Wikipedia editors have recently made the decision to remove all links to Archive.today, a popular web archiving service that has been referenced over 695,000 times on the online encyclopedia. This move comes after concerns were raised about the reliability and integrity of the service.
Archive.today, also known as archive.is and archive.ph, is frequently used to access content that is behind paywalls, making it a valuable resource for citations on Wikipedia. However, a discussion on Wikipedia’s platform highlighted issues with Archive.today that led to the decision to deprecate the service and blacklist it.
The discussion pointed out that Archive.today had previously been blacklisted in 2013 but was later removed from the blacklist in 2016. The recent reversal of this decision was influenced by concerns that the website was engaging in malicious activities, such as executing DDoS attacks and altering archived content.
One specific incident involved a blogger named Jani Patokallio, who reported that Archive.today was directing a DDoS attack towards his blog by using JavaScript embedded in the archive’s CAPTCHA page. This action was seen as an attempt to increase Patokallio’s hosting bill and manipulate archived content.
Patokallio had previously investigated Archive.today and described its ownership as mysterious, suggesting it was operated by a single individual with Russian ties. The webmaster of Archive.today even requested Patokallio to remove a blog post discussing the service, citing concerns about how mainstream media outlets were interpreting and citing the post.
Further evidence of Archive.today’s unreliability was found in altered webpage snapshots that inserted Patokallio’s name, raising doubts about the accuracy of the archived content. As a result, Wikipedia editors now recommend replacing links to Archive.today with links to original sources or reputable archives like the Wayback Machine.
In response to these developments, the owner of Archive.today acknowledged the issues but defended the service’s value in offloading copyright concerns. They also mentioned scaling down the DDoS activities and criticized mainstream media for not covering the controversies surrounding Archive.today earlier.
Overall, the decision to remove links to Archive.today from Wikipedia reflects a commitment to maintaining the integrity and reliability of information on the platform. By prioritizing accurate and trustworthy sources, Wikipedia aims to provide users with a credible and informative resource.
