On March 30, 2026, the Wikimedia Foundation decided to apply a global ban to a group of users who were administrators and highly active editors on the Serbian Wikipedia, with some of those being active in other Wikimedia projects, as well. Serbian magazine Vreme reported the news, and reached out for further comments to fellow sr.wiki admin and Wikimedia Serbia board member Filip Maljković – known as dungodung on-wiki.
At least six users received a global ban, including:
An anonymous tipster who is an experienced editor of Serbian Wikipedia told The Signpost that the six banned users are not apparently connected to one another, and they did not appear to act as a coordinated political group. While external media mostly interpreted the action as a Wikimedia Foundation ban on an ultra-nationalist cohort, at a first glance this group contains a mix of supporters of the Serbian government, and opponents of it, and even people who had a fairly apolitical editorial history. The Signpost has no editorial capacity to interview, explore, read on-wiki discussions, or further investigate. However, there are a few public reactions available on the Serbian Wikipedia:
As per the WMF Global Ban Policy, global bans from the WMF "are considered a last resort and are generally implemented upon receipt of complaint, investigation, extensive review and explicit approval by several Foundation staff members", in order to protect the community and in response to serious violations of their Terms of Use; however, the banning process itself does not automatically indicate any kind of guilt or wrongdoing. Moreover, in contrast with other user-generated content platforms and social media, user account contributions on Wikimedia projects remain fully accessible for examination.
As usual for WMF bans, there is no public case evaluation nor explanation, and Maljković told Vreme that neither he, nor Wikimedia Serbia, have any information about how the bans took place. However, it is likely that this decision has been influenced by ongoing controversy about coordinated efforts to promote right-wing bias, nationalist views and historical revisionism on the Serbian Wikipedia. The 2013 Meta-Wiki request for comment on Croatian Wikipedia raised concerns about far-right propaganda on the Croatian Wikipedia, leading to one global ban and an independent report by the WMF itself.
That is the news; now, let's provide some more context on how local projects in this area of the Balkans work. Serbo-Croatian is its own main language; both Serbs and Croats understand it, but Serbs mainly speak Serbian (written in Serbian Cyrillic alphabet), whereas Croats generally speak Croatian (written in Gaj's Latin alphabet). Wikimedia projects have four different local versions – Serbian Wikipedia, Croatian Wikipedia, Bosnian Wikipedia, and Serbo-Croatian Wikipedia – which are 90% mutually understandable among the roughly 20 million speakers of these languages. Due to reasons such as the off-wiki social tension that is still stemming from the Yugoslav Wars, users of those communities have often found it challenging to uphold the civility and editorial standards that some other Wikimedia communities have achieved.
The Signpost has covered parts of this story from an English Wikipedia community perspective over the years:
The aforementioned 2021 report for the Wikimedia Foundation acknowledged that the Serbian Wikipedia, which currently hosts over 713,000 articles and has just 11 active admins, was also susceptible to nationalist bias and historical revisionism. The authors of the academic paper noted by The Signpost in 2024 asserted that a "cabal [of nationalist editors] seized complete control of the governance of the [Croatian] encyclopedia" through administrative actions such as bans and blocks and "operated a network of fake accounts", i.e. sockpuppets, to retain control.
Some recent news sources have tried to interpret the Wikipedia happenings. A 2024 inquiry published by Vreme questioned the adherence of sr.wiki to neutrality policies, while highlighting several examples of articles that were seemingly influenced by nationalist rhetoric and revisionism, particularly in relation to the Yugoslav Wars and the war crimes committed during them. Another investigation published in 2025 by Belgrade-based magazine Radar also raised concerns about political bias within editorial practices, noting how pages involving the ongoing anti-corruption protests in the country reportedly included language and framing aligned with pro-government narratives.
