Editing Internet Archive (section)

==Controversies, legal disputes, and activism==
{{see also|Wayback Machine#In legal evidence|l1=Wayback Machine §&nbsp;In legal evidence}}
[[File:The main hall at Internet Archive (2013).jpg|thumb|The main hall of the current headquarters]]

=== Opposition to National security letters, bills and settlements ===
{{Anchor|National security letter}}
{{multiple image
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| image1 = EFF-IA National security letter.pdf
| image2 = EFF-IA National security letter.pdf{{!}}page=2
| footer = A [[national security letter]] issued to the Internet Archive demanding information about a user
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On May 8, 2008, it was revealed that the Internet Archive had successfully challenged an [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] [[national security letter]] asking for logs on an undisclosed user.<ref>{{cite news|author=Broache, Anne |date=May 7, 2008 |url=http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9938603-7.html |title=FBI rescinds secret order for Internet Archive records |work=CNet |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515080212/http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9938603-7.html |archive-date=May 15, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Nakashima, Ellen |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/07/AR2008050703808.html |title=FBI Backs Off From Secret Order for Data After Lawsuit |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=May 8, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906223324/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/07/AR2008050703808.html |archive-date=September 6, 2008 }}</ref>

On November 28, 2016, it was revealed that a second FBI national security letter had been successfully challenged that had been asking for logs on another undisclosed user.<ref>{{cite news|author=Crocker, Andrew |date=December 1, 2016 |url=https://www.eff.org/press/releases/internet-archive-received-national-security-letter-fbi-misinformation-about |title=Internet Archive Received National Security Letter with FBI Misinformation about Challenging Gag Order |work=Electronic Frontier Foundation |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213125951/https://www.eff.org/press/releases/internet-archive-received-national-security-letter-fbi-misinformation-about |archive-date=December 13, 2016 }}</ref>

The Internet Archive blacked out its web site for 12 hours on January 18, 2012, in protest of the [[Stop Online Piracy Act]] and the [[PROTECT IP Act]] [[Bill (law)|bills]], two pieces of legislation in the [[United States Congress]] that they argued would "negatively affect the ecosystem of web publishing that led to the emergence of the Internet Archive". This occurred in conjunction with the [[Protests against SOPA and PIPA#Wikimedia community|English Wikipedia blackout]], as well as [[Protests against SOPA and PIPA|numerous other protests]] across the Internet.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blog.archive.org/2012/01/17/12-hours-dark-internet-archive-vs-censorship/ |title=12 Hours Dark: Internet Archive vs. Censorship |last=Kahle |first=Brewster |date=January 17, 2012 |work=Internet Archive Blogs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813030617/https://blog.archive.org/2012/01/17/12-hours-dark-internet-archive-vs-censorship/ |archive-date=August 13, 2014 }}</ref>

The Internet Archive is a member of the [[Open Book Alliance]], which has been among the most outspoken critics of the [[Google Book Search Settlement Agreement|Google Book Settlement]]. The Archive advocates an alternative digital library project.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opencontentalliance.org/ |title=Open Content Alliance |publisher=opencontentalliance.org |access-date=April 13, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130410032304/http://www.opencontentalliance.org/ |archive-date=April 10, 2013 }}</ref>

===Hosting of disputed media===
On October 9, 2016, the Internet Archive was temporarily blocked in [[Turkey]] after it was used (amongst other file hosting services) by hackers to host 17&nbsp;GB of leaked government emails.<ref>{{cite web|title=Turkey restores access to Google Drive after blocking cloud storage services|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-restores-access-to-google-drive-after-blocking-cloud-storage-services.aspx?pageID=238&nID=104784&NewsCatID=339|website=Turkey Blocks| date=October 10, 2016 |access-date=October 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924185119/http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-restores-access-to-google-drive-after-blocking-cloud-storage-services.aspx?pageID=238&nID=104784&NewsCatID=339|archive-date=September 24, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2017/turkey|title=Turkey Country Report &#124; Freedom on the Net 2017|date=November 14, 2017|website=freedomhouse.org|access-date=December 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181227084718/https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2017/turkey|archive-date=December 27, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

