Proposals for closing projects/Closure of Persian Wikinews 2

This is a proposal for closing and/or deleting a wiki hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. It is subject to the current closing projects policy.

The proposal for closing n:fa: is currently open for discussion by the community.

Type: 1 (routine proposal)
Proposed outcome: closure
Proposed action regarding the content: move to Incubator
Notice on the project: n:fa:ویکی‌خبر:تالار_گفتگو#m:Proposals_for_closing_projects/Closure_of_Persian_Wikinews_2
Informed Group(s):

Proposal

Hi, I am writing to propose the closure of the Persian Wikinews project due to the project's inability to function effectively.

As of 17 June 2015, a closure request was submitted, with potential NPOV issues. Unfortunately, as of 25 January 2024, it is evident that no substantial progress has been achieved, and the project remains stagnant for over 8 years.

The prolonged abandonment by the user community have resulted in the Persian Wikinews project becoming a host for spam news (2 Nov 2023 to 25 Jan 2024, almost 2 months and 3 weeks), which is not aligned with the Wikimedia Foundation's goals and principles. Despite the understanding that inactivity alone is not a sufficient reason for closure, the present circumstances necessitate reevaluation.

A visual review of the project reveals no recent contributions and contributors, indicating that it has become a ghost project without viability or sustainability. Please kindly review the realistic necessity of the project.

The persistence of issues such as hosting spam news and the evident breakdown of community trust require a decisive and fair decision. To provide context, I have listed below some of the recently published articles and associated issues:

سمیع الله شریفی: Page name: Samiullah Sharifi, spam or vandalism. Looks like a reviewed article, with green tick.
Old Pursian news article: Spam or vandalism. Looks like a reviewed article, with green tick. The Persian Wikinews project is hosting this article since last year 2nd of November.
تیموتی سالامی: Recent Persian Wikinews article hosting verified(?), reviewed(?) article of potential advertisement.

Considering the ongoing challenges and the failure to fulfill commitments made in the past, I kindly urge the Wikimedia Foundation Board or Language Committee and Wikimedia Community to carefully evaluate the viability of the Persian Wikinews project. A fair comparison with other projects that have been successfully closed or returned to incubation should guide this decision.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I believe that a thoughtful and informed decision will contribute to the overall health and success of Wikimedia projects. Sincerely, --ꠢꠣꠍꠘ ꠞꠣꠎꠣ (talk) 06:52, 25 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

@Kasir: Any ideas? Liuxinyu970226 (talk) 03:51, 27 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, Persian Wikinews is blocked in Iran, For this reason, the activity in this project has been stopped, But I always delete spam and deal with vandalism. Kasir ^talk 10:35, 27 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose as that would fulfill the wishes of the Iranian regime. It should be continued until a more liberal government unblocks it, imv Atlantic306 (talk) 19:55, 25 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Support --Fenikals (talk) 14:54, 26 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose The project is out of reach of public access in Iran. However it has many editors specially outside the country. --Doostdar (talk) 15:54, 13 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Comment Can we have a permanent (or maybe temporary, just indefinite) editing ban or restriction issued on the wiki to limit how and by whom the edits can be done? I mean something like an IP editing ban or some kind of a user group. I think we can save the project this way. I don't have access to the wiki right now because of the ban issued by the I.R. and therefore can't see how wide the abuse is going on. Jeeputer (talk) 00:06, 16 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Like Rulebased (talk) 09:51, 31 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

support I made a news article last week and it has not been moved into main because there is no one. joke website. [1] Baratiiman (talk) 06:12, 17 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Support. No real activity, issue with Wikinews blocked in Iran (Iranian people's freedom is limited) is the main reason there is no real community. ToadetteEdit (talk) 19:52, 31 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Support Sure, inactivity alone isn't sufficient to close this wiki, but letting the site become a spam- and copyvio-fest and devoid of actual Persian community are the last things that WMF needs. Furthermore, no real effort to revitalize the site has been made to this date. --George Ho (talk) 14:58, 15 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Support Due to its long inactivity and the presence of spam and vandalism. Maintaining such a project undermines Wikimedia's goals and integrity. Darafsh (talk) 21:38, 29 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Support There are only propaganda contents featured, making current fa.wikinews just like how PressTV works. --Liuxinyu970226 (talk) 00:18, 20 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Support. --Agusbou2015 (talk) 17:51, 24 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Support I'm just not seeing what benefit a site that has become just a spam/vandalism/copyvio fest. There is not going to be a community unless the people who would be part of that community are able to access it. Me Da Wikipedian (talk) 00:53, 17 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Support per George Ho. --SHB2000 (t • c) 00:53, 8 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose it seams that the project has failed do to the Iranian regime wishes. I think we shouldn't let that to determine the future of the project. איש עיטי (talk) 20:46, 9 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@איש עיטי It looks like from some local feedbacks, fawikinews is already being a propaganda website. That's really not from my views, I only repeated local views. Liuxinyu970226 (talk) 02:04, 25 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose since those are issues that should be solved using other means - in particular, the fact that the government in a country has blocked the site shouldn't decide the future of the project as a whole. Leaderboard (talk) 05:01, 23 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Leaderboard Be solved using which other means? Liuxinyu970226 (talk) 12:22, 15 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Liuxinyu970226 For example, a soft close, or other ways to encourage contributors (from fa.wiki for instance) to work on the project. Regarding the "Iranian regime" part, blocking users involved in that could be an option. Others know better than I on this, hence why I was brief in my original comment. Leaderboard (talk) 12:41, 15 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Leaderboard And how about a larger closure proposal regarding ALL Wikinewses? I don't see if there are any good reason not to close fa.wikinews, since many other wikinewses are also having worst contents. Liuxinyu970226 (talk) 05:30, 12 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Liuxinyu970226 That would be Public_consultation_about_Wikinews, right? Leaderboard (talk) 06:54, 12 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

OK saw the link. I've already commented on the talk page. Leaderboard (talk) 06:58, 12 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I feel like with Wikinews projects it simply isn't worth it. The nature of the project means that it needs to be particularly active (so other stats like number of articles that have come up in previous discussions aren't very relevant) and given it has not been active for 9 years, there is little purpose in keeping the site active. //shb (t • c) 12:26, 15 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@SHB2000 Yep, that's why creation of new Wikinews language editions is currently suspended. Liuxinyu970226 (talk) 08:28, 13 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, permanent semi-protection can filter out almost all advertising, and in that sense it is indeed an effective approach. We might even be able to count on Persian Wikinews to make a small contribution to press freedom. ~ Sheminghui.WU (talk) 06:00, 3 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Sheminghui.WU Given the general political situations of Iran (regareless of current Islamic Republic of, or for some pro-Pahlavi funs), I really doubt if semi-protecting entire site would be enough to protect wiki environments, most likely, having edits on fa.wikinews are already enough for any certain users to be warranted, and even be arrested by their polices, and after arrested, their user accounts are to be controlled by Iran authorities, so that advertises are eventually unable to be avoid. Liuxinyu970226 (talk) 08:27, 3 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Support. Although the news as far as I can tell is unbiased and truthful, the lack of a community (with no evidence of a revitalization from an actual Persian community) is a killer for a project like this. if it'll just become a spam and advertisement fest, just close it. EnvironmentalDoor (talk) 21:52, 5 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]