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Web scraping is mining data from the World Wide Web for a specific purpose. In the most simple form, it is copying and pasting a specific set of information to a local database for archival use, scientific analysis or some other use. Web scraping can also be used in fascinating ways, with high social impact. People create price comparison sites or shadow libraries that bypass paywalls. Most recently Lithuanian activists have collected publicly available phone number data of regular Russian citizens to create a website that allows Russian speakers from around the world to call a random Russian to talk about the war in an effort to raise awareness in a country that censors news about the war.
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