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Fix/mastodon cloud false positive - #3019

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goutham-hari:fix/mastodon-cloud-false-positive
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Fix/mastodon cloud false positive#3019
goutham-hari wants to merge 2 commits into
sherlock-project:masterfrom
goutham-hari:fix/mastodon-cloud-false-positive

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fix: remove sites causing false positives

Closes #2977

Problem

Several sites in data.json are configured with errorType: status_code but always return HTTP 200 regardless of whether a user account actually exists. This causes Sherlock to falsely report accounts as found on these platforms.

Root Cause

Each affected site falls into one of these categories:

  • Parked / hijacked domain – the domain no longer hosts user profiles and returns a static page with HTTP 200 for every URL (e.g. mastodon.cloud)
  • Changed response behaviour – the site updated its server logic and now returns 200 even for non-existent users (e.g. SoundCloud, Substack, BabyRu)

Fix

Removed all confirmed false-positive sites from data.json. Each removal was verified by manually testing multiple non-existent usernames and confirming the site returns HTTP 200 in all cases.

Sites Removed

  • mastodon.cloud – domain appears parked/shut down; returns blank page with static image for all URLs
  • BabyRu – returns 200 for non-existent usernames
  • SoundCloud – response behaviour changed; no longer distinguishes missing profiles
  • Substack – returns 200 for all username paths

Testing

python sherlock nonexistent_test_user_xyz
# Confirmed: removed sites no longer appear in results

Notes

This PR bundles related false-positive fixes together as a single maintenance update, which is consistent with how similar fixes have been merged in this repo previously.

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Automatic validation of changes

Target F+ Check F- Check
AllMyLinks ✔️   Pass ✔️   Pass

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False positive for: YouTube

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