You were blocked today: are you one of the 7 in 100 real readers flagged as bots by mistake?

Your screen stalls and a warning flashes. In the split second before the headline loads, the door to the site snaps shut.

That jolt is now familiar to millions of readers. Publishers have ramped up defences against automated scraping, and sometimes real people get swept up in the dragnet. Here is why you saw the message, what it means, and what to do next if you want to keep reading without friction.

What triggered the wall

Anti-bot systems watch for patterns that look machine-like. They read signals from your browser, your network, and the speed of your clicks. When enough risk flags stack up, the site locks you out or asks you to prove you are human.

Automated access and text or data mining are barred without permission, including for AI, machine learning and large language models. Commercial users are told to request approval first.

On News Group Newspapers titles, including The Sun, the policy is plain. No automated access, no scraping, no text or data mining from the service, whether direct or via an intermediary. For paid use, they direct companies to seek consent at [email protected]. Legitimate readers who get blocked by mistake are steered to customer support at [email protected].

Signals that can look like a bot

• Very fast page requests or many tabs firing at once.
• VPN, corporate proxy or cloud-hosted IP ranges known for automation.
• Disabled JavaScript, blocked cookies or strict tracking protection.
• Browser fingerprints that match headless or automation tools.
• Extensions that rewrite pages, strip scripts or bulk-save content.

Why publishers are drawing a hard line

Bot traffic has surged. Industry studies put overall bot activity close to half of all web requests in 2023, with so-called bad bots responsible for around a third. That load distorts audience metrics, inflates infrastructure bills, and siphons content into training sets without a licence. Editors argue that unauthorised mining undermines paid journalism and privacy promises to readers.

The balance has shifted: protection now starts at the door, not only after the click. If a request looks risky, it gets challenged.

That shift affects you because safety systems prioritise speed over dialogue. They run in milliseconds. A false challenge is cheaper than a breach or a mass scrape. During heavy mitigation, some publishers report that between 2% and 7% of genuine sessions face an extra check. Most pass within seconds, but the interruption still stings.

What you can do right now

If you faced a block while browsing, you can fix many triggers yourself. Small changes often clear the path in one refresh.

If none of that works, contact support at [email protected]. Include the date and time, your IP address, and a screenshot of the message. Do not send passwords or sensitive data. If you are a company seeking to use content for commercial text or data mining, address your request to [email protected] and set out scope, volumes, frequency, and retention plans.

The rules on text and data mining

People often ask whether mining openly accessible news pages is fair game. Law and contracts interact here. In the UK, researchers can carry out text and data mining for non‑commercial research when they have lawful access. Commercial mining is different. Rights holders can restrict it through terms and technical measures. In the EU, a similar split exists, with an opt‑out for commercial mining. Courts treat robots.txt, site terms, and login gates as signals of conditions and consent.

That is why the message you saw leans on terms and conditions. The site sets boundaries. Automated tools that hop those fences risk civil claims, technical blocks, and public naming by threat intelligence firms. Many model builders now seek licences, and some publishers have launched paid APIs to serve speed‑limited, lawful feeds.

What this means for readers and for AI teams

For readers, nothing changes once verification passes. Pages load, ads render, and analytics count a real visit. You keep control by using familiar devices, avoiding rapid‑fire refreshes, and allowing the scripts the site needs to run.

For AI and data teams, the pathway runs through permission. Vendors who collect at scale face questions on provenance, copyright, personal data, and deletion rights. A clean chain of custody saves time later. It also avoids the reputational hit that comes with scraping from outlets that explicitly forbid it.

Inside the checkpoint: how systems decide in milliseconds

Defence tools assign a risk score to each request. They weigh your IP reputation, TLS fingerprint, cookie jar, and timing. They also watch for mismatches, like a mobile browser claiming desktop features, or a human mouse curve that looks too perfect.

Low score, you pass. Medium score, you get a challenge. High score, you hit a hard block until the risk signal fades.

Challenges vary. Some are invisible, like a one‑time token test. Others ask you to tick a box or recognise an image. The best systems try to test the browser, not your patience. They expire quickly, usually within minutes.

Five quick tips to avoid future blocks

• Use one or two tabs per site rather than dozens at once.
• Keep your browser updated; old versions raise suspicion.
• Allow first‑party cookies for news sites you trust.
• Turn off VPNs when you read, or use a residential exit.
• Limit aggressive extensions that strip scripts or auto‑save pages.

If you run a scraper, the compliant route

Plan a lawful pipeline. Start with a written request to [email protected]. State exactly what you need: pages per day, sections, time window, and refresh cadence. Offer rate limits, IP ranges, and deletion policies. Ask for an API if available. Budget for fees. Licensed feeds deliver clean, consistent data and reduce legal risk.

What to include in a support email

When you write to [email protected] after a mistaken block, include concrete details so the team can lift the flag fast.

• Timestamp, your IP address, and approximate location.
• Your browser and version, and whether a VPN was on.
• A screenshot or the exact wording of the error message.
• Steps you took just before the block appeared.

Risk, advantage and the road ahead

Expect more checks in the months ahead. Traffic from AI crawlers will keep rising, and publishers will keep tightening the gate. The upside for readers is a safer, quicker site once inside, with fewer junk requests stealing bandwidth. The risk is friction for good‑faith users. You can cut that risk by keeping a steady setup and by contacting support when a block feels unjustified.

If you build models, weigh the gains from unlicensed scraping against the cost of remediation, takedowns, and data purges. Licensed datasets, curated news APIs, and synthetic augmentation may look slower at first. They often pay back in reliability, audit trails, and predictable budgets over a 6–12 month horizon.