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Lemmy.world blocks VPNs (self.support)

submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by DeadNinja to c/support

27 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Basically the title. I use MullVad, and recently discovered that Lemmy.world is not allowing me to submit new posts or commenting on others' posts if I have my VPN on.

For now I have excluded my Lemmy client of choice (Voyager) from my VPN, so things are back to normal.

As a reason behind this, I read elsewhere that this blocking of VPN is intentional as certain people posted CSAM while behind VPN. This is pretty despicable, so I totally support shutting those people out.

However, on that same note, I think it is fair to assume that every post and comment on Lemmy is stored along with the IP address of the User. Is that right?

Edit : Some readers are confirming that they can write posts and comments in Lemmy.world while on a VPN - and I wholeheartedly thank them. I only posted what I personally (and some other lemmings as well) experienced. I still do not know if this is a widespread problem or only happening to a few.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

Its not illegal to use a VPN nor is it illegal to use a VPN to access lemmy.world, nor will anyone hold lemmy.world accountable for people accessing it via a VPN.
Lemmy.world has chosen to block access via VPNs.
That is their choice.

Lets swap the metaphor around a bit.
Its not illegal to enter a library via a window.
I could build a staircase to the window of my hypothetical library, and use that as the main entrance.
I wouldnt get arrested. The people using it wouldnt get arrested. Everything would be fine, might even be a great selling point to get more business.

The reason people arent allowed to enter libraries via a window is because there is a perfectly good front door, and its likely people that continue to try and access a library via a window are probably up to no good.
Maybe they are there to burn books, deface books, or just steal the computers that have been running for the last 20 years without any maintenance. Or maybe they might plant extremely inappropriate content amongst other books, or even illegal content amongst other books. Or maybe they have an aversion to main entrances, cant get to a library during normal business hours and desperately need something new to read, or are worried the person at the front desk will recognise them.
Who knows. Could be innocent, could be excentric, could be nefarious.
Its easier to prevent people entering via the windows, have monitoring to ensure people dont enter via the windows, and have a general social norm of "someone trying to get through a window is bad, and should be reported to authorities to make sure they arent up to no good" and just have everyone use the front door.

Anyone that actually includes non-vpn access to something like lemmy.world in their threat model are hopefully smart enough to get a VPS with a clean IP address.
Because a VPN doesnt add any extra headers or data to the traffic. VPN traffic is often blocked by looking up the origin IP (ie the VPN exit node's public IP address) against a database of known malicious IP addresses. Thats it. Get a clean IP address, and move on with your life