Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2023-07-03/News and notes: Difference between revisions
flesh out UK story (sorry Andreas, started writing this before seeing your edit) |
|||
| Line 20: | Line 20: | ||
{{Signpost inline image|image=File:PalouseHillsFromSteptoeButteMay2017-10.jpg|caption=Example inline image and caption.}} |
{{Signpost inline image|image=File:PalouseHillsFromSteptoeButteMay2017-10.jpg|caption=Example inline image and caption.}} |
||
===Lead story one=== |
|||
===Foundation and British chapter launch last-ditch attempt to get Wikipedia exempted from the UK's sweeping "Online Safety Bill"=== |
|||
https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/thread/CNMMIKXE66NSYT4NTLXOE22RDOMNL4JA/ |
|||
On June 29, [[Wikimedia UK]] and the Wikimedia Foundation published an [https://wikimedia.org.uk/2023/06/online-safety-bill-open-letter/ open letter] (accompanied by [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kTQSQU8VPhq-_AHg95ZYcL19Vdqrqf1m2U5X7Q0_eT0/edit social media campaign]) asking the UK government and parliament to exempt "public interest projects" - such as Wikipedia - from the proposed [[Online Safety Bill]]. The chapter states in [https://medium.com/freely-sharing-the-sum-of-all-knowledge/protect-the-future-of-wikipedia-in-the-uk-9c1bbc5d039a an accompanying Medium post] that |
|||
{{tqb|"[the OSB's] requirements around content moderation, age-gating, and user verification are incompatible with the way in which information on Wikipedia is created and curated, as well as the website’s commitment to user privacy and freedom of speech. ... As it is currently written, the Online Safety Bill could require the Wikimedia Foundation to collect data about Wikipedia users’ identities, track their actions, intervene in their editing processes, and interfere with their ability to set and enforce rules for what constitutes well-sourced neutral content about a given subject. Such requirements are counter to Wikipedia’s editorial [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Policies_and_guidelines guidelines and policies], as well as its [https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Privacy_policy privacy policy]."}} |
|||
In a [https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/publicpolicy@lists.wikimedia.org/thread/G3EIF2YKHI3UOUSYV33HITYO5MNUOTBW/ post] on the Public Policy mailing list, the WMF's Global Advocacy team put the open letter in context of previous efforts (see [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=%22online+safety+bill%22&prefix=Wikipedia%3AWikipedia+Signpost%2F20&title=Special:Search&profile=advanced&fulltext=1&ns0=1 our previous reporting]) and stressed its timeliness: |
|||
{{tqb|"In December 2022, Wikimedia UK and the Wikimedia Foundation began outreach to British regulators to educate them on how our projects work and how the Online Safety Bill would threaten them. Over the last several months, we ramped up our advocacy efforts as the bill was debated in the House of Lords. We successfully convinced key Lords and Baronesses to support our proposed amendments and built public and media attention, but the UK Government has resisted making the necessary changes.<br> |
|||
Our best chance of protecting Wikipedia is to persuade the UK Government to exempt public interest projects from the OSB, so we’ve written this open letter and formed a coalition of signatories. The list is a testament to the network of allies that WMUK has established over years of promoting free knowledge in the UK. If the government fails to act, our last chance to push this exemption to protect Wikipedia is with Parliament during the Bill’s [[Act_of_Parliament_(UK)#Report_stage|“Report Stage”]] voting, starting on 6 July."}} |
|||
https://wikimedia.org.uk/2023/06/online-safety-bill-open-letter/ |
|||
===Elections Committee=== |
===Elections Committee=== |
||
Revision as of 05:29, 2 July 2023
 Article display preview: | This is a draft of a potential Signpost article, and should not be interpreted as a finished piece. Its content is subject to review by the editorial team and ultimately by JPxG, the editor in chief. Please do not link to this draft as it is unfinished and the URL will change upon publication. If you would like to contribute and are familiar with the requirements of a Signpost article, feel free to be bold in making improvements!
| ||||
YOUR ARTICLE'S DESCRIPTIVE TITLE HERE
Foundation and British chapter launch last-ditch attempt to get Wikipedia exempted from the UK's sweeping "Online Safety Bill"
On June 29, Wikimedia UK and the Wikimedia Foundation published an open letter (accompanied by social media campaign) asking the UK government and parliament to exempt "public interest projects" - such as Wikipedia - from the proposed Online Safety Bill. The chapter states in an accompanying Medium post that
"[the OSB's] requirements around content moderation, age-gating, and user verification are incompatible with the way in which information on Wikipedia is created and curated, as well as the website’s commitment to user privacy and freedom of speech. ... As it is currently written, the Online Safety Bill could require the Wikimedia Foundation to collect data about Wikipedia users’ identities, track their actions, intervene in their editing processes, and interfere with their ability to set and enforce rules for what constitutes well-sourced neutral content about a given subject. Such requirements are counter to Wikipedia’s editorial guidelines and policies, as well as its privacy policy."
In a post on the Public Policy mailing list, the WMF's Global Advocacy team put the open letter in context of previous efforts (see our previous reporting) and stressed its timeliness:
"In December 2022, Wikimedia UK and the Wikimedia Foundation began outreach to British regulators to educate them on how our projects work and how the Online Safety Bill would threaten them. Over the last several months, we ramped up our advocacy efforts as the bill was debated in the House of Lords. We successfully convinced key Lords and Baronesses to support our proposed amendments and built public and media attention, but the UK Government has resisted making the necessary changes.
Our best chance of protecting Wikipedia is to persuade the UK Government to exempt public interest projects from the OSB, so we’ve written this open letter and formed a coalition of signatories. The list is a testament to the network of allies that WMUK has established over years of promoting free knowledge in the UK. If the government fails to act, our last chance to push this exemption to protect Wikipedia is with Parliament during the Bill’s “Report Stage” voting, starting on 6 July."
Elections Committee
Brief notes
- Annual reports: Wikimedia Ukraine (in Ukrainian, English-language Diff post with key highlights here. For more on Ukraine see Stories of Ukrainian Wikimedians during the war
- New user-groups: The Affiliations Committee announced the approval of this month's newest Wikimedia movement affiliate, the .
- New administrators: The Signpost welcomes the English Wikipedia's newest administrators,
- Milestones: The following Wikimedia projects reached milestones this week:
- Articles for Improvement: This week's Article for Improvement is ARTICLE. Please be bold in helping improve this article!
Discuss this story