Because the Internet Archive only lightly moderates uploads, it includes resources that may be valued by extremists and the site may be used by them to evade [[Blacklist (computing)|block list]]ing. In February 2018, the Counter Extremism Project said that the Archive hosted terrorist videos, including the beheading of [[Alan Henning]], and had declined to respond to requests about the videos.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.counterextremism.com/blog/dark-side-internet-archive|title=The Dark Side of the Internet Archive|first=Joanna|last=Fisher-Birch|date=14 February 2018|access-date=25 February 2024|publisher=Counter Extremism Project}}</ref> In May 2018, a report published by the cyber-security firm Flashpoint stated that the [[Islamic State]] was using the Internet Archive to share its propaganda.<ref name=BBC2018>{{cite web|access-date=6 February 2022|title=IS propaganda 'hidden on Internet Archive'|date=15 May 2018|last=Kelion|first=Leo|publisher=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-44112431|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206225416/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-44112431|url-status=live}}</ref> Chris Butler, from the Internet Archive, responded that they regularly spoke to the US and EU governments about sharing information on terrorism.<ref name=BBC2018/> In April 2019, [[Europol]], acting on a referral from French police, asked the Internet Archive to remove 550 sites of "terrorist propaganda".<ref name=BBC2019>{{cite web|access-date=6 February 2022|title=Internet Archive denies hosting 'terrorist' content|date=12 April 2019|publisher=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47908220|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206225410/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47908220|url-status=live}}</ref> The Archive rejected the request, saying that the reports were wrong about the content they pointed to, or were too broad for the organization to comply with.<ref name=BBC2019/> On July 14, 2021, the Internet Archive held a joint "Referral Action Day" with Europol to target terrorist videos.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/jihadist-content-targeted-internet-archive-platform|title=Jihadist content targeted on Internet Archive platform|publisher=Europol|access-date=18 September 2023}}</ref>

A 2021 article said that [[jihadist]]s regularly used the Internet Archive for "[[dead drop]]s" of terrorist videos.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27044234|title=The Dead Drops of Online Terrorism: How Jihadists Use Anonymous Online Platforms|last1=Weimann|first1=Gabriel|last2=Vellante|first2=Asia|journal=Perspectives on Terrorism|volume=15|number=4|pages=39–53|date=August 2021|jstor=27044234 |access-date=18 September 2023}}</ref> In January 2022, a former [[UCLA]] lecturer's 800-page manifesto, containing racist ideas and threats against UCLA staff, was uploaded to the Internet Archive.<ref name=Vice>{{cite news|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/archivists-are-putting-terrorist-manifestos-online-should-they-stay-there/|title=Archivists Are Putting Terrorist Manifestos Online. Should They Stay There?|last=Woodcock|first=Claire|date=14 February 2022|access-date=2 March 2022|publisher=Vice|archive-date=March 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302220806/https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvn5g3/archivists-are-putting-terrorist-manifestos-online-should-they-stay-there|url-status=live}}</ref> The manifesto was removed by the Internet Archive after a week, amidst discussion about whether such documents should be preserved by archivists or not.<ref name=Vice/> Another 2022 paper found "an alarming volume of terrorist, extremist, and racist material on the Internet Archive".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/chapter-detail?id=1076559|chapter=Open Archive of Hate: Terrorism and Violent Extremism on Internet Archive|pages=10–24|title=Proceedings of the 28th International RAIS Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities|date=2022|publisher=Scientia Moralitas Research Institute }}</ref> A 2023 paper reported that Neo-Nazis collect links to online, publicly available resources to be shared with new recruits. As the Internet Archive hosts uploaded texts that are not allowed on other websites, Nazi and neo-Nazi books in the Archive (e.g., ''[[The Turner Diaries]]'') frequently appear on these lists. These lists also feature older, public domain material created when white supremacist views were more mainstream.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Boucher|first1=Geoff|last2=Young|first2=Helen|title=Digital books and the far right|journal=Continuum|volume=37|issue=1|date=2023|pages=140–152|doi=10.1080/10304312.2023.2191905|s2cid=257783779 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

