@dhiogoacioli said:
Domains (Web/API) blocked in some countries
I'm currently traveling in a European country and I noticed that the website doesn't work here

If it is not something secret or confidential, can you tell me in which country?

(and consequently the API, because it uses the same domain).

The domains are a little different-
Website = www.themoviedb.org
API = api.themoviedb.org
Images = image.tmdb.org

Is there a list of known countries that block this website/api?

No, we do not have a list.
There is currently a restriction on access to Russia.
Some countries neighboring Russia may be subject to restrictions for using Russian services or DNS.
India has restrictions imposed by the judiciary and/or ISPs in the country.
In the case of China, we assume that it is a government restriction.

Are there alternative domains to use?

There are no alternatives. In Russia, India, and China, users use VPNs.

I don't want to publish my location online, but it's in Europe (and it's not any of the countries you mentioned and it doesn't have a border with Russia).

The domain is: themoviedb.org. "www" and "api" are subdomains. When a country blocks a domain, no subdomain will work.

The only one that works is: image.tmdb.org, precisely because the domain is different. I didn't know about this domain. I was using this one: https://www.themoviedb.org/t/p/original/xxx.jpg.

In this case, wouldn't it be easier to create a new subdomain: api.tmdb.org?

If you have this domain for the API, theoretically it would work in all countries.

@dhiogoacioli said:

I don't want to publish my location online, but it's in Europe (and it's not any of the countries you mentioned and it doesn't have a border with Russia).

I have no recent news of users in Europe reporting this type of problem.

The domain is: themoviedb.org. "www" and "api" are subdomains.
When a country blocks a domain, no subdomain will work.

There was a case, I believe in India, where they blocked the website but not the API.
And also the opposite, I believe in China, where for a period of time they blocked the API but the website was not blocked.

The only one that works is: image.tmdb.org, precisely because the domain is different. I didn't know about this domain. I was using this one: https://www.themoviedb.org/t/p/original/xxx.jpg.
In this case, wouldn't it be easier to create a new subdomain: api.tmdb.org?

I don't know how to answer this question.

If you have this domain for the API, theoretically it would work in all countries.

I think only the admin Travis Bell can answer this suggestion that TMDb create other domains to escape these restrictions.

And of course, I know that several users have solved this problem using VPN.

But VPN doesn't solve my problem, because the user isn't accessing the website directly, but the API, through my app.

I can't tag Travis here. How can I get his attention?

@dhiogoacioli said:
But VPN doesn't solve my problem, because the user isn't accessing the website directly, but the API, through my app.
I can't tag Travis here. How can I get his attention?

Now I think it's clearer what your problem is.
Let's leave this conversation open.
Normally it goes through all the conversations that remain open.
In any case, I think it will ask you to list which countries are having this problem.
In addition, in some cases changing the DNS solves the problem.
You would have to suggest to your APP users that they change the DNS to try to solve the problem.

Hi @dhiogoacioli,

The only two countries we're actively blocking are Russia and Belarus. You can read our blog post about that here.

There are also other issues at play like what's happening in India. There are multiple ISP's that have some of our domains blocked because of (what we believe to be) an order from the Indian government.

Well, it's not DNS. I've already tested that.
I also don't know if it's just a technical problem with the internet provider I use or if it's really the government's fault.
In any case, having a second domain would help in several scenarios.
Is it possible to create this new subdomain: api.tmdb.org?

api.tmdb.org is already available as a mirror domain to api.themoviedb.org should you need to use it.

hmmm, true. I hadn't tested it. Both the API and the image are working.

I would only suggest a small change. When I type tmtb.org I am redirected to themoviedb.org, and then it stops working here. It should keep the address that was typed.