The whole Internet is presently agog since, after announcing the recent blocking of Internet Archive access, a very hot discussion on Reddit was set among technicians, researchers, and other interested parties involved in digital preservation.
What Is the Internet Archive?
Working through its Wayback Machine, the Internet Archive is a not-for-profit organization preserving past content of websites. A unique opportunity is thus enforced for the preservation of digital history. Users are allowed to see the old versions of different websites, many times called for by researchers or others for validation of information.
Why Was It Blocked by Reddit?
Up until now, there has been no elaborate explanation given. This decision, however, was speculated to have come from alleged data scraping and the violation of the API usage policy. In the rare unfolding of events, tech companies have begun taking aggressive stances against content and the protection of data. Its grievance with the Internet Archive is that it scrapes data off their site without permission, thus running afoul of their operational protocols.
What Are The Potential Consequences?
This decision, if carried out, stands to have several devastating consequences:
A Stifling of Scientific and Journalistic Research: It stands to preserve none of the old posts of social discussion or trending topics discussed.
A Stifling of Historical Preservation: Future generations will never know a significant bit about what went down in Reddit.
A Stifling of Digital Transparency: Numerous times do old items of posts or comments get deleted or edited. With no record, transparency is accordingly struck a heavy blow.
What Are The Alternatives?
Unless Internet Archive blocks Reddit, there arise other avenues will arise to consider:
Take a personal screen capture
Other archiving platforms
Data export through Reddit API (if possible)
Given the premises, this decision is a setback in the bright horizon of digital freedom and data preservation. While companies must have their right to protect their data, a balance also has to come with this protection, history, and flow of information.
You Can Also Read: Garmin or Apple Watch-Who Is for You Now? Read to Discover
Follow our WhatsApp channel for the latest news and updates