===2020 National Emergency Library===
In the midst of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] which closed many schools, universities, and libraries, the Archive announced on March 24, 2020, that it was creating the National Emergency Library by removing the lending restrictions it had in place for 1.4&nbsp;million digitized books in its Open Library but otherwise limiting users to the number of books they could check out and enforcing their return; normally, the site would only allow one digital lending for each physical copy of the book they had, by use of an [[encryption|encrypted file]] that would become unusable after the lending period was completed.<ref name="NYT-20230813" /> This Library would remain as such until at least June 30, 2020, or until the US national emergency was over, whichever came later.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/03/internet-archive-offers-thousands-of-copyrighted-books-for-free-online/|title=Internet Archive offers 1.4 million copyrighted books for free online|last=Lee|first=Timothy B.|date=2020-03-28|website=Ars Technica|language=en-us|access-date=2020-04-10|archive-date=March 28, 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200328195723/https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/03/internet-archive-offers-thousands-of-copyrighted-books-for-free-online/ |url-status=live}}</ref> At launch, the Internet Archive allowed authors and rightholders to submit opt-out requests for their works to be omitted from the National Emergency Library.<ref name="ArchiveResponse">{{Cite web |title=Internet Archive responds: Why we released the National Emergency Library |url=https://blog.archive.org/2020/03/30/internet-archive-responds-why-we-released-the-national-emergency-library/ |last=Freeland |first=Chris |date=2020-03-30 |website=Internet Archive Blogs |language=en-US |access-date=2020-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | url = https://www.wired.com/story/the-national-emergency-library-and-its-discontents/ | title = The National Emergency Library and Its Discontents | first = Noam | last = Cohen | date = April 20, 2020 | access-date = April 20, 2020 | magazine = [[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] | archive-date = April 20, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200420142718/https://www.wired.com/story/the-national-emergency-library-and-its-discontents/ | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name = an>{{Cite web |title=Internet Archive accused of using Covid-19 as 'an excuse for piracy' |url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/mar/30/internet-archive-accused-of-using-covid-19-as-an-excuse-for-piracy |last=Flood |first=Alison |date=2020-03-30 |website=The Guardian |language= en-GB |access-date=2020-05-26 |archive-date=March 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200331001559/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/mar/30/internet-archive-accused-of-using-covid-19-as-an-excuse-for-piracy |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Internet Archive said the National Emergency Library addressed an "unprecedented global and immediate need for access to reading and research material" due to the closures of physical libraries worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Announcing a National Emergency Library to Provide Digitized Books to Students and the Public |url=http://blog.archive.org/2020/03/24/announcing-a-national-emergency-library-to-provide-digitized-books-to-students-and-the-public/ |last=Freeland |first=Chris |date=2020-03-24 |website=Internet Archive Blogs |language=en-US |access-date=2020-05-26}}</ref> They justified the move in a number of ways. Legally, they said they were promoting access to those inaccessible resources, which they claimed was an exercise in [[fair use]] principles. The Archive continued implementing their [[controlled digital lending]] policy that predated the National Emergency Library, meaning they still encrypted the lent copies and it was no easier for users to create new copies of the books than before. An ultimate determination of whether or not the National Emergency Library constituted fair use could only be made by a court. Morally, they also pointed out that the Internet Archive was a registered library like any other, that they either paid for the books themselves or received them as donations, and that lending through libraries predated copyright restrictions.<ref name="ArchiveResponse"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Digitization 101: The National Emergency Library |url=http://hurstassociates.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-national-emergency-library.html |last=Hurst-Wahl |first=Jill |date=2020-04-20 |website=Digitization 101 |access-date=2020-05-26 |archive-date=May 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531053252/http://hurstassociates.