An anonymous user contacted by Vreme stated that the global bans are "a huge success for freedom of knowledge and opinion" and that the Serbian Wikipedia was used as a tool to "spread radicalism", while also acknowledging that "a lot of work is still needed to repair the damage". Thanks to all the local Wikimedia community members and native speakers who contributed tips, context, and explanations to The Signpost. As is often the case with this newspaper, contributors asked to remain anonymous citing their safety. Anyone who knows more and who wants to speak about this matter is invited to make an article submission for future publication. – BR, O, B
Following months of lengthy discussions within the community, on March 20 English Wikipedia officially updated their policy on writing articles with large language models, effectively banning the use of LLMs to write or expand articles, bar a few exceptions. The news was first reported by 404 Media (free subscription required, followed by The Guardian (at this link), CNET (here) and PC Magazine (here), among others.
Following the update, the policy now states as follows:
Text generated by large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, DeepSeek, or Grammarly often violates several of Wikipedia's core content policies. For this reason, the use of LLMs to generate or rewrite article content is prohibited, save for these two exceptions:
- Editors are permitted to use LLMs to suggest basic copyedits to their own writing, and to incorporate some of them after human review, provided the LLM does not introduce content of its own. Caution is required, because LLMs can go beyond what is asked of them and can change the meaning of the text such that it is not supported by the sources cited.
- Editors are permitted to use LLMs to translate articles from another language's Wikipedia into the English Wikipedia, but must follow the guidance laid out at Wikipedia:LLM-assisted translation.
The encyclopedia and its editors have had quite a rocky relationship with AI for a while now: back in June 2025, the Web Team decided to suspend a proposed trial that would have introduced AI-generated summaries on the top of Wikipedia articles, following widespread backlash from the community. Then, in October of the same year, an official WMF report highlighted a worrying decline in traffic on Wikipedia pages due to "the impact of generative AI and social media".
As per the final RfC on the matter, discussions have been in place since December 2025 RfC about replacing WP:NEWLLM with a new policy that would focus on limiting large-scale, disruptive use of LLMs to generate new content, in order to allow volunteers to save time from further clean-up activities and prevent new users from adding hallucinated sources or other policy-violating content, while also protecting users from unfair accuses. The RfC, first opened by user Chaotic Enby to bring forward a proposal made by fellow user Kowal2701, received SNOW-like consensus towards approval of the amendments, which have now been fully applied to the policy. – O, B
In prior Signpost coverage, we discussed the declining number of active administrators:
For a time, it looked like the number was stabilizing, perhaps due to the influx of administrators via the administrator elections process around the time of the last Signpost report. However, the number has been declining with this month seeing a drastic drop. Several active administrators low records were set, now down to 411 reported by the tally bot as of writing deadline. – B
On April 9, 2026, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a bill, approved on a 129-25 vote, that would significantly restrict social media access by minors in the state; should the state Senate approve the law in its current state, parents would need to provide their consent for 14- and 15-year-olds to use social media, while platforms and social media companies would be required to implement age verification systems in order to prevent users under the age of 14 from having accounts. This would mark a significant jump-up from the Senate's original proposal, passed in July 2025, to just ban cellphone usage during school time, carving out exemptions for students with special needs.
Massachusetts is hardly the first US state attempting to limit children's access to social media – in fact, it would be the 18th state, as noted by The Boston Globe (behind paywall) – but the bill would mark one of the most restrictive policies in the entire country. The news has also been reported by other local media, including GBH, WBUR, Boston Today, and Axios Boston.
Axios reporter Mike Deehan specifically focused on the risks that Wikipedia, among other platforms, would face should the bill come into effect as it is. The proposal currently defines a social media platform as any online service that "displays content primarily generated by users and allows users to create, share and view user-generated content with other users." According to State Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, House Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, passages like this one were written in order to give State Attorney General Andrea Campbell flexibility in coming up with more specific regulations; however, digital rights group Fight for the Future argues that this definition is so broad it could force lots of sites with user-generated content, including YouTube, Roblox and even Wikipedia, to verify user ages.
