Hi again, I understand that the discussions around controversial content, especially on Commons, have never been easy and we have never managed to get to a consensus.Don't get me wrong, I would also prefer to not change anything. I am not advocating for content-gating solutions with lawmakers. But I want to have this very difficult discussion, not avoid it.
The world is changing and age-gating will be a huge legislative topic in the years to come. I guarantee you that. And if we want to continue hosting things like Category:Anal sex <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Anal_sex>, Category:Pornographic_videos <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Pornographic_videos> or even File:Close_view._Dead_Gaza_girl_day_14_of_Gaza_War_(2008–2009).jpg <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Close_view._Dead_Gaza_girl_day_14_of_Gaza_War_(2008%E2%80%932009).jpg>, it will become very hard at some point to convince lawmakers that educational repositories like Commons should not be obliged to age-gate. My fear is that if we don't figure out an elegant way to convince people that graphic content on Commons is not an issue or don't give parents at least some control, we might get hit with harsh obligations that we don't like. This is why I am trying to escalate a debate on this. Here, at Wikimania and elsewhere. We need to figure out some answers, as a movement, so we can advocate for them. Cheers, Dimi Le jeu. 1 juin 2023 à 12:59, Henning Schlottmann <[email protected]> a écrit : > Kids of reading age have free access to all content of the world and > decide on their own what is of interest for them. This is true now for at > least one full generation. And the result? We have the least violence > between kids and the most peaceful generation since humanity exists. > > Specific educational content, aimed at certain age brackets does not > invalidates my claim, because this content is produced to raise interest in > topics. I speak of intrinsic motivation to learning and all of us remember > how we went far beyond "age appropriate" content to learn, when we were > motivated. I want our content to be available to everyone, who is actively > searching for and reading it. > > As soon as I could read, my parents put the family 20-volume Brockhaus > encyclopedia on the lower shelves in the living room. And I was fascinated > by the images of the human body that developed from page to page from the > outside of the nude body over a skinned body with the muscles showing, the > inner organs and arterial system to the bare skeleton. When I had read > almost all the children and most of the youth books in our small branch > library I ventured into the non-fiction section and read voraciously > through whatever I wanted that day. The librarians knew me by then of > course, and occasionally had to override the computer for me to borrow > books that were marked for a higher age bracket (the Munich municipal > library system has long since abandoned marking books for certain ages but > back then they did). > > Please do not even discuss this with law-makers, the communities will not > follow you. > > Henning > > Am 01.06.2023 12:33 schrieb Dimi Dimitrov <[email protected]>: > > Hi Henning, > > Just to put you at ease: I am not making such a proposal currently, but I > want to discuss options at Wikimania and other community events. > > I must however correct you on "Educational content is per se suitable for > all ages". This is simply not true. Most educational is written with very > specific age groups in mind. A three year old will learn from a specific > category of books (most of them clearly marked with an age recommendation), > while certain other topics (including sexual education, drugs, violence) > are introduced in educational materials targeted at older kids. I know of > no educational system in the world that doesn't apply some sort of age > appropriate structure. > > Dimi > > Le jeu. 1 juin 2023 à 12:23, Henning Schlottmann <[email protected]> > a écrit : > > Hi, > > Am 01.06.2023 10:17 schrieb Dimi Dimitrov <[email protected]>: > > > > Another general solution I personally like is to move age-verification to > the device or browser. [...] In this scenario the community would need to > provide metadata/categorisation for sensitive content. Not sure it is > feasible, but this is a universal approach that doesn't require the > hovering up of user data. > > > I don't want to consider this. Educational content is per se suitable for > all ages and should be exempt from any such demand. There is no age for > which educational content is "dangerous". > > And Dimi, please do not support any such proposal towards law-makers, > because the communities will not follow you. I promise you, and everyone on > this list, that all mayor projects will not categorize content for > "appropriate age". I for one will prefer to shut down Wikipedia over > censoring access to our work. > > Henning > _______________________________________________ > Publicpolicy mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > > > > -- > Dimitar Dimitrov > Policy Director > Wikimedia Europe > > mobile: +32497720374 > Rue Belliard 12 Belliardstraat, Brussels > https://wikimedia.brussels > > Wikimedia Europe ivzw > > > _______________________________________________ > Publicpolicy mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > -- Dimitar Dimitrov Policy Director Wikimedia Europe mobile: +32497720374 Rue Belliard 12 Belliardstraat, Brussels https://wikimedia.brussels -- Wikimedia Europe ivzw
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