Imgur Geo-Blocked the UK, So I Geo-Unblocked My Entire Network
Posted by NXGZ@reddit | programming | View on Reddit | 45 comments
Posted by NXGZ@reddit | programming | View on Reddit | 45 comments
kneticz@reddit
Or just do it at the router…
AmyAzure06@reddit
Thanks for this! Just sunk the last few hours into setting this up (using a pre-existing nginx reverse proxy instead of traefik, and then had to find a VPN provider that imgur hasn't blocked) but now I can access it!
7re@reddit
"Imgur decided to block UK users." I mean that's not really how it happened, Imgur is following stupid laws the UK decided to pass. Remember to vote ☺️
OffbeatDrizzle@reddit
Imgur can comply but chose not to. I am vehemently against the law but Imgur choosing not to follow the law is an Imgur decision, not a UK one
cookaway_@reddit
Imgur is following the law: They are not serving potentially NSFW content to children.
OffbeatDrizzle@reddit
The UK law isn't "block all UK users", which is the point I was rebutting. imgur can implement the crappy age checks and carry on doing business
cookaway_@reddit
> The UK law isn't "block all UK users
It's "Either require age checks or cease operating in the UK". They've decided the age checks are more of a hassle than telling an overreaching government to fuck off.
qmunke@reddit
Stupid as these laws might be, I'm perfectly able to browse reddit (equally subject to these laws) without having to give them my details or use a VPN unless I specifically want to view content subject to age restriction. imgur could have gone down the same route, they've just decided not to. In addition, they were found to be in breach of existing laws around the treatment of data from minors and instead of fixing their problem, decided to cut off the UK from the site instead.
7re@reddit
Reddit isn't compliant though, it just blocks things that users mark NSFW. Do a search for terms like "dildo" and you will see porn. Google is the same, search for "porn" and go to the image tab and you'll see it quite easily without proving your age.
If they had gone down the same route as Reddit & Google they'd also still be breaking the law. Imgur recognised that there is no practical way to check every user submitted post, nor can they trust user submitted NSFW markers, so did the only foolproof thing and just blocked the UK instead.
Not defending Imgur at all - if they have broken privacy laws then they should be prosecuted.
OmegaPoint6@reddit
Imgur's block isn't related tot he online safety act, it was related into an ICO investigation into the parent company's handling of childrens' data https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/01/imgur_exits_uk/.
The online safety act may be stupid, but it isn't to blame here
aqjo@reddit
MyStackOverflowed@reddit
I literally have this setup with wire guard on my router
synept@reddit
Your setup only handles imgur?
CodenameAnonymous@reddit
No OP, but I have the same idea. And yes, only specific sites can be routed if need be. For example, I have all high risk regions blocked completely (such as China, North Korea, Russia, etc) but if I need to access specific domains, I allow only through VPN.
OffbeatDrizzle@reddit
so this post made me look into this because imgur being blocked was annoying the fuck out of me, however it appears as though if your DNS server is separate to your router (e.g. you run a pihole), then domain rules for a VPN set up on the router do not work. I've got wireguard configured on my router but I've had to manually lookup and block imgur's 2 IP addresses instead. Do you have any ideas if there's a way to configure around this? Spent a few hours on it tonight trying a couple of different things but got nowhere
thomas_m_k@reddit
This is a bit off-topic, but is it really too much to ask to support your video creators by paying for premium?
gimpwiz@reddit
Buy their merch.
zxyzyxz@reddit
Yes
CodenameAnonymous@reddit
I’d rather just pay them directly instead directly via whatever option they provide. I’d rather not give google a piece of the pie.
ReallySuperName@reddit
Trying to figure out how to do this with Unifi.
CodenameAnonymous@reddit
You need to add the VPN client to the VPN section. Once you’ve done that, it’s basically, just setting a forwarding rule to the VPN, I used domains so anything that YouTube uses. You could probably search this online.
MyStackOverflowed@reddit
That rule yes.
Kok_Nikol@reddit
Can you point me on how to setup a VPN container?
MyStackOverflowed@reddit
on what router
Kok_Nikol@reddit
Oh so it has to be on a router?
MyStackOverflowed@reddit
no it can be on a separate device too it's just some routers support it natively meaning you can have it there so every device on the network uses it
Kok_Nikol@reddit
This might be a noob question, but is this something that can be handled with PiHole?
MyStackOverflowed@reddit
not pihole but you can run it on a raspberry pi
Kok_Nikol@reddit
Meaning that I can still have the functionality that any device connected to the network uses it?
Also, how can I tell if my router supports installing custom firmware/software?
__nohope@reddit
What router are you using?
MyStackOverflowed@reddit
flint2
YumiYumiYumi@reddit
Did you have to hunt around for a VPN that isn't blocked by Imgur?
Limp-Sprinkles5808@reddit
If you're looking for one that actually works, I'd really recommend checking this VPN comparison spreadsheet out. It's got a ton of info that should help you find something that isn't on their blocklist yet.
YumiYumiYumi@reddit
Thanks for the info, but I couldn't find any info on that page regarding blocklists.
Imgur does block access from VPN endpoints. My question was more around whether you had to find a VPN that worked, or whether the first one you tried just happened to work?
Emitime@reddit
I guess it's a solution if you know something is blocked. The particularly annoying things are when your results are silently filtered rather than completely blocked. For example NSFW posts don't show up on reddit anymore without a VPN.
BaronOfTheVoid@reddit
Wtf, in what kind of police states are you so living? Or are you using Reddit from the company network or whatever?
Interest-Desk@reddit
The UK (controversially) introduced new laws requiring adult content be behind an age gate. If tech companies were found to contribute towards harm to children, they could face hefty fines or prison sentences.
Platforms had a (somewhat justified) knee-jerk reaction to this, overzealously marking things as adult. Users also had a justified knee-jerk reaction to this, refusing to go through age gates.
Imgur is the only large platform to have fully blocked the UK over this. They found it was easier to just not serve content to the UK than to follow the poorly-made regulations.
Jaggedmallard26@reddit
It's not really knee jerk. The legislation is poorly written and these platforms operate at such scale that blanket blocking anything marked "nsfw" by users or using overzealous classifiers to hide things is the only viable option they have.
Gwaptiva@reddit
You kinda wish more companies did that, starting with Cloudflare
Venthe@reddit
It would be nice to have community-supplied routing table that would allow to avoid all of those restrictions.
FlyingRhenquest@reddit
Nice! How much harder would it be to cache those resources in localnet storage once you retrieve them? I think nginx has some magic to do that automatically, don't they?
I like your setup. It's inspiring me to do some work on my home network infrastructure whenever I can afford some hardware again.
SluttyRaggedyAnn@reddit
Nginx is a TLS pass through. It can't see anything that is being transmitted between the client and origin Imgur server, so there is nothing to cache. To do that you'd need to break the TLS variation and use a self signed or your own root signed CA.
zam0th@reddit
You do know modern AP/routers support network-wide VPN clients with specific routing tables, right?
It's not 90s, modern VPNs have negligible degradation.
No you do not.
OP is inventing a wheel to show they know buzzwords like "reverse-proxy" and "Docker" without understanding what it is they are doing or solving.
mipsisdifficult@reddit
Holy based, Batman! Awesome work!
TylerAnd01@reddit
Imgur blocking the UK is pretty annoying Props to you for finding a workaround Its wild what hoops you have to jump through just to access content sometimes