Many thanks for sharing. *Olaniyan Ishola Olushola*
*CEO. Data Access Systems LtdChairman Local Organizing Committee (WikiIndaba2019) <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiIndaba_conference_2019/Team>Co-Producer, Wikipedia Campaign in Nigeria <https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=AUBPd3PTas0> ( Winner of the Best NGO in Africa ( African Excellence Award 2018) <https://af-pr.excellence-awards.com/winnerlist/best-of-2018/>) Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Co-Producer , Wiki Women Radio <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Women_Radio_Program>President, Wikimedia Nigeria <https://wikimedia.org.ng/>Treasurer, FOSSFAMember, Affiliates Committee ( Wikimedia Foundation)* *Administrator, Wikimedia Programs & Events Dashboard* *MD,Olbims ConsultingPhone: +2348167352512E: [email protected] <e%[email protected]>E: [email protected] <e%[email protected]>Facebook:Olaniyan SholaTwitter:oluwanishola73Wiki User Name: Olaniyan Olushola* * Wikipedia Campagn in Nigeria featuring Emmanuela * * One on One with Olushola Olaniyan ( TV Plus Africa) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGp_YqdOJzY&feature=youtu.be>* * https://youtu.be/DwTUGVv6Qng <https://youtu.be/DwTUGVv6Qng>* On Fri, Jun 14, 2024 at 10:19 AM Franziska Putz <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear friends, > > > I hope you’ve all had a lovely week. > > > This email contains key takeaways from the WMF Global Advocacy team who > attended a series of high-level digital rights events in Geneva. > > > At the end of May, experts on technology, online platforms, human rights, > and disinformation representing governments, industry, and civil society > descended upon Geneva, Switzerland for a week of important discussions > impacting the long-term future of our movement and projects. The Wikimedia > Foundation sent staff members to cover three concurrent conferences and to > both learn and represent our movement throughout. Below is our recap of the > discussions that took place and their implications for our movement. > > *Key Takeaways* > > - Wikimedia's involvement in international processes like the Global > Digital Compact > > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_Digital_Compact_Wikimedia_Advocacy_Collaboration_2024>is > appreciated, important, and should continue (even beyond the GDC > discussion). > > > - The Foundation's Human Rights Impact Assessment > > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Human_Rights_Impact_Assessment> > and Child Rights Impact Assessment > > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Child_Rights_Impact_Assessment>, > as well as publications on disinformation, are VERY compelling and > concrete assets we can use in discussions to prove our commitments and > signal our value in digital governance discussions. The same is true of > the* > WikiforHumanRights* campaign and how the movement increases the amount > of human rights-related information on-Wiki, particularly in non-English > languages (flagging for @Winnie Kabintie <[email protected]>). > As a movement we don't just talk the talk, we do the hard work to implement > our values too, and we lead by example here compared to other major > platforms. More movement members should point to and use these materials in > public policy discussions. > > > - Wikimedia has essential strengths that we bring to the table for > important discussions. These include: (a) protecting and supporting > journalist and promoting awareness that information is a public good ; (b) > avoiding an internet that is dominated by the English language and a > handful of US companies, a challenge that we counter with a vision of > linguistic and cultural diversity and representation, driven by bottom-up > community content governance. AI is part of these discussions. > > > - A lot of civil society and even government officials still haven't > noticed that we are a 'very large online platform' (VLOP) under the EU > Digital Services Act (DSA) > > <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/04/wikipedia-is-now-a-very-large-online-platform-vlop-under-new-european-union-rules-heres-what-that-means-for-wikimedians-and-readers/> > , which poses a risk to us if they are advocating for enforcement > processes and mechanisms that don't take Wikimedia projects into account at > all. > > ____ > > Reflections from the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 > Forum High-Level Event 2024 and the AI For Good Summit > > Session: "To share or not to share: the dilemma of open source vs. > proprietary Large Language Models" > > > Industry experts from the Linux Foundation, Meta, the Future of Life > Institute, Google, and the Wikimedia Foundation engaged in a deep dive into > the complexities of open-sourcing large language models (LLMs). The > conversation was framed around the benefits, challenges, and ethical > considerations of open source versus proprietary AI models. > > > Chris Albon of the Wikimedia Foundation spoke about the role of open > source language models in expanding access to knowledge. He emphasized the > importance of credit and sustainability for volunteer-driven platforms like > Wikipedia and the value of transparency and adaptability in open source > models. Albon also shared concerns about the potential for AI-generated > content to disconnect users from the original sources of information. [image: > 💡] You can watch Chris’ talk here > <https://www.youtube.com/live/oZJmBbuiYzc?t=13519s>. > > > Session: “Milestones, Challenges, and Emerging Trends in Freedom of > Expression and Media Development.” This session sought to look back over > the years at how the international