Since then, journalists, digital rights advocates, historians, librarians, and researchers have raised alarms about the long-term consequences of limiting web preservation.

What is the Wayback Machine?

The Internet Archive is a nonprofit research library with a mission of providing Universal Access to All Knowledge. The Wayback Machine is a service of the Internet Archive that allows people to visit archived versions of web pages. The Wayback Machine has been archiving the web since 1996, helping preserve the historical record of the internet. Learn more about the Wayback Machine.

Why are publishers blocking the Wayback Machine?

As reported by journalists Andrew Deck and Hanaa’ Tameez in Nieman Lab, publishers say they are concerned about AI scraping and unauthorized reuse of their content by generative AI companies.

Some organizations have responded by broadly blocking web archiving systems like the Wayback Machine out of concern that archived material could be accessed or reused by AI systems.

Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, published a video explaining why The Atlantic has blocked the Wayback Machine from preserving its web content, saying:

“[The Wayback Machine] is an amazing resource…But, on the other hand, if you put everything up there, it will all not only go into the big AI companies, but to everybody who’s building some kind of subsidiary AI.”

But those concerns are unfounded, explains journalist Andrew Deck in an interview with Marketplace Tech:

“I think it’s important to say that in our conversations with news publishers, a lot of them were taking this action preemptively out of a fear of proxy scraping rather than direct evidence that it has happened to them already. None of the publishers were able to point to a particular AI company or other kinds of direct evidence that their content had already been scraped by the Wayback Machine.”

Michael Nelson, a computer scientist at Old Dominion University, has described the Wayback Machine and web archiving as “collateral damage” as content owners restrict access over AI scraping concerns. 

That sentiment was echoed by Mark Graham, director of the Wayback Machine, on the Future Knowledge podcast episode, “Preserving the Web in the Age of AI”:

“The Wayback Machine is collateral damage caught up in the conflict between AI companies and publishers.”

Who uses the Wayback Machine?

The Wayback Machine is widely used by journalists, fact-checkers, researchers, lawyers, courts, librarians, academics, and even publishers themselves.

More than 100 news articles every month reference, cite, or rely on material preserved by the Wayback Machine to verify claims, recover deleted information, or provide historical context.

In a Future Knowledge podcast interview, Mark Graham recalled a conversation at The New York Times:

“A senior researcher came up to me and said, ‘Oh my God, Mark, thank you so much for the Wayback Machine. We use you all the time. There is material available that we’ve used from the Wayback Machine that we can’t even find in our own archives.’”

Journalist Rachel Maddow also publicly defended the archive:

“The Internet Archive is a national treasure. I use it daily, and have for many, many years. I cannot imagine doing the work I do without it.”

What are critics saying about the blocking?

A broad coalition of journalists, digital rights advocates, and internet historians has warned that blocking the Wayback Machine—and web archiving tools like it—could have serious long-term consequences.

In Techdirt, Mike Masnick argued that publishers may regret these blocking decisions because they undermine preservation of the public record.

Joe Mullin, senior policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, similarly warned that blocking the Internet Archive “won’t stop AI” but could erase important historical records from the web.

Meanwhile, coverage by journalist Kate Knibbs in Wired brought broader public attention to the issue and the risks facing digital preservation infrastructure.

Have journalists spoken out in support of the Wayback Machine?

Yes.

More than 200 journalists signed a public statement applauding the Internet Archive’s role in preserving the public record.

In response, Mark Graham published a public thank-you letter:

“Your support for the Wayback Machine sends a clear message: preserving the record matters.”

Does the Internet Archive respect publisher concerns?

Yes.

The Internet Archive works with publishers and rights holders to balance preservation, access, and responsible stewardship of digital materials.

What about AI scraping?

As Mark Graham explained in Techdirt:

“The Wayback Machine is built for human readers. We use rate limiting, filtering, and monitoring to prevent abusive access, and we watch for and actively respond to new scraping patterns as they emerge.”

What’s at stake when publishers block the Wayback Machine?

