Jsonlite invalid char in json text.

General
1

Hi All,

I have a code that works fine on a local machine but when I use a VM it keeps getting an error.

hashtag <- "bbnaija"
url_start <- str_glue("http://instagram.com/explore/tags/{hashtag}/?__a=1")
json <- jsonlite::fromJSON(url_start)

It works fine on my local machine, but when I use a VM I keeping getting an error;
Error: lexical error: invalid char in json text.
<html lang="en"
(right here) ------^

Please help. Thank you

2

My first guess would be that, for some reason, accessing this page from the VM doesn't return a JSON but some generic html page. On the VM, try to download the content of that URL and see what's in it. I wouldn't be surprised if you got this:

image

Instagram decided that your VM's IP is suspicious and denied it access. (I got the screenshot when I tried from TOR).

1 Like
3

Yes, you're right. It's a firewall issue, just as you've observed. Is there a work around?

4

If it's really the IP that's suspicious to Instagram, you need to try from a different IP, maybe by respawning the VM or via a VPN. I don't know what else I could suggest I'm afraid.
Instagram might have a key-ed API, in which case it might not look at your IP as long as you have a valid key. Not sure.

5

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