community is doing to advance a WSIS > commitment made back in 2003 to essentially promote a responsible, > pluralistic media landscape. What surprised me is how, in looking back at > the original commitment from 2003, what many of those of us who attended > came to discuss - AI, disinformation at scale, social media, digital > platform governance, digital activism, etc. - were hardly imaginable when > the commitment was first drafted. Takeaway: [image: 💡] Despite the vast > changes in the media landscape in the past 21 years, there was a consensus > among participants that in order to protect the supply of reliable > information for citizens around the world, the international community > must work to protect and support journalists, debate platform governance, > and promote awareness that information is a public good. The Wikimedia > movement is, of course, well positioned to not only participate but to lead > in these areas and there are many allies out there for us to engage still. > Flagging for @Patricia Diaz <[email protected]> as you > raised this recently. > > Session: “Unpacking and Expanding Multistakeholderism in Practice.” This > session focused largely on multi stakeholder participation in the Global > Digital Compact and the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). Panelists agreed > that now is a pivotal moment for multistakeholderism as internet governance > discussions, as the mandate for the IGF is up for renewal. A key component > of multistakeholderism is, one panelist noted, capacity building among > civil society organizations to participate effectively, particularly in the > global majority. The same panelist lamented that (I’ll paraphrase) “we’ve > been talking about capacity building for decades, so why the hell are we > still having to talk about it? There’s still a need for it and now is the > moment, so we need to get it right and get it right quickly.” Takeaway: > [image: > 💡] This made us think about our own efforts to build the policy advocacy > capacity of Wikimedia affiliates- such as the workshops and Chile and the > skills building workshops we’ve been developing around Wikimania - and > convinced us that this is an important focus of our work and will help us > to amplify our impact in these discussions. > > Session: “Technology and Opportunities to Promote Human Rights.” This > session was hosted by the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human > Rights (OHCHR), Google, and Business for Social Responsibility (BSR). > During this session, the Global Advocacy team highlighted our human > rights policy > <https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/transparency/2022-1/human-rights-commitments-2022-1/> > and human rights > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Human_Rights_Impact_Assessment> > and child rights impact assessments > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Child_Rights_Impact_Assessment>, > as well as the work our team does to shape policies that uphold human > rights online proactively by engaging with policymakers and civil society > organizations. We also shared information about the WikiforHumanRights > campaign and how the Foundation works with volunteers to increase the > amount of human rights-related information on-Wiki, particularly in > non-English languages. Takeaway:[image: 💡] This was an excellent > opportunity to demonstrate our values and hard work to new stakeholders so > that we can increase the number of allies we have supporting us in these > spaces. > > > Reflections from the Freedom Online Coalition Strategy and Coordination > meetings: > > > About: The Wikimedia Foundation is part of the advisory network of the > Freedom Online Coalition <https://freedomonlinecoalition.com/> (FOC), a > partnership of 39 governments that work to advance Internet freedom. WMF > also co-chairs the FOC task force on Information Integrity > <https://freedomonlinecoalition.com/task_forces_and_wg/task-force-on-trustworthy-info-online/>. > Flagging for @Justice Okai-Allotey <[email protected]> and @Olushola > Olaniyan <[email protected]> as I know you were interested in FOC > work after DRIF. > > > The FOC organizes strategy and coordination meetings, usually twice a > year, to bring together the Freedom Online Coalition's member states and > the members of the FOC Advisory Network (AN), including the Wikimedia > Foundation. 2024 is a pivotal year for the governance of digital > technologies, marked by actions that could either strengthen or undermine > human rights online as well as existing global commitments to the > multistakeholder approach to Internet governance. [image: 💡] Therefore, > it was crucial that the Foundation attended and brought its perspective on > the future of Internet governance. > > > We had a chance to discuss two of the main processes in discussion this > year and, more in general, the future of the WSIS process, which comes to a > close next year, and whose future is under discussion at this time. The > meetings focused in particular on the Freedom Online Coalition’s own > activities, but also on this year’s Internet Governance forum, as well as > on the Global Digital Compact’s process with which the Foundation has been > highly involved (see our open letter > <https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2024/04/23/open-letter-protect-wikipedia-global-digital-compact/> > ). > > > ____ > > > I hope you found this useful! Have a great weekend, > > Ziski & WMF GA Team > > Franziska Putz (she/her) > > Senior Movement Advocacy Manager > > Global Advocacy, Wikimedia Foundation > > [email protected] > > UTC Timezone >
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