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HTTP 451 Unavailable For Legal Reasons
Client ErrorAccess is denied for legal reasons — court orders, government censorship, or geo-specific legal restrictions (the number nods to Fahrenheit 451).
Defined in RFC 7725
Common causes
- Geo-blocking for legal compliance (e.g. GDPR-era news blocks)
- Content removed under court order/DMCA
How to fix it
Surface the legal notice to users; the Link header may reference the blocking authority
Serve compliant content per region rather than blanket-blocking, when possible
Related status codes
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