Every day that preservation systems are blocked leaves holes in the public record of the web. If preservation systems are weakened or blocked at scale, future generations will lose access to major parts of our digital history.

The size of the problem is significant. A 2024 study by Pew Research Center found that 38% of webpages from 2013 were no longer accessible a decade later, with roughly a quarter of pages sampled across the decade disappearing entirely. But loss on the web is not inevitable. New analysis by Internet Archive data scientist Sawood Alam found that the Wayback Machine has preserved roughly 15% of those otherwise vanished pages, saving reporting, citations, and pieces of the historical record that would no longer exist online.

As Mike Masnick wrote in Techdirt: “Blocking the Internet Archive isn’t going to stop AI training. What it will do is ensure that significant chunks of our journalistic record and historical cultural context simply… disappear.”

And as Mark Graham wrote:

“Preserving the public record is not optional. It is essential infrastructure for a functioning democracy.”

Chronological Reading List of Key Articles

• Deck, Andrew, and Hanaa’ Tameez. “News Publishers Limit Internet Archive Access Due to AI Scraping Concerns.” Nieman Journalism Lab, January 28, 2026. https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/01/news-publishers-limit-internet-archive-access-due-to-ai-scraping-concerns/
• Masnick, Mike. “News Publishers Are Now Blocking the Internet Archive and We May All Regret It.” Techdirt, February 13, 2026. https://www.techdirt.com/2026/02/13/news-publishers-are-now-blocking-the-internet-archive-and-we-may-all-regret-it/
• Graham, Mark. “Preserving The Web Is Not The Problem. Losing It Is.” Techdirt, February 17, 2026. https://www.techdirt.com/2026/02/17/preserving-the-web-is-not-the-problem-losing-it-is/
• Greene, Denny. “Blocking the Internet Archive Won’t Stop AI, but It Will Erase the Web’s Historical Record.” Electronic Frontier Foundation, March 4, 2026. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/03/blocking-internet-archive-wont-stop-ai-it-will-erase-webs-historical-record
• Knibbs, Kate. “The Internet’s Most Powerful Archiving Tool Is in Peril.” WIRED, April 13, 2026. https://www.wired.com/story/the-internets-most-powerful-archiving-tool-is-in-mortal-peril/
• Thompson, Nicholas. “How the Bot Battle Could Imperil the Wayback Machine.” The Most Interesting Thing in Tech, April 20, 2026. Via YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUiFfxPgFeM 
• Internet Archive. “FAQ: Publishers Blocking the Wayback Machine.” Internet Archive Help Center. Last updated May 19, 2026. https://help.archive.org/help/faq-publishers-blocking-the-wayback-machine/
• Deck, Andrew, and Hanaa’ Tameez. “More than 340 Local News Outlets Are Limiting the Internet Archive’s Access to Their Journalism.” Nieman Journalism Lab, May 20, 2026. https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/05/more-than-340-local-news-outlets-are-limiting-the-internet-archives-access-to-their-journalism/.

FIRST PUBLISHED: May 15, 2026 CDF
LAST UPDATED: June 26, 2026 CDF

The Internet Archive is a nonprofit digital library. Everything here is free. There are many exciting and powerful ways to explore at archive.org.

The Wayback Machine shows you what websites looked like in the past.

If you want to see what a webpage looked like last year, ten years ago, or in 1999, use the Wayback Machine. You give it a web address (a URL), it shows you a calendar of snapshots. Pick a date and you’re looking at the past. Use Changes view to compare two archived versions of the same site side-by-side. Use the Wayback Machine search bar at archive.org or go directly to web.archive.org. 

Learn more: Using the Wayback Machine

Media Collections – Find Books, Music, Video, and More

This is a vast library of digital content at the Internet Archive: books you can borrow or download, films, music, old radio programs, video games that run in your browser, research papers, and much more. Most of it is accessible immediately. Use the main search bar at archive.org. 

• Live Music Archive — 200,000+ concerts from bands. Any deadhead fans out there?
• TV News Archive — US & International television channels searchable in English. Been around since 2009. 
• Old Time Radio — Thousands of programs from the 1930s–1960s.
• Software Library — Vintage games and software running in your browser. No download required.
• Internet Archive Scholar — 35M+ research papers. Direct URL: scholar.archive.org.

