can't translate and most are kinda artsy, vs British youtube where its all scams and ai porn/ai anime porn with creepy as shit coded things like "all characters are at their adult phase" over the top of what's obviously a child cartoon girlfriend. Disabling ad/cookie tracking on YouTube seems to mean you only get the absolute bottom of the barrel scam adds

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RoccoZola@reddit

Thanks for making me realise I can use Radio Garden again now!

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AdministrativeShip2@reddit

YouTube I now get vpn detected messages so I cant watch some channels like the newsagents. Generally browsing I now pay for streaming content in foreign currencies which saves me a little money vs paying in £

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PuppyGirlRya@reddit

German Adverts seem longer than british ones on YouTube, like there's a lot more 30 second ones than we have!

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G_UK@reddit

The main items at the top of a Google shopping page are in Swiss Francs

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autofill-name@reddit

Worth doing just to use Radiogarden again.

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DoISmellBurning@reddit

I miss radio.garden so much!

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ScumBucket33@reddit

Captchas have become more prevalent in my life.

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Scary-Spinach1955@reddit

Imgur blocked the UK and you can't see images on it anymore yet you are on a VPN not in this country?

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haddock420@reddit (OP)

Like I said in the post, imgur blocks VPN/proxy IPs as well.

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Crochet-panther@reddit

Imgur works fine for me on a vpn, only way I can view linked images. Suspect it’s an issue with whatever vpn you’re with

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nothingtoput@reddit

All that means is you are on VPN IP imgur doesn't yet have in their list. As a policy they block all IP's attributed to VPN providers, and have done so for years. When people are switching countries on their VPN app and being able to use imgur again it has nothing to do with the country itself, you're just getting lucky and being assigned an IP that has yet to be added to the blocklist.

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LemmysCodPiece@reddit

Works fine using the Surfshark addon in Google Chrome.

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Scary-Spinach1955@reddit

Sounds like you need to change VPN then, loads fine using PIA for me

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Guitar-Inner@reddit

Some services use things other than your IP to decide on geolocation depending on your system. Phones will often use surrounding wifi networks/radio frequencies to locate where you are etc

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jesussays51@reddit

Basically just adverts I can’t understand but I love searching for programmes not available on Netflix in the UK.

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BigBob145@reddit

Americans get boat loads of adverts on Twitch. You join a stream and get 2 minutes of ads and then 2 minutes more every 10 minutes. Using the free proton I can always tell just from the number of ads that it's on America again and I need to switch. Also they obviously don't abide the EU data protection laws so it's a lot easier to find people's social media accounts.

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appletinicyclone@reddit

The problem with the VPNs is the accidental shadowbans with Reddit that take ages to fix

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richyfreeway@reddit

Big question is why you would prefer to route all your data through a random country as if it's a better option than handing over selfie. Good luck with your vpn idea I'm sure nothing bad will come of that

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Mdl8922@reddit

What bad would come from using a VPN?

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SP4x@reddit

Whatever horseshit has been spoon-fed to them by UK media I expect.

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richyfreeway@reddit

I'm uk media. We've not been fed horseshit. The media hype is real.

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SP4x@reddit

Ah so you're part of the problem. Got it.

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richyfreeway@reddit

No I mean I'm part of the people who read uk Media. Fuck being a journalist 🤣

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richyfreeway@reddit

Sharing with a VPN or similar. Pointless.

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Pockysocks@reddit

I don't have it on all the time. Just for imgur and porn. Only difference I've noticed is the time it takes to buffer.

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LemmysCodPiece@reddit

I can access Imgur just fine with my VPN.

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DragonFeller@reddit

I can avoid ads because they always show up in some goofy foreign language which is nice

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iamezekiel1_14@reddit

I use a different country every time often bounced through somewhere else like Switzerland on secure core on Proton. Usually the variety is just random foreign adverts.

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TwirlipoftheMists@reddit

You can access different streaming libraries, and if you pick a country whose language you don’t speak, adverts become incomprehensible (which makes them much easier to ignore).

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Crochet-panther@reddit

I mostly just get adverts in different languages or for products that aren’t available over here, that’s the only real difference

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InitiativeConscious7@reddit

I get an annoying amount of adverts aimed at New Yorkers, but that's anticipated

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Successful-Grand-549@reddit

Can you access like American netflix and stuff?

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Rastapopolos-III@reddit

Albania doesn't have YouTube adverts.

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Realistic-Muffin-165@reddit

Albanian vpn - goodbye YouTube adverts (and a chunk of licensed content too)

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