If the support thread is to be believed, Internet Archive was part of the decision process and agreed on this outcome. The wording makes it sound like the Internet Archive deleted the account, not Flickr.
Doesn’t really look like pitchforks are warranted
Edit: To clarify, the internet archive did not consult or warn the users of the collection.
There's currently an open letter to IA and Flickr for people to sign to try and call on them to find a better resolution:
https://openletter.earth/open-letter-to-flickr-and-internet-...
Do you have a reputable source for this from the Internet Archive (not speculation)?
It literally says that the Internet Archive deleted their account, not Flickr.
Unless the support thread is wrong, I don’t see how your claim about no consultation and no warning is consistent.
https://www.flickr.com/help/forum/en-us/72157720510495566/#r...
"The Internet Archive Book Images recently deleted their Flickr account. >Flickr and Internet Archive were in agreement on this< because:"
https://www.flickr.com/help/forum/en-us/72157720510495566/#r...
"Hey, all. We're sorry for what seems like a sudden removal of the Internet Archive account. This decision came after weeks of conversation and coordination with the Internet Archive."
For many with lighter copyright you can certainly host them elsewhere as well.
1. All the lost metadata. By making the images available on Flickr users were unearthing the interesting images from the 5 million plus collection and creating all sorts of valuable metadata.
2. There is no way to explore the images as they are stored on IA. At a certain point if the data can't be explored it may as well not be available.