Professor Timothy Edgar, who hosts lectures on cybersecurity and online privacy at Harvard Law School, told Axios that "what distinguishes [application of the law to] the big tech social media companies from the rest of the Internet [including Wikipedia] is not actually very clear," and that Mass. lawmakers would need to "think very carefully about the ramifications of what that would mean for innovation on the Internet, and what that would mean for the openness and freedoms that we all enjoy."
Anyway, the bill still needs to be examined and voted on by the Senate, which had focused exclusively on banning cellphones from classrooms, but the fate of the proposal is currently unclear: some politicians and organizations also raised concerns over the risk of retain of government IDs or biometric data by tech companies, outing LGBTQ+ status of minors to unsupportive families and incompatibility with First Amendment – which has been the subject of legal challenges to similar laws in Florida, Louisiana and Ohio. Plus, slight divisions have emerged within the local Democratic Party over the bill, as state Reps. Erika Uyterhoeven and Mike Connolly voted against it, whereas Governor Maura Healey has publicly unveiled a slightly different plan to curb children's access to social media in the state. – B, O
Search Engine Land recently acknowledged that "ironclad editorial guardrails" at Wikipedia make it very hard for all sorts of spammers to rely on astroturfing their way to the top of a search engine results page.
Per an excerpt from the article:
Claiming you need a Reddit or Wikipedia strategy [in reference to the Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) spamming strategy, nsp] because they are the most-cited domains overall is like claiming spaghetti carbonara is the most-eaten dish in Italy. Yes, it's ubiquitous and popular, but just because it's everywhere, [it] doesn't mean you should put it on the menu at a high-end steakhouse.
– B
LonelyWiki is a website that Boing Boing says "shares Wikipedia's most overlooked articles" and "Good News Podcast" by Cards Against Humanity described for a little over three minutes. The article that LonelyWiki presents to the reader is a randomly chosen non-stub that has been viewed fewer than 2,000 times in the past year. The creators say it is "a museum of forgotten knowledge" for the hard work of editors deserving better attention.
This editor visited the site and discovered for the first time Lucile Saunders McDonald, who was credited by his own local newspaper as "the first woman news reporter in all of South America; first woman copy editor in the Pacific Northwest; first woman telegraph editor, courthouse reporter and general news reporter in Oregon; first woman overseas correspondent for a U.S. trade newspaper; first woman on a New York City rewrite desk; second woman journalist in Alaska; and second woman to be a correspondent abroad for The Associated Press". – B
The world recently experienced the March equinox. Here are some photos from around the world during the months of March and April, with thanks to the many people who contributed the content that appears here.
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!["View of 3 Maja Street with bus lanes, a bikeway and the new section of the historic (monument) Sielecki Park [pl] near Sielecki Castle in Sosnowiec, Poland" taken by User:KrzysztofPoplawski in April 2020](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Park_Sielecki,_Sosnowiec,_3_Maja_street.jpg)
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| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | Notes/about |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dhurandhar: The Revenge | 
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3,994,921 | 
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The sequel to #8 ended its first week in cinemas making $115 million USD globally and breaking box office records in Bollywood, though some, like Dia Mirza criticize the film as part of a trend of jingoism in Bollywood. |
| 2 | Project Hail Mary (film) | 
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1,421,416 | 
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From Bollywood to Hollywood, a science fiction film starring Ryan Gosling as a scientist trapped in another star system trying to save our Sun, which was released to overwhelmingly positive critical reviews and managed to top the box office for two straight weeks (both weeks had Pixar's Hoppers as runner-up, and the top 5 also featuring our #1, the drama Reminders of Him, and one of two movies about a woman being hunted by a Satanic cult) to surpass $300 million at the global box office. |
| 3 | List of highest-grossing Indian films | 
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1,298,055 | 
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The success of #1 has put it (at the time of writing) at sixth on the list of highest grossing Indian films, third among Hindi language films, and when including #8, the second highest grossing film franchise behind the YRF Spy Universe comprised of movies like Pathaan. |
| 4 | 2026 Iran war | 
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1,253,603 | .webp)
