The above image is all us folk in the UK see when you do, and if we try to use a VPN + incognito, we get this:

403 means forbidden, so the message is disingenuous.

They must have put some effort into block lists for VPN servers. Even if it works for some of us, it’s not worth it.

For more information on this, see this article: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gzxv5gy3qo

    • Anomnomnomaly@lemmy.org
      92·
      2 days ago

      No, it’s because imgur has refused to conduct the simple ‘are you over the age of XX’ when people create accounts, which is required by law… there’s no verification of anything involved. Just a tick the box exercise… they couldn’t even be bothered to do that and that’s why they’re being investigated and are facing massive fines for years of refusal to do what every other site has done for probably 2 decades now… It’s got nothing to do with the draconian online safety act that was recently brought in… it’s imgur throwing their toys out of the pram and screaming ‘LALALALALALALA’ we can’t hear you now. it will have zero effect on the investigation and fines for their previous failings to follow the law… it’s literally cutting of their nose to spite their face.

    • FishFace@lemmy.world
      5·
      2 days ago

      Probably not directly, but we don’t know because Imgur has unprofessionally decided to return an incorrect raw JSON error message instead of explaining the block.

      There is a message from the ICO noting the block and that it was considering fining them for failing to take user reported age as part of account creation. This is different from the OSA age verification