Photos not showing in threads

[DaddyO]

In addition to repeatedly having to log in during the day (and waiting for the spinning widget to recognise I'm a human)  A lot of threads are now showing photos as 'not viewable in your area' These are threads that I've viewed and looked at complete with photos previously - any ideas?

Thanks
Paul

[Richtrad]

While in the UK and Norway earlier this year, I had to deal with the spinning widget and photo issue too. I just figured it was my strange internet connection. I haven't experienced either of these things while in the US.  Not sure if that helps with debugging or not.

Warren Q

[KiwiZac]

Paul,
I've not encountered this image display issue but earlier today another member has said the same thing (although I do experience the spinning widget each day). Brad is the administrator with access to the technical side and hopefully he can shed some light on this issue.

I don't keep up with The News but I've heard that in the UK there have been some rules around internet censorship changed - I hope we've not somehow fallen foul of this?

[Flute]

I reported the same 'not viewable' issue with previously viewable photos in a thread by Nigel Rayner. Quite odd because we're in the same region. I always get the spinny thing, and it used to never actually let me get onto the site, but the last few weeks it's relented. I asked Brad Cancian about it and he thought it's a Cloudflare thing, which wouldn't be a suprise because that's throwing up errors on several other sites, on servers spread around the globe.



Paul.

[FokkerFodder]

I suspect it?s due to issues with Imgur and UK regulators? story is on the BBC news.

[NigelR]

The issue Imgur. They have restricted anyone from the UK viewing photos hosted on their site. I suspect the photos are still there are visible to folks outside the US, but if you are in the UK you can't see them. This is because the UK changed its regulations and I assume Imgur didn't want to comply.

I'll shift some of my newer photos to Flickr so they can be seen but a lot of my older threads won't be viewable to folks in the UK. 

[DaddyO]

I suspect it?s due to issues with Imgur and UK regulators? story is on the BBC news.

Think you've hit the nail on the head with this one.

Here's the link to the BBC story which basically says that the 'Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), said it recently notified the platform's parent company, MediaLab AI, of plans to fine Imgur after probing its approach to age checks and use of children's personal data.'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gzxv5gy3qo

Upshot is that Imgur took the huff and have blocked all UK users (including forums) from 30th September from access although claimed this was the 'decision to restrict access in the UK is a commercial decision taken by the company and not a result of any action taken by Ofcom'

So nothing to do with the fact that in blocking UK users they didn't have to then comply with child safety duties recently imposed on some platforms under the Online Safety Act. These include requirements for sites allowing pornography or content promoting suicide and self-harm to use technology to check whether visitors are over 18.

[Dirigible-Al]

Thanks for the info. So I'm not the only one.
Alan.

[Brad Cancian]

Hi all - my sincerest apologies but I have been away the last couple of weeks with a combination of work and personal travel so I am still catching up on things.

In short, I have explored this issue with images and it doesn't appear to be an issue for all users on the site, rather, it seems to possibly be either related to individual browsers or image hosting sites, as noted.

That being said, it is no secret that we are running on older hosting platforms, which is expensive to fully upgrade (alas we certainly don't have an excess of dollars in the coffers to go down this path). We are still up to date in terms of security certificates and so on, which is why we also experience the 'spinning wheel of death' in terms of access verification (myself included). Previous tickets on this with our host provider has indicated that 'this is to be expected and experiences may differ depending on region and browsers'. So... don't be dismayed. You are not alone, but alas there isn't too much I can do on this at the moment.

If you do find access is being restricted, do please drop me a direct e-mail at [email protected]

Cheers and thanks for your patience!

Brad C

[bobs_buckles]

I'm receiving the same thing.
Image not available in your region.

Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope! 

BVB

[drdave]

There is a fix. Use Opera as your browser and enable its inbuilt VPN then all the images are viewable.