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Still raging, leading to rockets and drones flying all over the Middle East (doesn't help that along with this Israel also started a conflict with Hezbollah), and the impact on the commerce of petroleum and gas led to a disruption comparable to the 1970s energy crisis. |
| 5 | Chuck Norris |
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1,062,322 | 
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The famed action star left this world, leading to a new batch of Chuck Norris facts like "When Chuck Norris arrived in Heaven, St. Peter had to show him his ID". |
| 6 | Deaths in 2026 |
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963,824 | 
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Looking back over my shoulder Oh with an aching feeling inside Cutting me up, deeper and deeper Fills me with a sadness that I can't hide... |
| 7 | Leonid Radvinsky |
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946,605 | 
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This Ukrainian-American businessman, known for being the majority owner of OnlyFans, died on March 20 at the age of 43. At the time of his death, he was worth $4.7 billion. In 2024 alone, Radvinsky received $701 million in dividends from his ownership of OnlyFans. So we know where you are actually giving your WMF donation money, don't play coy with us! |
| 8 | Dhurandhar |
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903,462 | 
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Part 1 of #1, released last December to astounding box office success even if with mixed reviews. The new one is receiving a similar reception. |
| 9 | Robert Mueller |
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799,545 | 
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The former head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation died on March 20 at the age of 81. A U.S. Marine who served in the Vietnam War, Mueller became FBI director days before the September 11th attacks and led the agency into a new generation of work. Mueller served as FBI director under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama before retiring in 2013. In 2017, Mueller was called out of retirement to serve as the special counsel for the Department of Justice as they investigated Russian interference in the 2016 United States presidential election. |
| 10 | Project Hail Mary |
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731,340 | 
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The science-fiction book by author Andy Weir upon which #2 is adapted/based. First published in 2021, the book has been on the New York Times Best Seller list for 41 weeks as well as a finalist for a Hugo Award for Best Novel. |
| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | Notes/about |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Artemis II | |
2,568,142 | 
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Things are too depressing on Earth, let's talk about space! This NASA mission involving a fly-by around the Moon is the first manned space mission to leave low-Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972 and the first to use the new Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. The Artemis program (named after the sister of Apollo who was a lunar deity, fixing how the Apollo program was actually baptized after a Sun god) is aimed at returning humans to the lunar surface, because we have done so much good on this planet! |
| 2 | Dhurandhar: The Revenge | |
2,430,267 | 
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One of the ten highest-grossing films of the year so far hails from Bollywood, as its ₹1,658.62 crore earnings translate to $178 million, nearly a sixth from North America, where it hasn't left the box office top 10 even if it's subtitled and nearly four hours long. |
| 3 | List of highest-grossing Indian films | |
1,552,447 | .svg)
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#2, the sequel to last year's Dhurandhar, continues to climb up this list, with it now placing 4th at the time of this writing. |
| 4 | Project Hail Mary (film) | |
1,160,313 | 
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While current human spaceflight is still planning a return to the Moon (#1), in fiction we have Ryan Gosling managing to get to another star system hoping to save the Sun. Taking the best parts of many revered sci-fi works like The Martian (both based on source material by the same author), Interstellar, Sunshine, and Arrival, Project Hail Mary got the approval of reviewers and audiences alike, earning over $400 million worldwide and only ceding the top of the box office to another space traveller down there at #6. |
| 5 | 2026 Iran war | |
1,107,879 | 
|
This week's distraction from the Epstein files was highlighted by the threat to bomb civilian infrastructure to bring them "back to the Stone Age" and a shootdown of an American F-15 fighter jet. The pilot of the fighter was rescued by American forces following the crash, while the weapon systems officer on the jet was rescued from Iran on April 5. |
| 6 | The Super Mario Galaxy Movie | |
