Shutdown rumors, hoaxes, and scares

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In general, when there is warning for a shutdown or a removal, it comes from a source whose veracity does not need to be questioned. A few times this has happened:


  • December 2020, there was a rumor - allegedly confirmed by a purported May "change" in their retention policies that had not actually taken place - that Mediafire was going to start removing old uploads in January (May + the 8 months for accounts to become inactive). This had a positive outcome though, as it led to the proactive project which still (February 2023) runs for that site.
  • September 2022 there was a rumor that Fanfiction.net was going to shut down. Despite the rumor being "stronger than normal" this did not happen. [1].
The purported announcement message. Essentially written from a fan's perspective ("the removal of memberships...") on top of being from a really shady source to begin with.
  • December 2023, a hoax screenshot announcing the shutdown of the Flash game Poptropica spread around.
  • July 2025, Amino, after a disgruntled moderator put the worst possible spin on news that the company was outsourcing its development and moderation work.[2][3][4]