diff --git a/app/views/layouts/_footer.html.erb b/app/views/layouts/_footer.html.erb
index 706d4bf21..e4aade7ac 100644
--- a/app/views/layouts/_footer.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/layouts/_footer.html.erb
@@ -1,24 +1,5 @@
 <footer class="crayons-footer print-hidden">
   <div id="footer-container" class="crayons-layout crayons-layout--limited-m crayons-footer__container">
-    <% unless ForemInstance.private? %>
-      <nav class="m:-mt-4" aria-label="Site information">
-          <a href="/" class="crayons-link inline-block p-2">Home</a>
-          <% NavigationLink.ordered.each do |link| %>
-            <% if !link.display_only_when_signed_in? || (link.display_only_when_signed_in? && user_signed_in?) %>
-              <a href="<%= link.url %>" class="crayons-link inline-block p-2"><%= link.name %></a>
-            <% end %>
-          <% end %>
-
-        <% unless user_signed_in? %>
-          <a href="<%= sign_up_path %>" class="crayons-link fw-bold inline-block p-2">Sign In/Up</a>
-        <% else %>
-          <a href="/new" class="crayons-link fw-bold inline-block p-2">Create Post</a>
-        <% end %>
-
-        <div class="pt-4"><%= render partial: "layouts/social_media" %></div>
-      </nav>
-      <hr class="crayons-footer__divider">
-    <% end %>
     <p class="fs-s crayons-footer__description"><a href="/" aria-label="<%= community_name %> Home" class="crayons-link"><%= community_name %></a> – <%= Settings::Community.community_description %></p>
     <div class="m:-mb-4 crayons-footer__description">
       <%# The following copy is necessary for compatibility with the Forem AGPL licence which requires instances to link back to the source. %>
diff --git a/cypress/integration/navigationFlows/homePageLeftSidebar.spec.js b/cypress/integration/navigationFlows/homePageLeftSidebar.spec.js
index e41248a40..d05b6f0a9 100644
--- a/cypress/integration/navigationFlows/homePageLeftSidebar.spec.js
+++ b/cypress/integration/navigationFlows/homePageLeftSidebar.spec.js
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ describe('Home Page Left Sidebar', () => {
 
     // go back to the homepage with InstantClick
     cy.intercept('/?i=i').as('homepage');
-    cy.findAllByText('Home').last().click();
+    cy.findAllByRole('link', { name: 'DEV(local) Home' }).first().click();
     cy.wait('@homepage');
 
     // Wait for home page to load
diff --git a/spec/system/layout_spec.rb b/spec/system/layout_spec.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index 2aac155d6..000000000
--- a/spec/system/layout_spec.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-require "rails_helper"
-
-RSpec.describe "Layout", type: :system do
-  context "when rendering the footer" do
-    it "displays navigation links for public Forems" do
-      allow(ForemInstance).to receive(:private?).and_return(false)
-      visit root_path
-      expect(page).to have_selector("footer nav")
-    end
-
-    it "does not display navigation links for private Forems" do
-      allow(ForemInstance).to receive(:private?).and_return(true)
-      visit root_path
-      expect(page).not_to have_selector("footer nav")
-    end
-  end
-end