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Yahoo! Three years after an impressive showing in theaters, our favorite plumber goes cosmic in a sequel that obviously draws much from Super Mario Galaxy (a game that Brie Larson really liked, so it's no surprise the movie makes her the voice of Rosalina) and also features an oft-neglected Nintendo franchise, Star Fox. Like The Super Mario Bros. Movie reviewers were unimpressed with the basic script but audiences embraced how the movie disguises shallowness through a frantic, colorful and funny approach, so it will be no surprise if this repeats as a billion dollar movie – the opening weekend alone was $372 million worldwide! |
| 7 | 2026 FIFA World Cup | |
948,819 | .jpg)
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We finally got the remaining six out of the 48 football teams that will play all over North America between June and July. In the intercontinental playoffs, there is the belated return of both Democratic Republic of Congo (which was still called Zaire when they played in Germany 1974) and Iraq (still under Saddam Hussein when they went to Mexico 1986, and many are amused at Iraq going to the United States after being an extensive headache). In the European ones, along with spots for Turkey, Sweden and Czech Republic, Bosnia extended the shameful drought of Italy, now the first past World Cup champion to miss three straight tournaments. |
| 8 | Deaths in 2026 | |
914,234 | .jpg)
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People, they come together People, they fall apart And no one can stop us now 'Cause We Are All Made of Stars... |
| 9 | Pam Bondi | |
836,960 | 
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The United States Attorney General was fired by Trump on April 2. Her tenure was marred by her handling of the Epstein files and the continued erosion of the rule of law in the United States. But at least the Dow is... well, was at 50,000. |
| 10 | Lamar Odom | |
830,496 | .jpg)
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The professional basketball player was the subject of a Netflix documentary film as part of their Untold series. The film talks about Odom's rise to fame (including two NBA titles playing alongside Kobe Bryant), his marriage to Khloe Kardashian and his issues off the court, including being found comatose in a Nevada brothel. |
| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | Notes/about |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Artemis II | |
1,710,096 | 
|
The NASA mission around the Moon (featuring a crew of #8, #9, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen) returned to Earth on Friday after a nine-day voyage in space. |
| 2 | Dhurandhar: The Revenge | |
1,665,046 | 
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Like last week, the latest lunar mission is followed by the latest Indian blockbuster and the list that it keeps on climbing (Dhurandhar: The Revenge is now third of all-time, behind Baahubali 2: The Conclusion and Dangal). |
| 3 | List of highest-grossing Indian films | |
1,306,870 | ||
| 4 | 2026 Iran war | |
1,142,404 | 
|
The week had a ceasefire agreement that didn't do much to stop the bloodshed (not helped by Israel's conflict with Hezbollah), leading Iran and the United States to enter further negotiations. |
| 5 | Deaths in 2026 | |
894,606 | 
|
Across the stratosphere, a final message "Give my wife my love," then nothing more Far beneath the ship the world is mourning They don't realize he's alive... |
| 6 | The Drama (film) | |
890,279 | 
|
The first of three films this year featuring both Robert Pattinson and Zendaya. Before we see them in the distant past and the distant future, here is a contemporary tale about an engaged couple in Massachusetts whose relationship ends up getting tested after an unexpected conversation. Reviews have been generally positive, and while it will probably end up being the lowest grossing Pattinson-Zendaya film this year, has still grossed a healthy $43 million. |
| 7 | Project Hail Mary (film) | |
795,143 | .jpg)
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For two straight weeks, the above was third in the box office to two space adventures, this one in second place, and another that couldn't survive in our top 10 one week longer. Both have made over half a billion dollars (there is a Chinese movie with similar numbers, but unlike last year China won't finish with the top spot), with the difference that there was a much warmer reception by viewers and critics alike to the collaboration of Ryan Gosling and a rock alien. |
| 8 | Christina Koch | |
742,709 | .jpg)
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One of the astronauts of #1 (and one-time Wikipedian), she is the first woman to leave low-Earth orbit and travel near the Moon. Rounding the Moon she took the Earthset photograph. |
| 9 | Reid Wiseman | |
740,015 | 
|
Wiseman was the captain on #1, the first manned lunar mission since the end of the Apollo program. During the mission Wiseman photographed Hello World. Wiseman's wife Carroll died of cancer in 2020 and in memory of her, mission specialist Jeremy Hansen requested that a newly-discovered crater on the Moon be named after her. |
| 10 | Donald Trump | |
624,443 | .jpg)
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The US President increased his threats against Iran this week, threatening to destroy all of their civilization if they did not agree to a ceasefire, which is being criticized as incitement of genocide. |
For the March 20 – April 20 period, per this database report.
