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Imgur might be ready to break some of the internet

by on28 April 2023


By enforcing the rules

Photo-uploading service Imgur, which has been informally tied to Reddit since 2009, might break a chunk of the internet from next month.

The outfit has pledged to remove explicit or pornographic imagery, and images uploaded anonymously from its site and will deregister many images that have been linked to it over the years.

Imgur has been widely used to host millions of photos that are linked to, embedded, or used elsewhere, and lots of these photos were uploaded by people who didn't bother to sign up for accounts.

While technically banned from Imgur for years through its community rules, adult content hasn't been actively removed (and is incredibly popular).

Imgur is especially popular as a host for Reddit, meaning the content of those old posts could suddenly disappear off the internet.

The move will likely break embeds in various forum posts and blog posts all over the internet, creating an unpleasant form of link rot.

 

Last modified on 28 April 2023
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