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I want to browse to an http-based URL but Ubuntu Firefox will not let me, it always seems to force-switch to https. This is clear in the Web Developer Tools -> Network Tab, Firefox never even tries to use the http protocol (or do something a little more clever like an HTTP 301) but instead goes immediately to https.

Does Firefox even work with HTTP any more in 2024? I am using Private browsing mode, is this a problem?

P.S. I suspect this question could get closed as a duplicate of this, and that's ok if that's what the community wants, but I think the nature of how I got to my question and answer is different enough, e.g. that inspiration question simply has no reference to Private browsing at all and the comments clearly identified HSTS as the culprit, that I think it has become a new context that stands on its own, perhaps as a related question. If this part of my question belongs on the SuperUser Meta, please feel welcome to edit/move accordingly.

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I ran some tests of Firefox v123.0 (64-bit) for Ubuntu 22.04, in Private browsing mode and in regular mode:

  1. ❌ For both modes, if HSTS is enabled by the site, e.g. http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/https-only-prefs then Firefox went straight to the https version
  2. ❌ For Private browsing mode, if HSTS is not enabled by the site, e.g. at the time of writing http://web.archive.org/ then Firefox went straight to the https version
  3. ✅ For regular browsing mode, if HSTS is not enabled by the site, e.g. at the time of writing http://web.archive.org/ then Firefox would stay with the http version
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    I believe that your Private mode browsing experience is by design. blog.mozilla.org/security/2021/08/10/… . and obiviously, if the site uses HSTS, you will never be able to access it over HTTP. its not your choice, its the site owners, and they are making it clear by using HSTS that they do not want you to be able to use HTTP.
    – Frank Thomas
    Commented Mar 6 at 6:24

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