Imgur blocks UK users after data watchdog signals possible fine

Relatório Picus Blue 2025

People in the United Kingdom are no longer able to access content hosted on the Imgur, a popular media sharing site, after a UK data watchdog warned it mayimpose a monetary penalty on the parent company, MediaLab.

Visitors to the site are now shown a message stating, “Content not available in your region,” with a link going to help page explaining why the content was blocked.

“From September 30, 2025, access to Imgur from the United Kingdom is no longer available,” explains the Imgur help page.

“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.”

Content not available on Imgur for UK visitorsannounced in March that it was investigating whether TikTok, Reddit, and Imgur were appropriately protecting children”s data and assessing the age of those from the country under the Online Safety Act (OSA).

The ICO states that it has completed its investigation and issued anotice of intent to impose a monetary fine on MediaLab regarding these concerns on September 10.

“We reached our provisional findings on this investigation, and we issued a notice of intent to impose a monetary penalty on MediaLab on 10 September 2025,” reads a statement from the ICO.

“Our findings are provisional and the ICO will carefully consider any representations from MediaLab before taking a final decision whether to issue a monetary penalty.”

In response, Imgur decided to geoblock the entire country, no longer allowing people in the UK to access its site orany content hosted from its servers.

However, the ICO warns that blocking users from the UK does not exempt the organization from paying a previously imposed fine.

As one of the largest media-sharing sites in the world, this geoblock has had a widespread impact.

On websites that allow users to embed images, such as Steam Workshop and discussion forums, people from the UK are now seeing purple rectangles stating, “Content now viewable in your region”.

Currently, the only workaround is to use a VPN, which enables you to connect from an IP address in another country.

However, this will likely impact users’ experience while on the Internet due to slower speeds and potentially other georestrictions at other sites.


Picus Blue Report 2025

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