Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used across all of the Wikimedia projects[2] in all languages, includingWikipedia,Wikivoyage,Wikisource,Wikiquote,Wiktionary,Wikinews,Wikibooks andWikispecies, and can also be downloaded for offsite use. As of July 2025, the repository contains over 127 million free-to-use media files, managed and editable by registered volunteers.[3]
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A page of Commons search results
The concept for the project came fromErik Möller in March 2004[4] and Wikimedia Commons was started on September 7, 2004.[5][6] In July 2013, the number of edits on Commons reached 100,000,000.[7] In 2018, it became possible to upload3D models to the site inSTL format. One of the first models uploaded to Commons was a reconstruction of theLion of Al-lāt statue inPalmyra,Syria, which was heavily damaged byISIS militants in 2015.[8]
The stated aim of Wikimedia Commons is to provide a media file repository "that makes available public domain and freely-licensed educational media content to all, and that acts as a common repository for the various projects of the Wikimedia Foundation."[14]
Most Wikimedia projects still allow local uploads which are not visible to other projects or languages, but this option is meant to be used primarily for material (such asfair use content) which local project policies allow, but which would not be permitted according to thecopyright policy of Commons. For this reason, Wikimedia Commons deletes copyright violations and aims to only host freely licensed media, such as media licensed with theCreative Commons Attribution and Attribution/ShareAlike licenses,[15] other free content andfree software licenses, andpublic domain media.
The site has been criticized for hosting large amounts of amateur pornography, often uploaded byexhibitionists who exploit the site for personal gratification, and who are enabled by sympathetic administrators.[16] In 2012,BuzzFeed described Wikimedia Commons as "littered withdicks".[17]
In 2010, Wikipedia co-founderLarry Sangerreported Wikimedia Commons to the FBI for hosting sexualized images of children known as "lolicon". After this was reported in the media,Jimmy Wales, founder of theWikimedia Foundation which hosts Commons, used his administrator status to delete several images without discussion from the Commons community. Wales responded to the backlash from the Commons community by voluntarily relinquishing some site privileges, including the ability to delete files.[18]
Over time, additional functionality has been developed to interface Wikimedia Commons with the other Wikimedia projects. For instance, there exists a community-maintained Commonsmobile app which allows uploading of photos that document the world, especially notable objects findable in the map in the Nearby List in the app (displaying Wikidata items with coordinates). The app launched in 2012 as an official Wikimedia app and since May 2016, it uses the official Wikimedia Commons name and logo.[citation needed]
Structured data statements for a picture of some sugar cubes
Successful featured picture nominations per month (2004–2019)
There are three mechanisms on the site for recognizing high-quality works. One is known as "Featured pictures", where works are nominated and other community members vote to accept or reject the nomination. This process began in November 2004. Another process known as "Quality images" began in June 2006, and has a simpler nomination process comparable to "Featured pictures". "Quality images" only accepts works created by Wikimedia users, whereas "Featured pictures" additionally accepts nominations of works by third parties such asNASA. A third image assessment project, known as "Valued images", began on June 1, 2008, with the purpose of recognizing "the most valued illustration of its kind", in contrast to the other two processes which assess images mainly on technical quality.
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