Ben RamseyFeb 2, 2025

If you work in government and are asked to remove content from websites (as a result of executive orders), please use the HTTP status code 451 instead of 404.

451 is the correct status code to use for these cases, and you'll be doing the rest of the country a service by using it.

Addendum: you should also include a Link header with the link relation "blocked-by" that "Identifies the entity that blocks access to a resource following receipt of a legal demand."

https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7725.html

RFC 7725: An HTTP Status Code to Report Legal Obstacles

Show threadWolf480pl

@ramsey wait but you mean anyone maintaining a website of a government agency?

Or do you mean people responsible for implementing govt-mandated blocking of 3rd party web content?

If the latter, I'd think the people who do that work for ISPs, not governments?

Feb 2, 2025 at 5:50pmWeb
Show threadBen RamseyFeb 2, 2025
@wolf480pl As far as I know, ISPs have not been required to block access to this content, though that was the original intent of the status code. In this case, I'm referring to the former: "anyone maintaining a website of a government agency," since these pages and data sets are being removed in response to executive orders.
Show threadBen RamseyFeb 2, 2025
@wolf480pl In case it's not clear, I posted this in response to specific executive orders issued by the current US president.
Show threadWolf480plFeb 2, 2025
@ramsey oooh, ok, I was missing that context