Why Reddit is Blocking the Internet Archive
Reddit’s decision to block the Internet Archive has raised questions about data privacy, AI training practices, and the future of online archiving. The company says AI firms have been scraping its content from the Wayback Machine without permission, violating platform policies. This move will restrict the archive’s access to most of Reddit’s pages, including posts, comments, and profiles, leaving only the homepage visible for indexing. Many users are now wondering what this means for preserving Reddit’s digital history.
AI scraping concerns lead to new restrictions
According to Reddit, the Internet Archive has been unintentionally allowing AI companies to gather massive amounts of Reddit data for training large language models. While the Internet Archive’s mission is to preserve online content, Reddit says the scraping of removed or private information raises privacy concerns. The new restrictions aim to ensure that archived data respects user privacy and aligns with platform rules.
What the Internet Archive will still access
With the new policy, the Wayback Machine will no longer store detailed Reddit pages. Instead, it will only capture the platform’s homepage, showing trending topics and headlines from each day. This greatly reduces historical access to discussions, making it harder for researchers, journalists, and the public to revisit deleted or modified Reddit content.
Balancing preservation and privacy
Reddit maintains that it supports online preservation but believes this must not come at the expense of user privacy and data protection. The company has said it will reconsider the restrictions if the Internet Archive strengthens its safeguards and complies with platform policies. For now, the change highlights an ongoing tension between open internet principles and the realities of AI data collection in 2025.
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