The 4 things a block leaves untouched
Blocking a service removes one address from your reach. The underlying models stay available through other products, the data the service already holds stays where it is, the alternatives stay online, and the reason for the block usually stays unstated.
Blocks are announced as decisive and they are narrow. Understanding what stays is not a way around them; it is the difference between an accurate picture and a dramatic picture.
The models stay available elsewhere
Blocking a product does not block the technology. The same or a similar model reaches the same country through other products, which is why blocks of individual services rarely change what people can do and often change which brand they use.
Existing data stays where it is
A block stops new traffic. It does not delete what a service already holds about anybody, and it does not reach into backups. People sometimes read a block as a data remedy, and it is not one.
The alternatives are not enumerated
Blocks name specific services, and the category is larger than any list. This is why blocking is a slow instrument against a fast-moving category, and it is a description of the mechanism rather than an endorsement of anything.
The reason is often unstated
A block can follow a content dispute, a data dispute, a tax dispute or a licensing dispute. The public notice rarely distinguishes them, so treating a block as evidence about a service's behaviour is usually reading more than is there.
Straight answers
Are blocks usually permanent?
Often they are lifted after a change on the service's side, and the timescale ranges from weeks to years.
Does a block mean the service did something wrong?
Not by itself. The notice is a decision rather than a finding, and the reasons vary widely.
Can a service appeal?
Usually there is a process, and it is slow and jurisdiction-specific. Meanwhile the block stands.
Read what this service does and does not check before you rely on it.
Open unblocked chat