Imgur blocks access to most VPN IP addresses so any posts using the host will result in many users being unable to see the content. Sometimes only remote viewing is affected but is also often blocked when trying to open in new tab and view at the parent site.

Consider uploading to the fediverse or using a privacy-respecting hosting service like postimages.

+1 for postimg endorsement

It's true and I won't turn off my vpn for companies that do this crap.

Shit even without a VPN, it might not work unless you make damn sure to link the correct direct image link and not the imgur container link. This has been an issue with imgur on other social media for years now.

I don't see the images when I'm on the VPN or off the VPN.

You don't see imgur because you use a VPN.

I don't see imgur because I won't enable their Javascript.

We are not the same.

I don't see imgur because I use a vpn and also because I am in the UK. We's diffrunt.

Could you please specify how to tell them apart?

The correct one has a file extension.

I just yesterday was trying to re-upload a video posted to Imgur that many people couldn't see. Is there a good, privacy-respecting service for videos? Postimage wouldn't allow me to select the MP4 file. It was under 5MB.

catbox.moe usually works, but I can't upload anything to it if my VPN is active. >...>

Thank you!

I'm in the UK. I can only see imgur when I do use a VPN.

Innit

Consider uploading to the fediverse

I would, except GIFs cannot be uploaded. Every single GIF I've ever tried to upload+post is met with '400 unknown error'. Hence Imgur, sometimes catbox.

I have to use a VPN to see imgur pics because the UK government is run by wankers 😭 And I don't even live in the UK proper, I'm in N. Ireland, but I'm subject to those bullshit laws with zero recourse.

Did I just become an IRA man? 👀

I'm also in the UK, and imgur blocks my VPN, so I get the worst of both worlds.

Just proxy Imgur links through duckduckgo with a tamper monkey script. As long as it isn't mass adopted, it should run under the radar okay for day to day browsing 😂

A lot of countries, ISPs, etc. also block Catbox. Though I am confused by the VPN problem, because I also often have issues with Catbox on a VPN, but their FAQ actually suggests to use a VPN to use the service if your country or whatever blocks it. So they clearly are not intending to wholesale block VPNs or anything.

https://catbox.moe/faq.php

Blame your instance, not "the fediverse". Sounds like your admin configured their Lemmy instance to reject GIF uploads in an attempt to save on storage space because GIF files are so large compared to modern formats like WebP, AVIF, JPEGXL, etc. But some instances do allow GIFs. I just posted this last week because the instance I am on does:

imgur is a swamp

The IRA existed for a reason, that reason never really went away.

I think the inconstancy has to do with whether your VPN of choice is allowing itself to be used for bot scraping and other shitty resource hogs. Back when AI scrapers were running openly via their own company's network and then started to get blocked by IP, the scrapers didn't stop. They just went to VPN.

So on VPN it's not unusual for me to be fine and then suddenly get blocked from sites, or just extra captchas, Cloudflare checks and the like out of the blue; I've come to assume that just means someone's using it to be shitty. Switching proxies helps occasionally, but not always. I live with it.

Poster is right - it is a little funny

same goes for anyone using catbox.moe.

it's become such a problem I've started to block users and communities because 95% of their posts are shared catbox links.

try imgflip

Don’t most Lemmy instances have their own image proxies? Or is that just for comments, you mean direct links in posts? I don’t know if those are proxied.

Used Imgur for decades? But never browsed it. That seems weird.

It's funny really... what was the quote? You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain.

Imgur was started back in the day to provide a no-bullshit image host, because all the others were too corporate / too monetized / too much bullshit/enshittification. So MrGrim started Imgur to fix that.

Then MrGrim took a bunch of VC money, and they eventually sold out, and now the result is the sad shell of what it once was today.

I find that my ability to load Imgur depends on the exit server I choose. If the server is in the US, it gets blocked. If the server is in South America it works fine. Ecuador works well for almost everything.

I live in California and still get randomly geoIPed to the UK. I start noticing it when imgur stops loading.

It sounds like that's some network providers that block catbox, rather than vice versa.

https://catbox.moe/faq.php

Why can't I access Catbox/access files on Catbox (files.catbox.moe)?

