Trump inspires Internet Archive to build replica in Canada
The venerable chronicler of the internet worries the Trump administration might put restrictions on the web.
Brewster Kahle, founder of Internet Archive, is looking north of the border.
The Internet Archive wants to take off to the Great White North.
The online repository of the internet's evolution said Tuesday it wants to build a replica of its database in Canada, a move it said was a response to the results of the US presidential election.
"On November 9th in America, we woke up to a new administration promising radical change," Brewster Kahle, founder of the organization, wrote in a blog post. "It was a firm reminder that institutions like ours, built for the long-term, need to design for change."
The Internet Archive is a vast collection preserving the internet's history. Its popular Wayback Machine crawls the web making digital records of websites so that their histories aren't lost. Its Open Library provides downloads of classic books. It even has a searchable collection of GIFs.
Kahle said the Internet Archive wants to keep "our cultural materials safe, private and perpetually accessible." He added the organization was preparing for a web that may face "greater restrictions."
Donald Trump, who won the election, has on several occasions lashed out at the technology industry. Some privacy programs have seen significant increases in downloads since the vote.
The Trump organization didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.