| Title | Revisions | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 Hungarian parliamentary election | 2414 | This election dominated European headlines this week, as the sixteen-year reign of American right-wing hero Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party was replaced by Péter Magyar and his Tisza party. Orbán, who had long pledged to make Hungary an Illiberal democracy, was seen as close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and was often a thorn in the side of European Union leadership. His loss was celebrated across the continent as a constructive way to take care of anti-democratic tyrants, with other countries taking notice. |
| Deaths in 2026 | 2309 | The deceased of the period include Nicholas Brendon, Valerie Perrine, James Tolkan, Asha Bhosle, Justin Fairfax, Afrika Bambaataa, and Oscar Schmidt. |
| 2026 Iran war | 1864 | Rockets and drones cause damage, naval blockades cause economic impact worldwide, and peace talks start and fail to relieve worldwide unease about this continuing conflict. |
| 2026 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election | 1142 | Over 68 million voters in India's fourth most populated state will go to the polls on 23 and 29 April 2026 to elect all 294 members of their Legislative Assembly. |
| Artemis II | 1093 | Artemis I flew around the Moon in 2022, its successor had a human crew circling Earth's natural satellite, and Artemis III will test the Human Landing System next year so 2028's Artemis IV can make another Moon landing. |
| WrestleMania 42 | 899 | WWE's biggest yearly event happened on the April 18 weekend in Las Vegas. Fans complained on the booking which Triple H booking and promoting the match. They were also surprised by return of Paige, but they are not happy with Pat McAfee interfering the match of Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton for the WWE Undisputed Champion match, as well as to Jelly Roll. Maybe Danhausen can curse that (Wikipediahausen by the way). |
| The Super Mario Galaxy Movie | 890 | After making over a billion dollars with his first animated movie in 2023, Mario goes cosmic in a sequel that has him joined by characters familiar to fans of both his games (Yoshi, Rosalina, Bowser Jr.... and one in the post-credits scene!) and Super Smash Bros. (Fox McCloud gets more love here than with Nintendo, given there haven't been new Star Fox games in ten years...). Again it's wrecking the box office, with almost $800 million in three weeks, but reception is split between fans who just had fun with the movie, and reviewers and less pleased viewers who complained about the film's unambitious script that trades depth for references and jokes. |
| List of people from Cincinnati | 795 | One user is updating the list of famous residents of Ohio's third biggest city, who have included Ted Turner, William Taft and Steven Spielberg. |
| String Quartets (Schoenberg) | 795 | After improving opera articles, MONTENSEM moved onto instrumentals with four string quartets by Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg. |
| Charles Thau | 709 | The editor responsible for making this World War II soldier's biography a Good Article tinkers with it, hoping to soon nominate it for Featured status. |
| 2026 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election | 702 | Another Indian state holding its legislative elections, set for April 23. |
| List of game designers | 651 | Mostly one user's work, with the list growing enough for the article to be split into pages regarding board, pinball, role-playing, and video game designers. |
| 2026 Kerala Legislative Assembly election | 646 | Elections were held in the South Indian state of Kerala on April 9. The Left Democratic Front, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and incumbent Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan are running for an unprecedented third consecutive government, with the opposition United Democratic Front, led by V.D. Satheesan of the Indian National Congress hoping to return to power for the first time since 2011. With over 27 million registered voters, results are not expected until May 4th. |
| Bigg Boss Marathi season 6 | 636 | One of the many Indian Big Brother versions, won by actress Tanvi Kolte. |
| Dhurandhar: The Revenge | 611 | Changing language from Marathi to Hindi, India's third highest-grossing movie ever, with a big chance of climbing to second. |
