Wikipedia deprecates Archive.today, starts removing archive links (arstechnica.com)

Article summary

Wikipedia has blacklisted Archive.today and is removing over 695,000 links to the site due to its involvement in a DDoS attack and evidence of tampering with archived content. Archive.today was used to direct a DDoS attack against a blog and was found to have altered snapshots of webpages to insert the name of the blogger who was targeted. The decision to deprecate Archive.today was made after a discussion among Wikipedia editors, who found that most of the site's uses can be replaced with alternative archive sites. The removal of links is expected to be a significant undertaking, with editors working to replace or remove links to Archive.today across over 400,000 Wikipedia pages.

Main themes

• Wikipedia policy
• Archive sites
• DDoS attacks
• Content tampering
• Internet governance
• Web archiving

What commenters say

• The decision to deprecate Archive.today is reasonable due to its involvement in a DDoS attack and evidence of content tampering, which undermines its credibility as an archival site.
• Alternative archive sites, such as the Internet Archive, can replace most of the uses of Archive.today, making its removal from Wikipedia feasible.
• The removal of Archive.today links may not be a significant loss, as the site's archives can be altered or deleted by the page domain owner, making them unreliable for preservation purposes.
• Wikipedia's decision to remove Archive.today links sets a bad precedent, as it may lead to the removal of other useful resources, and the site's flaws do not necessarily justify its complete removal.
• The fact that Archive.today's operators have been involved in shady activities, such as DDoS attacks and content tampering, justifies Wikipedia's decision to blacklist the site and remove its links.
• The Internet Archive's ability to remove archives upon request and its insecure nature make it a less reliable alternative to Archive.today for preserving controversial or sensitive content.
• The lack of a credible alternative to Archive.today makes its removal from Wikipedia a significant loss, and the site's flaws should be addressed through other means, such as reform or replacement, rather than complete removal.
• The decision to remove Archive.today links is an overreaction, as the site's usefulness and importance to Wikipedia's integrity outweigh its flaws, and alternative solutions, such as reform or replacement, should be explored before removal.