EU domain name revoked: thousands of UK websites taken down in post-Brexit internet push
Nearly 50,000 internet domain names belonging to UK businesses and citizens have been taken down this week following the revocation of their .eu domain names.
Impacted sites include the pro-Brexit site Leave.eu, and represents the ongoing effort to remove the UK from institutions within the European Union.
The website has now been revoked, and the web page reads: “This site can’t be reached.”
UK based owners of .eu domains needed to show their eligibility for an EU domain, by either being citizens or residents of the EU, or be an organisation that was established within the bloc.
More than 80,000 websites had already been hit with a “suspended” status, following the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31 2020, according to Politico.
The agency in charge of the process EURid said that the now empty domains were available for registration on a “first come, first serve” basis.
“As previously communicated, all Brexit-related domain names, which were moved to the “withdrawn” status on 1 July 2021, will be revoked and released on 3 January 2022,” said a spokesperson.