After obstructing access to porn websites, torrent sites, GitHub and WordPress.com, the Indian government that is no stranger in cutting off access to websites it sees didn't fit with its citizen, is also blocking the Internet Archive.
Known as the Wayback Machine, the Internet Archive is a place where valuable sources have been gathered for decades. The site hosts a searchable treasure of more than 300 billion web pages, archiving them and seeing them change.
The Indian government has not issued any public notification regarding the issue, nor stating the reason for the obstruction. The government has not also published any blocking order. In previous cases, these orders have only been circulated amongst ISPs.
Initially, the block appears to affect only certain ISPs, including Airtel in New Delhi and Bangalore, and some others across the country. The following message is displayed when trying to visit the site:
Speculations said that the Indian government blocks the Wayback Machine because the site is one of the only ways to access documents published and now have been taken down by the Unique Identification Authority of India. The agency is responsible for building and implementing the Aadhaar citizen ID program, which has been criticized for its poor security and data sharing protocols.
Blocking the Wayback Machine can prevent web users in India from viewing these documents, including one that lists a number of private companies tasked with seeding and verifying Aadhaar data.
The Wayback Machine is also useful in keeping a record of the promises made by politicians and organizations. With the Wayback Machine blocked, Indians will find it difficult to catch liars on the internet. It may even hit India's attempt to root out corruption, and is likely to make a number of government bodies less accountable to citizens.
A day after it was blocked, the Wayback Machine reportedly reached out to both the Department of Telecom (DoT) and MeITY, but has not received any response.
