Russian authorities block paywall removal site Archive.today

Russian authorities have taken action against the paywall circumvention platform Archive.today, along with several associated domains such as .is and .ph. Users attempting to access these websites encountered error messages indicating that the sites have been blocked. This restriction appeared to take effect on Monday, as reported by TechCrunch from the U.S. East Coast. A message in Russian displayed on the blocked pages stated, "Access to the Internet resource Blocked by decision of the public authorities," attributing this move to Roskomnadzor, the governmental body overseeing internet censorship in Russia. While Roskomnadzor has acknowledged the limitation of access to Archive.is, they have not provided a specific rationale for this decision at the time of reporting. Interestingly, Archive.today itself was not showing as blocked during TechCrunch's checks. Despite the apparent restrictions, access to Archive sites from various devices and networks remained possible, allowing users to archive web pages seamlessly. The scope of this block is still unclear, including the identity of those who enforced it. Archive.today is widely recognized for its ability to store copies of web pages, particularly those that are gated behind paywalls or require subscriptions. Recently, Wikipedia editors removed numerous links to Archive.today, citing concerns that the website's code utilized visitors' browsers without consent to flood a critical blogger's site with unwanted traffic. The operators of Archive.today have yet to respond to requests for comments regarding these developments.