Fun fact: you can boot up wikipedia.org right now and get a log of just about every word added since 2001. Anyone in the world can do this. This sort of transparency is woven into the fabric of Wikipedia. And that’s why, for the last ten years, we’ve published a biannual report that details the official requests we have received to change content on one of the Wikimedia projects. You can learn more in our full January–June 2025 transparency report, available now.
We’ve also given a few example stories that illustrate the types of requests for user information, content alteration, or Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notices that we received in that period. The stories serve as a guide to how we evaluate each request, work with the community to address it, and push back when human rights are at stake. This release (covering January to June 2025) also includes the information required by the EU’s Digital Services Act, and you can also see an FAQ that gives more details about the report.
Here are a few high-level findings from the January – June 2025 reporting period:
EU Digital Services Act (DSA) information: We continue to update our EU DSA information section based on feedback and evolving best practices.
Takedown requests (including content alteration): From January to June 2025, we received 402 requests to alter or remove project content. Seven of these requests were Right to Erasure-based requests related to user accounts. When we receive such a request, we provide the user with information on the community-driven vanishing process.
Copyright requests: Wikimedia volunteer communities work diligently to ensure that copyrighted material is not uploaded to the projects without an appropriate free license or exception, such as fair use. When we receive Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices asking us to remove allegedly infringing material, we conduct thorough investigations to make sure the claims are valid. During this reporting period, we received 13 DMCA requests, and granted six. Some stories in the Transparency Report share more about the kinds of DMCA requests we received and how they were handled. With projects as large in scope as ours, the low number of DMCA requests we receive is due to the hard work of community volunteers who ensure that the content on the projects is properly licensed.
Requests for user information. The Wikimedia Foundation maintains strict “requests for user information” procedures and guidelines (which include a provision for emergency conditions). Moreover, the Foundation collects very little nonpublic user information as part of our commitment to user privacy. Any information we do collect is retained for a short amount of time. Of the 30 user data requests we received, one resulted in the disclosure of nonpublic user information.
You can read the full transparency report here.
This transparency report reaffirms the Wikimedia Foundation’s commitment to the principles of transparency, privacy, and freedom of expression. It also represents the diligent work of Wikimedia volunteers, who build Wikimedia projects and the knowledge available on them. If you are interested in learning about the requests sent to the Foundation in greater depth, please access the comprehensive January to June 2025 transparency report. You can also see past reports by viewing previous blog posts.
The transparency report would not be possible without the contributions of Julianne Alberto, Aly Marino, Amanda Jardine, Riddy Khan, Funkola Odeleye, Sara Campos, Brooke Camarda, Laura Pulecio Duarte, Lauren Dickinson, Lukas Ruthes Goncalves, Shrutika Manivannan, Ellen Magallanes, Ed Erhart, Jim Buatti, Leighanna Mixter, Jack Dorsey, and Neeta Stephen.
Can you help us translate this article?
In order for this article to reach as many people as possible we would like your help. Can you translate this article to get the message out?
Start translation