Electronic Frontier FoundationMar 16
Publishers say they’re blocking the Internet Archive because of AI scraping. But shutting out a nonprofit library won’t stop AI—it will damage the public’s best record of the web. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/03/blocking-internet-archive-wont-stop-ai-it-will-erase-webs-historical-record
Blocking the Internet Archive Won’t Stop AI, But It Will Erase the Web’s Historical Record

Imagine a newspaper publisher announcing it will no longer allow libraries to keep copies of its paper. That’s effectively what’s begun happening online in the last few months. The Internet Archive—the world’s largest digital library—has preserved newspapers since it went online in the mid-1990s....

Electronic Frontier Foundation
Show threadobcMar 16
@eff Can't the Archive block scraping ?
Show threadelgregorMar 17
@obc @eff It can ask nicely to block the respectful ones, it can forcefully block the obvious ones. The sneaky ones will still scrape.
Show threadCliff'sEsportCorner
@elgregor @obc @eff Context, as an inquisitive kid eons ago I used microfiche of newspapers at public library to gain deeper understanding of inflation and economics by doing basket of goods primary research from ~1880 to 1970. Modern so called newspapers are so information sparse I gave up on them over a decade ago as worth even skimming. AP Wire provides higher signal to noise ratio, & is what most of them are using as their source anyway. Current model is clearly aimed at engagement -> adds.
Mar 17 at 12:43pmWeb