Patreon blocks AI scraping with Cloudflare
Patreon is implementing active blocking of AI bots using Cloudflare to prevent unauthorised scraping of creators' content.

What happened?
Patreon has entered into a partnership with Cloudflare to block AI bots that train models on creator content without permission. This represents a change from relying solely on robots.txt files to prevent unwanted access. The focus is now on a proactive method to protect intellectual property.
Key facts
| Implementationsdatum | 17 juli 2026 |
|---|---|
| Samarbetspartner | Cloudflare |
”Patreon is strengthening its defenses against AI scraping by working with Cloudflare to block bots that train AI models on creators’ content without permission.”
Why it matters
The decision to actively block AI bots marks a significant strategic shift for Patreon. It moves responsibility from individual sites managing scraping via robots.txt to a more aggressive and centralised solution. This initiative strengthens the protection of creators' work and addresses growing concerns regarding copyright and data scraping in AI development.
Who is affected?
This primarily affects creators on Patreon's platform, whose content now receives stronger protection against unauthorised AI training. Developers of AI models who previously scraped content may also be affected, as they are now actively blocked from collecting data from Patreon. Users may indirectly benefit as creators feel more secure publishing their material.
What else you should know
This measure reflects a broader trend where platforms are taking more direct steps to protect content from unwanted AI scraping, moving beyond the semi-voluntary guidelines of robots.txt.
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