EFF Warns Blocking Internet Archive Won't Stop AI, But Will Erase History

The digital library has preserved news content for decades, but publishers are now blocking it over AI concerns.

Mar. 21, 2026 at 10:38pm

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is criticizing newspaper publishers, including The New York Times, for blocking the Internet Archive from crawling and preserving their websites. The EFF argues this move is misguided, as the Internet Archive is not an AI company but rather a nonprofit digital library preserving historical records, and that blocking it will erase decades of important documentation.

Why it matters

The Internet Archive has been a crucial resource for historians, journalists, and the public, providing a comprehensive digital record of news content dating back to the mid-1990s. Blocking the Archive risks cutting off access to this invaluable historical record, all in an effort to control how AI companies may use copyrighted material - a fight the Archive is not even involved in.

The details

In recent months, The New York Times and other major newspapers have started using technical measures to block the Internet Archive from crawling and preserving their websites. This goes beyond the traditional robots.txt rules that have long governed web archiving. The publishers claim this is driven by concerns about AI companies scraping news content, as several are now suing AI firms over whether training models on copyrighted material violates copyright law. However, the EFF argues that even if courts limit AI training, the law already protects the type of search and web archiving done by the nonprofit Internet Archive.

  • The Internet Archive has preserved news content online since the mid-1990s.
  • In recent months, The New York Times and other newspapers have started blocking the Internet Archive from crawling their websites.

The players

Internet Archive

The world's largest digital library, which has preserved news content and other online information since the mid-1990s.

The New York Times

A major U.S. newspaper that has recently started blocking the Internet Archive from crawling its website.

The Guardian

A major U.S. newspaper that seems to be following The New York Times in blocking the Internet Archive.

Joe Mullin

A senior policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

A nonprofit digital rights group that is criticizing newspaper publishers for blocking the Internet Archive.

Got photos? Submit your photos here. ›

What they’re saying

“Imagine a newspaper publisher announcing it will no longer allow libraries to keep copies of its paper. That's effectively what's begun happening online in the last few months.”

— Joe Mullin, Senior Policy Analyst, Electronic Frontier Foundation

What’s next

The legal disputes over AI training on copyrighted material will continue to play out in the courts, but the EFF warns that sacrificing public access to the historical record is the wrong approach, even if publishers ultimately prevail in limiting AI use of their content.

The takeaway

Blocking the nonprofit Internet Archive from preserving news content online may help publishers control how AI companies use their copyrighted material, but it comes at the cost of erasing decades of important historical documentation that journalists, historians, and the public have relied on for years.