Learn more: Search – Building powerful, complex queries

Upload — Preserve Your Own Materials

Anyone with an account can upload documents, audio, video, photos, or almost any digital file. Your upload gets a web address. No storage fees. No expiration. Go here: archive.org/upload

Learn more: Uploading — A Basic Guide

What Would You Like to Do?

“I want to borrow or read a free book”

→ Go to archive.org and search by title or author → On the results page, look at the left sidebar and select Texts to filter → Click a book — the button will tell you what’s available:

• “Read” — free to read or download immediately, no account needed
• “Borrow for 14 days” or “Borrow for 1 hour” — requires a free account; works like a library loan
• “Join Waitlist” — all copies checked out; add yourself to the list
• “Borrow Unavailable” — this title is not currently available for borrowing unless you have print disability access

You can borrow up to 10 books at a time. Loans return automatically — no late fees.

Learn more: Borrowing from the Lending Library

“I want to save a webpage before it changes or disappears”

• The Save Page Now feature lets you create an instant, permanent archived snapshot of any live webpage.

→ Go to web.archive.org → Find the Save Page Now box on the right side of the page → Paste the URL you want to save → Click Save

You’ll receive a permanent link to the archived version. 

Learn more: The Wayback Machine

“I want to upload and preserve my own files”

You can upload to the Internet Archive for free. Your files receive a web address, are stored indefinitely, and are automatically converted into multiple formats.

→ Create a free account at archive.org → Click the Upload button in the top right corner → Add your files and fill in the title and description → Choose a media type and a license → Click Upload

“I want to find academic or research papers”

→ Go to scholar.archive.org

This is the Archive’s dedicated search tool for over 35 million academic papers and research articles. It works independently from the main archive.org search bar.

“My question isn’t answered here. Where do I get help?”

Browse the full help center at help.archive.org, watch how-to videos, or contact support at info@archive.org.

At present, we do not maintain a bug bounty or paid vulnerability disclosure program. We do accept reports of potential security vulnerabilities submitted responsibly and in good faith. If you wish to report a concern, please contact us at info@archive.org. Submission of a report does not imply eligibility for compensation. We appreciate your help to keep our services secure in support of our public mission.

Yes, the Internet Archive has an onion address. The Internet Archive can be accessed via the Tor network at its onion address: archivep75mbjunhxc6x4j5mwjmomyxb573v42baldlqu56ruil2oiad.onion

What is an onion address?

Tor (The Onion Router) is a privacy-focused network that helps protect users’ identities and browsing activity by routing traffic through encrypted layers. Visiting the Internet Archive through Tor allows users to explore the Wayback Machine, books, audio, video, and other collections with an added layer of anonymity, which is an important option for researchers, journalists, and anyone seeking greater privacy or access in regions where the open web may be restricted.

How do I know what kind of access I have?

Currently, Tapestries is only available as a viewable set of pages. In the future, when the creator of a Tapestry shares a link with a user, it will be either as a ‘Collaborator’ or a ‘Viewer’. Collaborators will be able to toggle ‘Author mode’ by pressing the 🄴 key.

How do I zoom in on one Tapestry item?

When looking at a larger Tapestry, you can view one item at a time by clicking on the item and pressing 🄵 on your keyboard. This will ‘focus’ your screen on what you’re looking at — similar to walking up to a specific painting in an art gallery. 
When you want to zoom back out, you can either press 🄵 again, or use the ‘Zoom in/out’ keys in the bottom right hand corner.

Using ‘pinching’ and ‘pulling’ motions on your screen will also allow you to zoom in and out.    

I clicked on a video or livestream in Tapestries and it isn’t playing, what should I do?

If you click on a video file that has been uploaded directly to Tapestries, it should begin playing as soon as you click on the thumbnail. Some embedded links have to be ‘activated’ before you can interact with them so you may need to click on certain videos more than one time. Once a video is playing, use the ‘Focus’ tool—🄵 on your keyboard—to enter and exit fullscreen mode.

