In a recent development, the Russian government has blocked access to the paywall bypass site Archive.today along with several of its associated domains, as indicated by error messages that surfaced when attempting to visit the sites.
The blocking appears to have taken effect on Monday, as noted by TechCrunch during their attempt to access the websites from the U.S. East Coast. A notification in Russian stated: "Access to the Internet resource Blocked by decision of the public authorities," referencing the federal agency responsible for internet oversight, Roskomnadzor.
While Roskomnadzor confirmed that "access is limited to the page," they did not provide an explanation at the time of TechCrunch's inquiry. Interestingly, at the time of checking, Archive.today itself did not appear to be blocked for all users.
Despite the reported restrictions, TechCrunch was able to access the Archive sites through various devices and networks, demonstrating that the extent of the block may not be uniform across all users. This raises questions about the implementation and effectiveness of the censorship.
Archive.today is recognized as a valuable resource for archiving web pages, particularly those that contain content hidden behind paywalls or subscription barriers. Recently, Wikipedia editors took steps to remove numerous links to Archive.today, citing concerns over the site's practices, which allegedly involved utilizing visitors' browsers to generate excessive traffic directed at a critic's website.
The operators of Archive.today have yet to respond to requests for comments regarding this situation.
