Archive.today and its associated domains, including .is and .ph, have been blocked by Russian authorities. The blocking was confirmed by error messages appearing on the sites as of Monday, when TechCrunch conducted a check from the U.S. East Coast.
This action has implications for users seeking to access archived web pages, particularly those containing content behind paywalls or subscription log-ins. The censorship decision reflects ongoing efforts by Russian authorities to regulate online information, often limiting access to sites they deem problematic.
A Russian error page stated: “Access to the Internet resource Blocked by decision of the public authorities,” with Roskomnadzor identified as the agency behind the measure. While Roskomnadzor confirmed that “access is limited to the page” of Archive.is, they did not provide specific reasons for the blockage at the time. During TechCrunch’s check, Archive.today was not listed as blocked despite users reportedly encountering issues.
Additionally, TechCrunch managed to access Archive websites from several different devices and networks, indicating that the extent of the block may vary. The specific implementation details of the blockade remain unclear.
Archive.today is widely recognized for its ability to archive copies of websites, often including content that is not openly accessible. Recently, Wikipedia editors removed hundreds of thousands of links to Archive.today, citing concerns that its software used visitors’ web browsers to send unwanted traffic to a critic’s website without consent.