Good question! It turns out certain governments in the world hate freedom of information, don't have net neutrality, don't see online service providers as legally exempt entities, or a combination of the three! You will have issues accessing Catbox/files on Catbox if you are connecting from the following countries or providers:

Probably the most significant ones on there from a standpoint of users here are "Australia", "Rogers", "Comcast", and "Verizon". It sounds like all of those blocks are pretty easy to bypass (like, they're either DNS-level or can be disabled by users on their router, where there's a blacklist toggle that's on by default).

PieFed allows you to block entire domains. With a PieFed account, you would be able to just block catbox.moe and never see another Catbox post again from anyone.

No I've never bowsed imgur but I made the mistake of uploading a photo of my wife holding a chicken so I could post it to a back yard chicken forum, and the comments were enough to ensure I never posted anything there again.

Basically an unmoderated cess pool.

There are comments? I had no idea!

I thought people just uploaded the image grabbed the URL and pasted it elsewhere.

Are you using an app or domething?

For years in kde it was just right click and a URL popped into the clipboard.

I don't know how common that is across different instances, but it's definitely not just for comments. I often find myself looking up some old post that I had created using a Catbox link, and when I look it up from that account's instance Lemmy.One, it's the canonical Catbox link. But on Lemmy.World, the image link for that post is using a proxy.

Lemmy.zip has the same problem when browsing on mobile. There're a lot of moving parts on the fediverse, and it seems like there is constantly something broken.

You get the image URL by right-clicking on the image and selecting ‘copy image link’ or whatever it is in your browser. It looks like ‘i.imgur.com/33blahbleh.jpg’, whereas the page URL is ‘imgur.com/gallery/cat-making-pizza-33blahbleh’.

If you use the app, I doubt it that they give you the direct image URL anywhere.

They made it into a quasi-Reddit like fifteen years ago. Back then, Reddit was mostly text posts, while Imgur only ever had image posts and later videos (including screenshots of text, of course). These days that's not as much of a distinction — however on Imgur, short quippy comments always prevailed, and lots and lots of gif comments. After a while, this sucked even ten years ago when I used Imgur for a while, and I don't imagine the situation improved lately.

Anyway, when uploading an image to link it elsewhere, you can just not publish it for others on the site to see it and comment.

P.S. Gotta say, though, the most fun I've ever had on social media is when people browsing by ‘new’ on Imgur decided that for one day they would upvote anything and everything that comes by. As a result, exceptionally weird stuff actually made its way to the main feed. I haven't seen such abundance of weirdness and quirkiness even on the early 2010s Tumblr when it was still fresh and hip.

Iirc Lemmy itself allows uploading videos when posting, though perhaps this differs per instance.

I've never once even managed to get anything from Catbox via Tor, via different routes. Seems to be a rather widespread problem.

They must've hosted something egregious to make a whole bunch of ISPs and entire countries block them.

Is there a good, privacy-respecting service for videos?

This question is especially tragic because we have a Fediverse video service -- PeerTube -- but the design of it isn't quite right for your use-case.

You can select hidden or public when uploading to Imgur. If you select hidden, no one sees it unless they have the direct URL to the image. If you select public, it uploads to the public feed and everyone on Imgur can potentially see it. It'll pop up on Newest, and anyone browsing that category can upvote or downvote it.

If your public post gets enough upvotes, it'll rise to the front page of Imgur. Much like Reddit. And yes, the community can comment on all public posts.

I'm on Fedia and not using a VPN, I never see imgur thumbnails in the posts, I always have to manually click on a link.
I rarely bother to click.

I’m more shocked people still use Imgur for anything anymore.

catbox is operated by a nerd like us not some greedy corporate, i personally haven't ever been blocked by them.. they're the best pomf-like site atm imo

i've been using imgbb as an alternative for a few years, they're proba gonna enshittify soon but it's not bad as of now. i make sure to save anything i share to the web on the wayback machine SPN tho..

Trick: If it's asingle image, you can still download it with save link as...

If it's a gallery, it'll unfortunately download a .json file. I'm not sure about gifs.

Prepare this is gonna get a lot worse, though.

Also, anyone in the UK not using a VPN won't be able to see them, since imgur chose to block the UK rather than adhere to age verification laws.

Whatever one thinks about that legislation, other countries (including the whole of the EU and Australia) are likely to do the same and it seems likely imgur will become a US-only resource..

There is/was public upload and private upload, the UI was/is shit though.