Writing Platform NanoWriMo To Shut Down Amid AI and Content Moderation Controversies

The 25-year-old platform NaNoWriMo announced to its writing community that it will be shutting down its site. The organization alleged that it was due to financial reasons; however, in recent years, it has been involved in controversies for promoting the use of AI for content creation and has been accused of allowing child grooming within its community.

In an email, shared by users on Reddit,  the non-profit organization NaNoWriMo—which stands for National Novel Writing—explained that the decision has been made mainly due to financial challenges.

“We come to you today with sad news,” states the document shared. “After six years of struggling to sustain itself financially, NaNoWriMo (the nonprofit) will begin the process of shutting down.”

NaNoWriMo, founded in 1999, hosted challenges for writers all over the world to write novels and stories, its primary initiative being the competition to write over 50,000 words in 30 days. The community grew, becoming a non-profit organization in 2005, and reaching hundreds of thousands of participants from all over the world.

For the past few years, besides dealing with financial struggles, the organization has also faced criticism for the support of generative AI content and accusations of child grooming on the platform.

Last year, the organization shared a polemic statement encouraging users, under certain circumstances, to use AI to create content and it drew criticism and upset many users and authors, forcing NaNoWriMo’s team to publicly apologize.

In 2023, the community was also accused of allowing child grooming on its platform, users accused moderators of directing minors to adult websites, and allowing pedophiles in the forums where teenagers participated.

Many users on social media and Reddit expressed sadness over the news, yet felt conflicted due to the developments of the past few years.

Kilby Blake, interim Executive Director of NaNoWriMo, also shared a video on YouTube with more explanations and details of the reasons for the shutdown.

NaNoWriMo is not the only platform shutting down this month. A few days ago, the open-source genetic data platform openSNP also announced the end of its project, this time due to data privacy concerns.