Unblock search & reference
Access the Internet Archive from anywhere
The world's largest digital library is blocked in several countries. Lantern gets you connected to archive.org and the Wayback Machine, even where access is restricted.
How to unblock the Internet Archive with a VPN
Step 1: Get Lantern
Download Lantern, on your phone or computer. It's free.
Step 2: Open and connect
Open Lantern and tap to connect. Lantern automatically picks the best protocol for your network, so there's nothing to configure.
Step 3: Enjoy the Internet Archive
Go to archive.org or use the Wayback Machine. You're in.
Where is the Internet Archive blocked?
The Internet Archive is a nonprofit digital library with free access to millions of books, videos, audio recordings, software, and over a trillion archived web pages. Despite its mission of universal access to knowledge, archive.org is blocked or restricted in several countries.
Countries where the Internet Archive has been blocked or restricted:
- China (blocked since 2012)
- India (blocked by court order; part of broad anti-piracy takedowns that swept up archive.org alongside thousands of other sites)
- Iraq (blocked since November 2024, with no public explanation from the Ministry of Communications)
- Indonesia (temporarily blocked in May 2025 over content concerns; restored after the Internet Archive removed flagged material)
- Russia (temporarily blocked in 2015-2016)
- Turkey (access restrictions reported)
The Internet Archive's Open Library project has also faced legal challenges in Belgium, where a 2025 court order initially listed it alongside pirate sites for ISP blocking, though the blocking was paused after authorities recognized the Internet Archive is a registered nonprofit. Beyond government blocks, schools, workplaces, and public networks sometimes restrict archive.org. Lantern works in these situations too.
Why the Internet Archive matters
The Internet Archive isn't just a website. It's a library. It holds over 47 million texts, 13 million videos, 14 million audio files, and the Wayback Machine's archive of over a trillion web pages. It's where researchers verify sources, journalists trace deleted content, and millions of people access books and media that aren't available anywhere else.
When a government blocks archive.org, it's blocking access to one of the largest freely available knowledge collections ever built. And because the Internet Archive itself is a nonprofit, it doesn't have the resources or leverage of a major tech company to negotiate its way back online.
Why other VPNs struggle with this
Most VPNs rely on a single protocol, usually WireGuard or OpenVPN. These are well-known and easy for network filters to detect and block.
Lantern takes a different approach. It supports more censorship-resistant protocols than any other VPN, including Shadowsocks, VLESS, Hysteria 2, and Tor pluggable transports, among others. Lantern automatically tests and switches between them based on your region and network conditions.
This matters because countries that block the Internet Archive, like China and India, also tend to have some of the most advanced filtering systems. A standard VPN connection often gets detected and dropped within minutes. Lantern is built to stay connected in exactly these environments.
During the 2022 protests in Iran, an estimated 13% of all internet traffic in the country was flowing through Lantern. That kind of reliability doesn't come from a single protocol.
Two nonprofits, one mission
There's something fitting about using Lantern to access the Internet Archive. Both are nonprofits. Both believe access to information should be open and free. The Internet Archive preserves the world's knowledge. Lantern helps people reach it.
Every Lantern Pro subscription helps fund free access for users in censored regions. When you use Lantern, you're part of that effort.