I see the outline of a file or link but it’s blank, how do I fix it?

Sometimes files and images, like the ones above, have trouble displaying a thumbnail for viewing. These files are still usable and can be re-set to display their contents by clicking on them.

How do I download content off of a Tapestry?

You can download content from Tapestries to your own computer by clicking on the item and either pressing ‘command-I’ on your keyboard or clicking the ⓘ symbol to ‘Show info’.

This will display a source link which will appear as a webpage when you click on it. Once you see it load in a new tab, left-click (or two-finger-click if you’re using a keypad) on the image and select ‘Save image As…’.

If you’re downloading video or audio content, follow the same steps. The file should appear in a new tab on your browser with three dots on the right hand side like in the image shown below.

How do I find the link for a webpage embedded in a Tapestry?

Click on the page and press ⓘ to see a popup with the link included.

Tapestries: Common error messages and how to fix them

Why am I seeing a message saying ‘Cannot frame’ where a website should be?

Many popular websites—especially news sites—limit how their content can be used. When this happens, Tapestries has a feature whereby a user can view a version of the site that has been previously captured by the Wayback Machine, showing you a version of the page as it was at the time of capture (for more info see this article on Wayback captures).

When Tapestries is unable to display a site’s content, the Tapestry’s creator may be able to use “Wayback mode.”

What does it mean if a page is “Awaiting archive availability…”?

“Wayback mode” accesses URLs on the archive. There may be webpages that have not been captured by the Wayback Machine. If you have a URL you would like to add to the Wayback Machine, use Save Page Now (see this page for instructions).

Why is Tapestries giving me an “Internet Archive account not accessible” message?

If you’re getting this message from Tapestries it might be because your account is not verified. Verifying your account means that you have clicked the ‘Verify my account’ link the first time you logged into Archive.org. Make sure you have gone through the full signup process through the Internet Archive before trying to access Tapestries. If you are having ongoing issues, visit the Accounts – Tips & Troubleshooting page in our help center. 

One of the links on Tapestries is saying it “Couldn’t access the Internet Archive”, why is this? 

This may also appear as “Error while communicating with the Internet Archive”

It’s likely that this is an issue with a specific part of Archive.org and should resolve with time. Try reloading the Tapestry or checking the website in a separate webpage to see if it’s a connection issue or a site-specific issue.

1. Why did Internet Archive pursue becoming a federal depository library?
   • This is the culmination of years of work building Democracy’s Library, a free, open, online collection of government research and publications from around the world. As Brewster Kahle, digital librarian of the Internet Archive, explained to KQED:
     
     “By being part of the program itself, it just gets us closer to the source of where the materials are coming from, so that it’s more reliably delivered to the Internet Archive, to then be made available to the patrons of the Internet Archive or partner libraries.”
     
2. What does the FDLP designation mean for Internet Archive in practical terms?
   • It means that Internet Archive will get more documents from the Government Publishing Office and from other FDLP partner libraries that we will preserve, digitize (if in physical form), and make available through archive.org. Internet Archive currently receives donations of government documents from libraries, but there are some materials that can only be donated to other FDLP libraries. By being part of the program, Internet Archive can now work with those libraries, and GPO directly, to preserve, digitize, and provide access to even more public information.
     
3. How are FDLP designations made?
   • Libraries can become part of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) in two main ways. First, some libraries are designated by law—for example, land grant universities automatically qualify. Second, members of Congress can designate libraries in their district or state to join the FDLP, as long as there’s a vacancy and the library can show it’s capable of serving the public’s need for access to government information. The Internet Archive was designated as a federal depository library on July 24, 2025, by Senator Alex Padilla of California.
     
4. Does this mean the government owns the Wayback Machine?
   • No. Becoming a Federal Depository Library does not give the government any ownership of or control over the Wayback Machine or the Internet Archive’s collections. The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) is a voluntary partnership that helps libraries provide free public access to government publications. The Internet Archive remains an independent, nonprofit research library, and continues to curate and operate its collections—including the Wayback Machine—on its own terms.
     
