Talk:Payam Akhavan

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• Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20140715033515/http://www.kellogg.ox.ac.uk/Payam-Akhavan to http://www.kellogg.ox.ac.uk/Payam-Akhavan
• Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20130901111443/http://master.sciences-po.fr:80/droit/en/professor/payam-akhavan to http://master.sciences-po.fr/droit/en/professor/payam-akhavan
• Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20130112212535/http://www.pca-cpa.org/showpage.asp?pag_id=1151 to http://www.pca-cpa.org/showpage.asp?pag_id=1151
• Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20120824113735/http://www.hamdanvrumsfeld.com:80/DannerSct.pdf to http://www.hamdanvrumsfeld.com/DannerSct.pdf
• Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20130208082359/http://www.pca-cpa.org/showpage.asp?pag_id=1147 to http://www.pca-cpa.org/showpage.asp?pag_id=1147

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• Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20131224200150/http://www.asil.org/ajil/recon2.pdf to http://www.asil.org/ajil/recon2.pdf
• Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20160304065529/http://www.ictytranscripts.org/trials/blaskic/971215ed.htm to http://www.ictytranscripts.org/trials/blaskic/971215ed.htm

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Very promotional, badly needs editing

It is hard to believe this page has remained in this manner for this long. It badly needs review. Isingness (talk) 04:49, 1 February 2018 (UTC)

COI discussion

I am opening a discussion here regarding the recent attempts of a new SPA to re-add a promotional biography over this entry. It would be preferable to discuss any new attempts to add puffery here first, and provide information to any interested parties that may be confused about what can or cannot go onto Wikipedia. Isingness (talk) 06:32, 15 May 2018 (UTC)

In order to provide a base perspective on potential undisclosed COI here: There are details in the text that was attempted by a recent user that do not appear in the actual sources, adding flourishes or explanations that don't occur in the sources used. This is something that only someone with a COI is likely to do, as they have access to said details. The timing is also suspicious, as early May is when many professors hire their Research Assistants to do various busy work for them, or professors themselves have more time following finals. So the time of year, plus the added details that aren't in the sources, plus the user name "Pluralism123" which is thematic of the McGill Law program (where the page subject works), plus their arrival within months of the prior hagiography's removal, plus the lack of significant edits anywhere else for that account, in addition to the user's removal of COI notices from their talk page (and the attempted removal of their conversation with me regarding COI from my own talk page oddly enough)--this makes me very concerned that someone is trying to avoid the site's Terms of Use. It would be best if any COI were revealed here so that we can move forward properly. Isingness (talk) 15:49, 15 May 2018 (UTC)

Another McGill University IP address has tried to remove the maintenance tags from the page without adjusting the page, about the same time as last year. Any help keeping an eye on the page would be appreciated. Isingness (talk) 05:32, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

The subject is clearly notable, and seven years later, the article still definitely needs a thorough rewrite needs some rewriting. Semi-protection could be requested if WP:TAs keep removing the tags without addressing the problems. Boud (talk) 13:38, 23 January 2026 (UTC)

Ironically, it seems that the above user has been blocked, which motivated me to read more carefully. Some copyediting is still needed, but the primary tag doesn't really seem to be justified any more. After seven years of edits, biases introduced by the apparently COI edits have probably more or less been cleaned up, and I think that there are enough warnings here on the talk page for anyone wondering about the history of the article. I don't think the tags have any justification for remaining. If someone wants to make fixes, then go ahead, per Wikipedia guidelines and principles, especially for BLPs.

Are there any objections to removing the primary and COI tags at the top of the article? Boud (talk) 14:14, 23 January 2026 (UTC)

Potential reliable sources

• Bethune, Brian (1 October 2017). "The interview: Payam Akhavan on how to fight evil, the failure of Facebook activism, and the sacrifices needed to make the world safer". Maclean's. Vol. 130, no. 9. pp. 22–22. ISSN 0024-9262. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
  • In this 2017 Macleans ' interview, available via The Wikipedia Library, and published in relation to Akhavan being chosen to give the 2017 Massey Lecture, the author Brian Bethune describes how Akhavan—who immigrated to Canada before the 1979 Iranian Revolution—was motivated to undertake a career in human rights in response to the assassinations in Iran as part of a campaign of Persecution of Baha'is.Oceanflynn (talk) 18:16, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

Removing outdated and irrelevant 2018 maintenance tags

I came across this article while looking for information on the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center and noticed that several maintenance tags from 2018 are still in place despite substantial changes since then. Over the past day I have reviewed and reorganized the references: of the 45 citations, only 2 are primary sources (and they are not essential and could be removed), while the rest are secondary sources, including media reports, books and academic works, government and official reports, human rights organizations and NGOs, and international organizations and courts. I have read these sources and believe that the article’s use of them is accurate. Given these improvements, I think the 2018 maintenance tags may no longer reflect the current state of the article and should be reconsidered.Oceanflynn (talk) 03:17, 11 March 2026 (UTC)