BrianKrebs

We all know that many news sites have paywalls. It is, after all, some or a big part of how they've chosen to fund their news gathering. There are lots of ways around paywalls or to access individual stories behind one: e.g., archive.is or archive.today lets you search a news article link to see if it's already been saved, and frequently you can read the full story that way.

I mention this because I post a lot of links to stories that are behind paywalls, and a common reply is "paywall," as if a) that wasn't obvious and b) the link was somehow discovered to be serving malware or something. Sometimes I will post an archive.today link to a story if it's urgent and paywalled, but it's definitely not my job to do that and I've started muting the "paywall" whiners.

Sep 21, 2025 at 4:15pmWeb
Show threadDave ClarkSep 21, 2025
@briankrebs the people who scream about paywalls also scream about ads.
Show threadJust a Mr BillSep 23, 2025

@bedirthan @briankrebs Just how many news sites do you expect the average person to subscribe to? I have a couple through work but they will end soon because I got laid off. I pay for 6 sites: 2 national, one local where I grew up, and 3 local where I live now. With my income drying up I’ll probably drop the nationals first, then the remote local, hoping to keep funding the 3 local ones as long as I can.

I’m not against paywalled content. I’m against people assuming that we all can pay for all of it. Just have the courtesy to tell me what to expect so I can choose not to waste my time if it’s something I can’t afford.

Show threadJernej Simončič �Sep 21, 2025
@briankrebs If there's a link to paywalled story in a toot that interests me, I'll usually post an archive link in reply.
Show threadGinevraCatSep 21, 2025
@briankrebs Good psa to occasionally let people know about these options for paywall bypass. Not everyone (even on here) is particularly tech savvy.
Show threadKatykayaySep 21, 2025
@GinevraCat @briankrebs Thank you. That description applies to me.
Show threadcrypt0cler1cSep 21, 2025
@briankrebs I like to share archive links to make it easier for other users, but it's really frustrating when people expect you to cater your behavior to their preferences when they can easily equip themselves and make their own decisions.
Show threadcrypt0cler1cSep 21, 2025
@briankrebs a lot of the same people that are paywall, pitchforks are probably also complaining when you share a YouTube link instead of linking to some random invidious instance smh
Show thread❄️SnowyIn🇨🇦❄️Sep 21, 2025

@briankrebs

Nearly every time I hit a paywall if I enter the keywords in a search bar I find the same info through a free source.

The rest of the time I se the archive.

It's not the job of the original poster to spoon feed us info

Show threadStephen CrosbySep 21, 2025

@briankrebs another great way to get around paywalls is to pay :)

For those who can afford to do it if you don't already support quality journalism financially, let the paywall be your reminder.

Show threadgunstickSep 21, 2025
@stevecrozz I can't pay for 75 news sites.
Show threadStephen CrosbySep 21, 2025
@gunstick that's ok. I hope you pay for a few
Show threadgunstickSep 21, 2025
@stevecrozz yes, my local ones.
Show threadgunstickSep 21, 2025
@briankrebs thabks for spreading infos thag archive.is and archive.today exist. I did not know.
Show threadTom BortelsSep 21, 2025

@briankrebs

The paywall "whiners" are doing a public service - a single paywalled article from a popular poster can waste the time of thousands of people. If I see "paywall" I can adjust my expectations and decide if It's worth the effort or I should just move along.

I'd honestly rather see an automatic paywall indicator as part of the client, but that may be infeasible - the client would need to know which sites the user subs to and it could be a headache.

Show threadPaul HoffmanSep 21, 2025
@briankrebs I have whined to you about this before, and appreciate this elucidation enough to "favorite" it. You have indirectly caused me to stop whining about this to other folks I follow as well, so many thanks..
Show threadMichaelSep 21, 2025
@briankrebs I genuinely wonder what ever happened to the circa about 2002 idea of micropayments for buying individual articles. I recall that being talked about. Now, to read good journalism (which is difficult to find), you have to start a bunch of subscriptions.
Show threadAMSSep 21, 2025
@mykl @briankrebs payment processor fees happened.
Show threadVessOnSecuritySep 21, 2025

@briankrebs Sometimes it is not obvious that an article is paywalled. E.g., if you click on it from Google News, you get to read it - but if you pass the URL to somebody else and they click that, they'll hit a paywall. Or the site will let you read a couple of articles for free but then you'll hit a paywall (even if you try to read the articles you've read before).

There are browser add-ons that warn you about paywalled links but, more importantly, this extension:

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/remove-paywalls/ghkdkllgoehcklnpajjjmfoaokabfdfm

lets you bypass the paywall (if possible) by going to an archived copy of the page you're looking at. There's probably an equivalent add-on for Firefox.

Remove Paywalls - Chrome Web Store

Bypass paywalls by accessing archived versions of articles

Show threadThe Tattooed Nonna 🧙‍♀️Sep 21, 2025
@briankrebs i don't think it's a whine more that maybe you can let us know before we clicked, some of us waste a lot of time loading pages onto our phones over bloody useless signal only to discover we have to work out some way, round it, and we just can't be arsed
Show threadDavid GreenbaumSep 21, 2025
@briankrebs I appreciate your frustration. I assume anything you link is done so because you'd like me to read it. I don't subscribe to everything, so it would be helpful to post a publicly available link or advise that a subscription is required.
Show threadJust a Mr BillSep 22, 2025
@briankrebs For me, it’s all good if you say “subscription required” or something to that effect. Otherwise, if I follow a link and start reading only to be stopped in my tracks by a requirement to log in with a paid account, I will become annoyed with that site and I’ll extend that annoyance to whoever posted the link. I don’t know if that’s right or wrong; it’s just how I react.
Show threadBrianKrebsSep 23, 2025
@billd That makes a lot of sense. But when you're looking at a link to a NYT story, you kinda know whether you have a subscription there or not, right? I'm generally not linking to random, unknown news destinations.
Show threadJust a Mr BillSep 23, 2025
@briankrebs I do know what I subscribe to. For sites I don’t pay for, I eventually hit enough disappointment to remember a site that I can’t access. For example, Los Angeles Times? I won’t click anymore. But some news sites allow up to 3–5 free views a month, and some are free with an astounding quantity of ads. And sometimes the person posting uses a “gift” link, which I really appreciate. Of course you can do what you want, but this is my experience with our broken news ecosystem.