this post was submitted on 26 May 2026
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Hi all,

I have VPN turned on on my phone all the time.

To be able to post anything, including to comment, I need to turn off the VPN. To be honest, I'm quite conflicted by this.

Any reason why this is or what to do about it besides turning off the VPN?

I'm using Voyager as a client.

Edit: it seems like the instance is the issue. Moving here from Reddit it's not as simple as j would have thought. Also, VPNs are essential, no VPN is no go for me.

Case closed.

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[–] atrielienz@lemmy.world 2 points 23 minutes ago

I had this problem because the app does a sanity check between your phone clock and your "location". I changed the clock to match my VPN locale and then worked backward from there.

If you can set the VPN to a place in the same time zone but far outside your actual locale that may work.

I don't know for certain that this will help but it's worth a shot.

[–] moopet@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 hours ago

I'm on a vpn posting this comment.

[–] sudoer777@lemmy.ml 29 points 8 hours ago

Solution: Move to a Lemmy instance that doesn't suck

[–] eruchitanda@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

lemmy.world blocks VPNs. If you have anti-censorship features you can use them to post.

Using VPN right now and posting.

[–] Bloefz@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

What's that anti-censorship feature? Is it like a flag you can get on your account or something?

[–] 00xide@lemmy.ml 9 points 9 hours ago

I assume some instances have coordinated-attack prevention software that disables traffic from past offender IPs, and VPNs are a common way to centralize and anonymize data. Whether malicious in intent or not, a strike against your VPN server might cause a blockage.

[–] DieserTypMatthias@lemmy.ml 6 points 8 hours ago

.ml doesn't block VPNs.

[–] PerfectDark@lemmy.world 4 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I just use a VPN server from my own country, which is annoying.

Then switch back to elsewhere when I'm not here.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 1 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

But what for? ISP tracking? If it's because of a built-in adblocker, there are apps that do this locally via a local-only vpn.

[–] manuallybreathing@lemmy.ml 6 points 8 hours ago

im posting from behind a vpn right now

[–] favoredponcho@lemmy.zip 29 points 12 hours ago

Yet another reason not to use lemmy.world

[–] PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S@anarchist.nexus 53 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Probably your instance. For example, I'm on a VPN all day every day and I get to post and comment and use Lemmy like nothing happened.

[–] GreyEyedGhost@piefed.ca 6 points 9 hours ago

So this is why all my posts never showed!

Just kidding, I just almost never post, but I do use a VPN almost all the time.

[–] JennaR8r@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

I had the same problem when I was on lemmy.world. now I'm on this other instance dbzero and it's mostly smooth except for sometimes things glitch so I turn off my VPN to troubleshoot and then it works for a while, especially some thumbnail pictures won't load in the post with my VPN on, but lately I've been too lazy to toggle my VPN off, I usually just give up on posts when the photo won't load.

[–] Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 hours ago

I've had the same experience.

The problem is always with posts done on a specific instance, so it's probably still instance related, maybe the pictures on posts in that instance not being passed around as pictures but rather as a link back to that instance and it's the instance that is blocking some VPN exit points (which is why sometimes if you reconnect the VPN it fixes - reconnecting usually changes the exit point and only some exit points are blocked).

[–] 9point6@lemmy.world 15 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

LW makes an effort to block posting from public VPNs because it also has open registration, and there's not really much else that can be done to prevent a particularly belligerent spammer/troll from just repeatedly registering accounts. This was put in place after a particularly bad spate of it.

I'm not especially pleased about it, but I understand why it's happened

[–] HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml 20 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

Lemmy.world, which you log into and is the one that receives your VPN connection, uses Cloudflare in front of their server. So it's actually Cloudflare that receives your VPN connection. It's probably giving you that captcha screen which your app can't display (or being denied entirely). I'm on VPN too and when a link makes me open a .world post it gives me the Cloudflare captcha every time.

Not guaranteed to be this reason but my money's on it. Try logging into lemmy.world from your browser on the VPN, will help you troubleshoot if it gives nonstandard pages when trying to post or especially when logging in.

[–] brickfrog@lemmy.dbzer0.com 31 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

That's not all of Lemmy, just your specific Lemmy instance with those restrictions (lemmy.world).

Talk to lemmy.world admins or sign up to a different Lemmy instance that allows VPN usage.

[–] patruelis@lemmy.world 9 points 14 hours ago (3 children)

Why is this? Why no VPN for Lemmy.world?

[–] adespoton@lemmy.ca 12 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Because it’s backed by CloudFlare. Why is it backed by CloudFlare? Because it has open registration and gets spammed a lot.

[–] KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

The two are unrelated.

Edit: I mean cloudflare and the vpn block.

Probably spam.

[–] umbrella@lemmy.ml 5 points 11 hours ago

that's another good question for the admins.

[–] Substance_P@lemmy.world 18 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

It's definitely your instance, most probably VPNs are not allowed on it. If you do want to use a VPN on Voyager, try changing the country/server, (or exit point as someone else suggested) you should manage to find one that works. - switch quickly then post, works for me.

Edit: yep had to do it to post this message.

[–] patruelis@lemmy.world 7 points 14 hours ago

It seems like it. I'll change the instance.

[–] _haha_oh_wow_@piefed.social 11 points 15 hours ago

I'm posting from a VPN, no issues. Try a different instance.

[–] Dionysus@leminal.space 10 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

Either spam/troll/bot protection or a government honey pot.

Find a new instance.

[–] BottleBoardBakon@lemmy.ml 7 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

Huh, have you tried changing your exit?

Because I'm on a vpn now...

[–] lazylemons@lemmy.today 6 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

As others have said it is based on instance. I get why some have instances have the restriction though.

[–] FineCoatMummy@sh.itjust.works 2 points 12 hours ago

I get why some have instances have the restriction though.

I get it too.

Which is why I so fucking hate ppl, companies, govs, w/e who abuse services. When it gets bad enough, it makes the service clamp down. And that means loss of privacy for everyone. Even the ppl not abusing it.

TBF I don't know what will prevent the more open Lemmy instances from that fate. Today, Lemmy flies under the radar. Too small for anyone to notice or care. Too tiny to be target for mass disinfo campaigns. Or shitty influencers to infest and take it over. But if it gets big enuf... it'll have the same probs. There are probs that aren't do to the algorithms on reddit or w/e. Some come from sheer scale. Humans gotta ruin everything nice.

[–] unitedwithme@lemmy.today 4 points 15 hours ago

Same. Paid Proton and Voyager, and no bueno 😭

[–] ilinamorato@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago

Could be where your VPN is hosted. If your traffic appears to be coming from (for instance) an AWS data center, it might appear to be coming from a known spam source (since there are some spammers which have used AWS). The instance you're on might just be using an overzealous spam block IP list.

[–] Sarothazrom@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago

I've had this problem with proton, when it happens, i switch VPN exits and then retry posting and it almost always works.

[–] commander@lemmy.world 1 points 14 hours ago

I post from a vpn all the time. Sometimes it'll complain and not let me because of VPN and then I just switch node and it lets me. It's not even country based. Like I can be on a node in Mexico, get blocked, switch to another one in Mexico and be good

[–] pmtriste@lemmy.world 1 points 15 hours ago

I have had the same problem with some VPNs, but sometimes it works. Maybe your instance admin can identify if they allow any VPNs, or you could try to move to an instance that is more lenient?