A couple of days ago i noticed something off with blahaj.zone. I couldn’t see images posted by users on blahaj, so i thought it was a problem on their side.

Well guess fucking what? After 3 days, it was STILL broken, so i opened it and…

Blocked. They fucking blocked blahaj.zone. Actually beyond parody🤦‍♂️ Why? What was the point? there’s trans content literally everywhere on lemmy. what’s next, block them all? So now if i want to see a post by a user on blahaj, i have to turn on my VPN (protonvpn.com is also blocked in saudi, jfc) just to see it. Fuck this place. 🙄

I swear a couple of days ago it worked. This is a mild annoyance (hence the community) but still.

It’s so over guys, MBS said no more 196 😔

  • @BuffaloxEnglish
    16•8 hours ago

    They fucking geoblocked blahaj.zone.

    I suppose THEY is Saudi Arabia.
    How can you be surprised about that? Saudi Arabia is a Sharia law country. An absolute shit stain of a country in many more ways than this.
    You can get a death penalty for posting something against Sharia Law on any site. Actively using Lemmy could be enough to see you in jail.

    MBS said no more 196

    ???

    • fxomtOPEnglish
      16•8 hours ago

      The last line was a joke. Anyways yes it is about Saudi Arabia, and I’m no stranger to how shitty they are. I’m surprised that such a niche forum could be targeted, websites about trans stuff get banned all the time.

      I knew this’d happen eventually, I just didn’t know when.

      • @BuffaloxEnglish
        14•8 hours ago

        I’m surprised that such a niche forum could be targeted,

        If you can find it, authorities can too. Sounds like you are far from careful enough, considering where you are.

        • andrew_bidlawEnglish
          5•7 hours ago

          I bet there’s some user from there, not a stranger to reddit and it’s alternatives, that happened to stumble upon it and report it.

          • snooggumsEnglish
            1•4 hours ago

            Or the government uses web indexes to find sites that include LGBTQ+ content and blocks them automatically.

            • andrew_bidlawEnglish
              1•2 hours ago

              Saudi admins aren’t stupud, but they won’t like to work that hard I believe. Reports is how it’s usualy triggered in nations like these.

    • @apfelwoiSchoppenEnglish
      -11•8 hours ago

      Saudi Arabia is shit, but anyone who uses the term Sharia law is a dolt.

      • fxomtOPEnglish
        10•8 hours ago

        Why? it’s an actual term. شريعة

          • fxomtOPEnglish
            18•8 hours ago

            Law is قانون. Sharia is شريعة. One is just law, the other is religious law.

            • @apfelwoiSchoppenEnglish
              11•8 hours ago

              Thanks for the clarification. ✌️ I’m the dolt.

            • Monkey With A ShellEnglish
              4•6 hours ago

              I’m guessing it might be thought of like when people say ‘ATM machine’. If Sharia where to be translated as ‘religious law’ then it would stand to reason that Sharia law could be translated as ‘religious law law’.

              Just some speculation on it though, I don’t speak a bit of any language in the region.

              • fxomtOPEnglish
                4•6 hours ago

                I do, in arabic we just say “sharia” but in english we say “sharia law”. You are correct that just saying “sharia” is grammatically correct, but i don’t really think it matters too much. In arabic, sharia is seen as distinct from law, but in english, it is seen a type of law, that’s why [i think] people say “sharia law” instead of just sharia.

                • Monkey With A ShellEnglish
                  2•6 hours ago

                  So something similar to some of the Catholic practices about meat during lent, not a true law, but a rule dictated by the church. It just happens that if the church and state are functionally one entity, as is my impression for a lot of countries in that region, then it may as well be considered law.

                  Fairly accurate?

                  • fxomtOPEnglish
                    0•6 hours ago

                    Yep, our laws cannot override sharia (unless you’re a filthy royal or a higher up 🙄) Even “witchcraft” isn’t allowed, which can mean anything, i actually have no fucking clue what is even witchcraft to the sauds 😂