{"id":14929,"date":"2025-08-11T20:52:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T20:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yohrt.com\/news\/reddit-moves-to-restrict-the-internet-archive-from-accessing-its-communities\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T20:52:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T20:52:00","slug":"reddit-moves-to-restrict-the-internet-archive-from-accessing-its-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yohrt.com\/news\/reddit-moves-to-restrict-the-internet-archive-from-accessing-its-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"#\n                Reddit Moves to Restrict The Internet Archive from Accessing its Communities"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/yohrt.com\/news\/reddit-moves-to-restrict-the-internet-archive-from-accessing-its-communities\/#Reddit_Moves_to_Restrict_The_Internet_Archive_from_Accessing_its_Communities\" >Reddit Moves to Restrict The Internet Archive from Accessing its Communities<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reddit_Moves_to_Restrict_The_Internet_Archive_from_Accessing_its_Communities\"><\/span>\n                Reddit Moves to Restrict The Internet Archive from Accessing its Communities<br \/>\n            <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>A notable side-effect to the new wave of data protectionism online, in response to AI tools scraping any data that they can, is what that could mean for data access more broadly, and the capacity to research historic material that exists across the web.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Today, Reddit has <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/news\/757538\/reddit-internet-archive-wayback-machine-block-limit\" style=\"color:blue\">announced<\/a> that it\u2019s going to start blocking bots from The Internet Archive\u2019s \u201cWayback Machine,\u201d due to concerns that AI projects have been accessing Reddit content from this resource, which is also a crucial reference point for many journalists and researchers online.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/\" style=\"color:blue\">The Internet Archive<\/a> is dedicated to keeping accurate records of all the content (or as much of it as it can) that\u2019s shared online, which serves a valuable purpose in sourcing and crosschecking reference data. The <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future\/article\/20240912-the-archivists-battling-to-save-the-internet\" style=\"color:blue\">not-for-profit project<\/a> currently maintains data on some 866 billion web pages, and with <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span><span><span><span>38% of all web pages that were available in 2013 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/data-labs\/2024\/05\/17\/when-online-content-disappears\/\" style=\"color:blue\">now no longer accessible<\/a>, the project plays a valuable role in maintaining our digital history.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>And while it\u2019s faced various challenges in the past, this latest one could be a significant blow, as the value of protecting data becomes a bigger consideration for online sources.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Reddit has already put a range of measures in place to control data access, including the reformation of its API pricing back in 2023. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>And now, it\u2019s taking aim at other sources of data access.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>As Reddit explained to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/news\/757538\/reddit-internet-archive-wayback-machine-block-limit\" style=\"color:blue\">The Verge<\/a>:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><em><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cInternet Archive provides a service to the open web, but we\u2019ve been made aware of instances where AI companies violate platform policies, including ours, and scrape data from the Wayback Machine.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>As a result, The Wayback Machine will no longer be able to crawl the detail of Reddit\u2019s various communities, it\u2019ll only be able to index the Reddit.com homepage. Which will significantly limit its capacity on this front, and Reddit may be the first of many to implement tougher access restrictions. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Of course, some of the major social platforms have already locked down their user data as much as they can, in order to stop third-party tools from stealing their insights, and using them for alternative purpose.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>LinkedIn, for example, recently had a court victory against a business that had been scraping user data, and using that to power its own HR platform. Both LinkedIn and Meta have pursued several providers on this front, and those battles are developing more definitive legal precedent against scraping and unauthorized access.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>But the challenge remains in publicly posted content, and the legal questions around who owns that which is freely available online.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>The Internet Archive, and other projects like it, are available for free by design, and the fact that they do scrape whatever pages and info that they can does pose a level of risk, in terms of data access. And if providers want to keep a hold of their info, and control over how such is used, it makes sense that they would need to implement measures to shut down such access.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>But it will also mean less transparency, less insight, and fewer historical reference points for researchers. And with more and more of our interactions happening online, that could be a significant loss over time. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>But data is the new oil, and as more and more AI projects emerge, the value of proprietary data is only going to increase. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Market pressures look set to dictate this element, which could restrict researchers in their efforts to understand key shifts.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/yohrt.com\/news\/social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Social Media<\/a><\/span> category.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.socialmediatoday.com\/news\/reddit-restricts-the-internet-archive-from-accessing-content\/757375\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reddit Moves to Restrict The Internet Archive from Accessing its Communities A notable side-effect to the new wave of data protectionism online, in response to AI tools scraping any data that they can, is what that could mean for data access more broadly, and the capacity to research historic material that exists across the web&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/imgproxy.divecdn.com\/gQj5LBlEmS94Ss97g9szwCsjkXqrgw3FUuzcLxj1Q0g\/g:ce\/rs:fit:770:435\/Z3M6Ly9kaXZlc2l0ZS1zdG9yYWdlL2RpdmVpbWFnZS9yZWRkaXRfbG9nbzIuanBn.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1456],"class_list":["post-14929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-media","tag-social-media-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yohrt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yohrt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yohrt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yohrt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yohrt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yohrt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yohrt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yohrt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yohrt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yohrt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}