Gheorghe A. Iordachi on Romanian Wikipedia, Moldovan Cyrillic, Knowledge Gaps, and Editor Safety
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Vocal.Media
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/04
Gheorghe A. Iordachi is a Moldovan Wikipedian and Romanian Wikipedia contributor whose involvement began at age 15 after discovering the former Moldovan-language Wikipedia written in Cyrillic. Initially drawn in through curiosity about his hometown’s brief article, he became part of a volunteer community focused on building Romanian-language knowledge. His work reflects interests in language, digital public knowledge, neutrality, contributor communities, and the challenges of documenting Moldova, Romania, and underrepresented subjects online for global readers today.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Gheorghe A. Iordachi about his path into Wikipedia, the history of Moldovan Cyrillic Wikipedia, and the scale of Romanian Wikipedia, now exceeding 540,000 articles. Iordachi explains gaps in specialized science, human rights, interethnic conflict, and women’s biographies, while noting reliance on reliable sources. He also discusses harassment, whitewashing, legal threats, and community conflicts affecting editors in Romania and Moldova, though not major present-day physical danger for contributors.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: My first question, “Wikipedian” is a unique title. What led you to become interested in Wikipedia, and did you have any relevant skills or knowledge beforehand?
Gheorghe A. Iordachi: At the time, I was 15 years old and more or less a nerd. I probably would not have heard about Wikipedia so early if I had not seen a newspaper article about the Moldovan-language Wikipedia.
This is something I briefly mentioned in our messages. There used to be a Moldovan Wikipedia written in Cyrillic. In practice, this was Romanian written in the Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet, which was used officially in the Moldavian SSR until 1989 and is still used in Transnistria only officially, i.e., “on paper.”
A newspaper picked up the story, and I was intrigued. I had just gained access to the internet, so I went to the address mentioned in the article. There was a small site with only a handful of articles written in that script. At the top of the page, there was a message saying that, to view Wikipedia in Romanian in the usual Latin script, one should click there. I clicked.
That was when I discovered Wikipedia. Like most people, I searched for my hometown. I saw that the article about my village was very short, so my first edit was on that page.
Jacobsen: How large is Romanian Wikipedia?
Iordachi: Romanian Wikipedia has more than 540,000 articles and is around 31st among Wikipedia language editions by article count.
Some larger Wikipedias, such as Cebuano, are not comparable in the same way because they grew heavily through bot-created articles. Cebuano Wikipedia became the second-largest Wikipedia in 2017, and a large majority of its articles were created by bots.
Romanian Wikipedia is among the smaller editions with more than half a million articles. In terms of organic development, it is fairly typical: it does not rely heavily on bot-generated articles, and most of the work is done by human contributors.
The short answer is that Romanian Wikipedia is a medium-to-large Wikipedia by article count, especially relative to the global number of Romanian speakers.
Jacobsen: What do you think are the biggest gaps in Romanian Wikipedia’s knowledge base? What kinds of articles relevant to Romanians should exist but currently do not?
Iordachi: For most people, the easiest articles to write are biographies and entries about settlements such as cities or villages. These require less specialized knowledge. It takes more expertise to write about technical or specialized topics, and this is a clear weakness—not only for Romanian Wikipedia, but for many language editions.
There is a lack of contributors with expertise in fields such as mathematics, physics, and chemistry, as well as in complex or sensitive areas of the humanities, such as human rights abuses or interethnic conflicts. One approach we use is translating articles from other languages, especially from English Wikipedia, and adapting that content. In many cases, this works well, since English Wikipedia generally maintains a strong neutral point of view.
However, when writing about topics closer to home—such as political developments in Romania or Moldova—there may be fewer high-quality external sources to rely on. In such cases, the community must develop the content itself, and there is a risk that certain perspectives become overrepresented.
Another persistent issue is the gender gap. It has not disappeared, and it is unclear when it will. There are regular campaigns to address it. However, this gap is largely inherited rather than created by Wikipedia itself. Wikipedia relies on reliable, third-party sources. When women’s contributions are underrepresented in those sources, it limits what can be included.
Jacobsen: Are there any security issues for Wikipedia editors, administrators, or contributors, depending on where they are in Romania or where they come from?
Iordachi: I cannot fully address the second part, as I am not aware of specific examples involving foreign contributors relocating to Romania. Wikipedia is primarily an online project, and contributors to Romanian Wikipedia do not need to live in Romania.
Regarding your first point, there have been concerns in the past. In Moldova, during periods of oligarchic political influence, there were organized efforts to whitewash certain public figures and political groups. Similar dynamics can be observed in other countries today. Editors who tried to counter such efforts sometimes faced harassment campaigns, whether they were based locally or abroad.
In the present, however, the physical safety of contributors is not a major concern in Romania or Moldova in terms of direct state repression. More relevant today are interpersonal conflicts within the community and disputes involving individuals or organizations attempting to promote themselves, their businesses, or their views—something that is against Wikipedia’s guidelines.
In such cases, individuals may respond aggressively online, including harassment or threats of legal action. These situations do occur, although they are generally managed within the community and through established policies.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Gheorghe.
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