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Firefox redirects to social media search on Google because McAfee blocks it at my instruction

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We have regularly updated Firefox on Windows Vista, with McAfee provided by our ISP (BT, a UK telecoms ISP). Because of our young children, and my dislike of having to be wired into every little thing, social media is generally disallowed, except that I have basic Facebook enabled to contact our daughter at university. Chat is turned off permanently. I don't Twitter or any other social media.

Quite a few months ago we went through a spate of faults where a webpage would load, and within seconds redirect to a Google search based on (at that time) a Facebook search. The exact search seemed to depend on hidden criteria within the stream that the Facebook app was trying to access. Then it stopped for a while. I assumed that my tweaking the McAfee to block social media and allow Facebook had improved matters.

Today the problem has resumed, but this time it's Twitter that's playing up. I got several redirections from pages for the "Uplifting" TV Channel (redirected from a friend's Facebook link) to a Google search for "https://twitter.com/i/jo" with results like:

joe jonas (joejonas) on Twitter https://twitter.com/joejonas‎ Hi. http://instagram.com/p/dXhhH2D8A6/ · Expand Collapse. Reply; Retweet Retweeted; Delete; Favorite Favorited. More. Embed Tweet. joe jonas ‏@joejonas ...

Joe Rogan (joerogan) on Twitter https://twitter.com/joerogan‎ Stand up comic/mixed martial arts fanatic/psychedelic adventurer Conduit/Host of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast http://t.co/TkHgrvKc http://t.co/9hGFhThE.

Joe Budden (JoeBudden) on Twitter https://twitter.com/JoeBudden‎ The latest from Joe Budden (@JoeBudden). Simply put, i'm the gray area. ... Hats off to the chefs.... http://instagram.com/p/ddycaru7MR/ · Expand Collapse.


This happens within 2 or 3 seconds of the page loading, and if I back-button, it just redirects over and over again.

How can I block the social media so that Firefox does not treat it as a Google redirection?

Incidentally - your system knows me under my true email. But it refuses to allow me access despite 2 password resets. I've had to create disposable email and a slightly different name to register this question.

Please be patient with me if I can't respond straight away to a request for further information. I've got some very complex situations going on which are not made much easier by the end of the summer holidays and the start of school in 8 days... The internet isn't _always_ the first thing on my mind ;) But thank you for being there for me to ask you :)

We have regularly updated Firefox on Windows Vista, with McAfee provided by our ISP (BT, a UK telecoms ISP). Because of our young children, and my dislike of having to be wired into every little thing, social media is generally disallowed, except that I have basic Facebook enabled to contact our daughter at university. Chat is turned off permanently. I don't Twitter or any other social media. Quite a few months ago we went through a spate of faults where a webpage would load, and within seconds redirect to a Google search based on (at that time) a Facebook search. The exact search seemed to depend on hidden criteria within the stream that the Facebook app was trying to access. Then it stopped for a while. I assumed that my tweaking the McAfee to block social media and allow Facebook had improved matters. Today the problem has resumed, but this time it's Twitter that's playing up. I got several redirections from pages for the "Uplifting" TV Channel (redirected from a friend's Facebook link) to a Google search for "https://twitter.com/i/jo" with results like: joe jonas (joejonas) on Twitter https://twitter.com/joejonas‎ Hi. http://instagram.com/p/dXhhH2D8A6/ · Expand Collapse. Reply; Retweet Retweeted; Delete; Favorite Favorited. More. Embed Tweet. joe jonas ‏@joejonas ... Joe Rogan (joerogan) on Twitter https://twitter.com/joerogan‎ Stand up comic/mixed martial arts fanatic/psychedelic adventurer Conduit/Host of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast http://t.co/TkHgrvKc http://t.co/9hGFhThE. Joe Budden (JoeBudden) on Twitter https://twitter.com/JoeBudden‎ The latest from Joe Budden (@JoeBudden). Simply put, i'm the gray area. ... Hats off to the chefs.... http://instagram.com/p/ddycaru7MR/ · Expand Collapse. This happens within 2 or 3 seconds of the page loading, and if I back-button, it just redirects over and over again. How can I block the social media so that Firefox does not treat it as a Google redirection? Incidentally - your system knows me under my true email. But it refuses to allow me access despite 2 password resets. I've had to create disposable email and a slightly different name to register this question. Please be patient with me if I can't respond straight away to a request for further information. I've got some very complex situations going on which are not made much easier by the end of the summer holidays and the start of school in 8 days... The internet isn't _always_ the first thing on my mind ;) But thank you for being there for me to ask you :)

All Replies (1)

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Most sites wouldn't redirect you away, so I'm suspicious that it could be due to one of your add-ons.

Could you try disabling ALL nonessential or unrecognized add-ons on these two tabs:

orange Firefox button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons > Plugins category
orange Firefox button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons > Extensions category

If a link to restart Firefox appears above one of the disabled extensions, go ahead and click that as the last step. Any change?

Also, sorry about the forum problems. Not sure what is going on there.