[BrandoElFollito]

> They may do business in the EU, want to have that option at a later point, or may want to make it easy to be acquired by a multinational company.

This is a possibility though I have usually seen these blocking pages on small, local web sites.

[waqf]

Specifically, only on "independent local" news sites. I have to wonder if they, or the entity who operates the website on their behalf, all belong to the same multinational. Like the "independent local" TV stations that are all owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.

I can't think of any other reason that so many local news sites would be affected, and so few other sites.

[dylan604]

Most of these local news sites with the same corporate owner all have the same site reskined for locality. So it would make sense they all behave the same way.