Neowin reports that uBlock Origin Lite, the popular ad-blocking add-on, has been removed from Firefox’s official add-on marketplace following a dispute between its developer, Raymond Hill, and Mozilla. The conflict began in early September when Mozilla flagged every version of uBlock Origin Lite for violating Firefox policies. This move surprised users and raised concerns, as uBlock Origin Lite is known for its commitment to user privacy—one of the primary reasons many individuals choose Firefox over other browsers.
The accusations against uBlock Origin Lite included claims of collecting user data and failing to comply with privacy standards. In response, Hill defended his add-on, stating that the concerns raised were unfounded and easily refuted by anyone with a basic understanding of JavaScript. Following Mozilla’s admission that it had made an error regarding the extension, Hill opted to stop development of uBlock Origin Lite for Firefox.
Hill cited the “hostile” and “nonsensical” nature of Mozilla’s add-on approval process as his primary reason for discontinuing support. He expressed frustration with the review process, stating, “I am dropping support because of the added burden of dealing with AMO’s nonsensical and hostile review process.” Consequently, uBlock Origin Lite has been permanently removed from the Firefox Marketplace, and the last approved version—uBOLite_2024.9.22.986—will only be available as a self-hosted release package on GitHub. No further updates to the add-on will be released.
