I see, thanks. Strange times for internet censorship in the west.

Agreed. If I remember correctly from the other sections of this post, I think it's a self-directed ban.

Can people make a soft assumption that if somebody went through the trouble of digging up an archive link, then access to the article is limited in some way?

Sure, but I would likewise appreciate if you made the assumption that my question wasn't snark and that I actually wanted to learn the answer.