5. What does this designation mean for Internet Archive?
   • Becoming a member of the Federal Depository Library Program furthers Internet Archive’s mission to provide “Universal access to all knowledge.” It is the culmination of years of existing collaborations and partnerships with FDLP libraries. With our new designation as a federal depository library, we’re officially part of the national network that provides the public with free access to government publications. That means we can now acquire, preserve, and share even more official government documents—further expanding our collections and strengthening public access to government information.

• Try going to archive.org/donate on another device or a different browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc). You can also try using your current browser in a private/incognito window.
• If you’re using a VPN, try disabling it before you make a donation.
• Try disabling any ad blockers that may be active in your browser window.
• If you attempted to make a donation using the credit card button, please try using PayPal, Venmo, Google Pay, or Apple Pay (and vice versa).

If none of the above steps have helped you resolve the issue, or if you have any further questions, you can reach out to us at donations@archive.org and we’ll be happy to provide assistance.

There are also alternatives to using our online donation form, including donations via:

• Wire transfer
• Cash or Check
• Cryptocurrency
• Stock

Thank you so much for your interest in supporting the Internet Archive and our goal to provide free Universal Access to All Knowledge.

In general, using Boolean Operators and doing fielded searches are your best bets.

Boolean Operators

The video above contains a quick explanation, but you can also read more about Boolean Operators elsewhere on the Internet. They are useful on archive.org, but you can use them in other search engines too. As a quick recap, the most common are:

• AND – narrows your search
• OR – widens your search
• AND NOT – excludes things from your search
• (  ) – parentheses can be used to group search terms
• ”  “ – double quotes will only return searches with an exact match for that phrase within
• [ ]  – square brackets can be used for ranges when ranges are allowed

Fielded Searches

If you would like to explore doing more fielded searches, use the Internet Archive metadata schema to figure out what fields you can search and what their values tend to look like. Here are some common fields you might want to search:

• title – the title of the work
  • e.g. title:”war and peace” will find items with the exact phrase “war and peace” in the title field
• subject – terms that describe the content of the work (also referred to as topics or keywords)
  • e.g. subject:mythology will find items with the word mythology in their subject fields
• creator – the person (or entity) that created the work, e.g. the author, director, conductor, etc.
  • e.g. creator:(Dickens AND Charles) will find all items with both Dickens and Charles in the creator field
• date – the date the work was published, often in YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD format
  • e.g. date:1922 will find all items with a publish date within the year 1922

The app can be downloaded from the App Store here, or from the Play Store here.

Installing the App

iOS

1. Open the App Store on the device you would like to install the app on
2. Search for “Donate Books”
3. Select the Internet Archive “Donate Books” app
4. Click install
5. Open the app
6. Grant camera permissions

Android

1. Open the Play Store on the device you would like to install the app on
2. Search for “Donate Books”
3. Select the Internet Archive “Donate Books” app
4. Click install
5. Open the app
6. Grant camera permissions

Using the App

Barcode scanning

1. Select the barcode scanning mode from the bottom of the screen
2. Aim your phone’s front camera at a book barcode
3. Wait for a response to appear on the screen

If your barcode is not scanning properly, tap your phone screen to refocus your camera. Keep the book on a flat surface while scanning to reduce the need for refocus.

OCR-ing ISBNs

1. Select the OCR mode from the bottom of the screen
2. Aim your phone’s front camera at a printed ISBN
3. Wait for a response to appear on the screen

If your ISBN is not scanning properly, tap your phone screen to refocus your camera. Keep the book on a flat surface while scanning to reduce the need for refocus.

Found a bug? Need help?

E-mail us at info@archive.org with the subject “Donate Books App”!

Reporting a bug? Please include what device you are using to access the app and operating system version in your message.

Ready to donate books?

If you will donate books we need for our library, then the Internet Archive might pay for shipping– please contact us.

Start here! https://help.archive.org/help/how-do-i-make-a-physical-donation-to-the-internet-archive/