Have you had trouble accessing Scroll recently? Has the website been unusually slow or not loading at all for minutes at a time?

There’s a reason: Scroll has been overwhelmed by artificial traffic.

Over the past few days, our servers have been hit by massive surges in activity. We still don’t know for certain whether this was the result of a malicious attack or a faulty AI-powered scraper run amok. Either way, the impact has been the same – a serious disruption to our website and a major drain on our resources.

These aren’t just technical glitches. For days, they have made it harder for readers to access our journalism and forced us to divert considerable time, effort and resources to restore normalcy.

This episode has highlighted just how essential every team is in a newsroom – from tech to editorial and beyond. But none can do their work without your support.

If you value what Scroll stands for, please consider becoming a member. If you already are one, upgrading your membership can make an even bigger difference. Your support helps us stay resilient – and continue reporting without fear or favour.