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-national-emergency-library.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Archive had already been criticized by authors and publishers for its prior lending approach, and upon announcement of the National Emergency Library, authors, publishers, and groups representing both took further issue with The Archive and its [[Open Library#Copyright violation accusations|Open Library]] project, equating the move to [[copyright infringement]] and digital piracy, and using the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason to push the boundaries of copyright.<ref name="an" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Hampton |first1=Rachelle |title=The Internet Archive Started an "Emergency" Online Library. Authors Are Furious. |url=https://slate.com/culture/2020/04/internet-archive-national-emergency-library-controversy.html |website=Slate |date=April 2020 |access-date=30 July 2021 |archive-date=April 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200403000508/https://slate.com/culture/2020/04/internet-archive-national-emergency-library-controversy.html |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.npr.org/2020/03/30/823797545/authors-publishers-condemn-the-national-emergency-library-as-piracy | title = Authors, Publishers Condemn The 'National Emergency Library' As 'Piracy' | first = Colin | last = Dwyer | date = March 30, 2020 | access-date = March 30, 2020 | work = [[NPR]] | archive-date = March 30, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200330193055/https://www.npr.org/2020/03/30/823797545/authors-publishers-condemn-the-national-emergency-library-as-piracy | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/4/2/21201193/emergency-library-internet-archive-controversy-coronavirus-pandemic | title = Why authors are so angry about the Internet Archive's Emergency Library | first = Constance | last = Grady | date = April 2, 2020 | access-date = April 2, 2020 | work = [[Vox (website)|Vox]] | archive-date = April 4, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200404010247/https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/4/2/21201193/emergency-library-internet-archive-controversy-coronavirus-pandemic | url-status = live }}</ref> After the works of some of these authors were ridiculed in responses, the Internet Archive's [[Jason Scott]] requested that supporters of the National Emergency Library not denigrate anyone's books: "I realize there's strong debate and disagreement here, but books are life-giving and life-changing and these writers made them."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://locusmag.com/2020/05/internet-archive-controversy/|title=Internet Archive Controversy|newspaper=Lotus|access-date=25 May 2020|date=2 May 2020|archive-date=May 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526205517/https://locusmag.com/2020/05/internet-archive-controversy/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Access blocking in Indonesia ===
On 27 May 2025, the [[Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs|Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs of Indonesia]] (Kominfo) blocked access to the Internet Archive in [[Indonesia]].<ref>{{Cite tweet|number=1927152357206372376|user=OpenObservatory|title=Today, on 26th May 2025, #Indonesia started blocking access to @internetarchive.|access-date=2025-05-26}}</ref> Alexander Sabar, the Director of the Supervision of Digital Space (Komdigi), stated that the reason was the presence of pornography and online gambling on the site. He denied a rumor that there was motive to rewrite or hide history. He also acknowledged the importance of the Internet Archive, and claimed that the blocking was temporary and would be rescinded if they removed the offending content, and they only blocked it after the Internet Archive didn't respond to requests.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shabrina |first=Dinda |date=2025-05-28 |title=Pemerintah Bilang Tak Ada Motif Sejarah di Balik Pemblokiran Situs Archive.org |trans-title=Government Says No History Motive Behind The Blocking of Archive.org Site |url=https://www.tempo.co/politik/pemerintah-bilang-tak-ada-motif-sejarah-di-balik-pemblokiran-situs-archive-org--1573556 |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=Tempo |language=id}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ramadan |first=Muhamad |title=Gudang Arsip Dunia Kena Blokir! Internet Archive Dibungkam Komdigi: Konten Judi Online & Porno Jadi Biang Keladi! |trans-title=The World's Archive Warehouse Has Been Blocked! Internet Archive Silenced By Komdigi: Online Gambling & Porno Content Becomes A Troublemaker! |url=https://tekno.sindonews.com/read/1573753/207/gudang-arsip-dunia-kena-blokir-internet-archive-dibungkam-komdigi-konten-judi-online-porno-jadi-biang-keladi-1748567159 |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=SINDOnews Tekno |language=id-ID}}</ref>