Why Imgur is blocked in the UK

The image-sharing site Imgur is now blocked in the United Kingdom.

Online reports from UK users began circulating on social media yesterday, and today the site confirmed the restriction on its U.S. help site. Now, when someone with a UK IP address attempts to visit, they're met with an error page stating, "Content not available in your region."

"From September 30, 2025, access to Imgur from the United Kingdom is no longer available," the help site reads. "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."

The page goes on to inform users that they can request a copy of their own data in accordance with the UK's data protection laws or delete their account.

Online, UK users speculate that this is due to the Online Safety Act, which went into effect in July. The act has resulted in wide-ranging age verification, requiring users to submit identification, such as a government ID or undergo a facial recognition scan, in order to access explicit and sometimes non-explicit sites.

However, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which regulates data protection in the UK, released a statement on Tuesday that "Imgur's decision to restrict access in the UK is a commercial decision taken by the company."

The ICO launched an investigation of Imgur in March (as well as TikTok and Reddit) to examine how the site handles children's personal information and how it verifies users' ages. On September 10, ICO issued a notice of intent to fine Imgur's parent company MediaLab, ICO's interim executive director, regulatory supervision, Tim Capel, wrote in a statement. He also said that, "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."

"We have been clear that exiting the UK does not allow an organisation to avoid responsibility for any prior infringement of data protection law, and our investigation remains ongoing," Capel continued, also stating that no further details about the investigation will be given at this time.  

"Safeguarding children’s personal information is a key priority for the ICO and our Children's code strategy outlines our key interventions in this area. Keeping children safe online is the responsibility of the companies offering online services to them and we will continue to hold them to account," Capel concluded.

Imgur removed explicit content (and old content) in 2023. Last year, the site loosened rules on memes and photos involving adult humor, PCMag (which is also owned by Mashable's parent company, Ziff Davis) reported.

Mashable has reached out to MediaLab for comment.