Dear free knowledge friends, We're in the middle of a busy season and there's no shortage of policy developments to share. Your (not comprehensive, definitely missing things) recap below. Please note I'm out of office from *May 18 - July 13;* should you need something from the WMF team during this time please contact the right individual <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation/Legal/Global_Advocacy/About>or our generic [email protected]. If you need something related to this list, Dimi from WMEU is your guy!
*Submit a MozFest session?* MozFest, the annual conference hosted by the Mozilla Foundation to celebrate the open source community is now accepting proposals. The proposal deadline <https://appv2.sessionboard.com/submit/mozfest-2026/84f42512-cfc7-421a-9ded-00bfb65cf4d4> is May 24th. The theme is "wilding": what happens when we loosen rigid systems and create the conditions for communities and technologies to evolve collectively, naturally, intuitively? Submissions should explore what it means to let our digital worlds grow wilder, more diverse, and more alive. It means community-owned mesh networks, federated platforms, open protocols, community archives and tools built on transparency, trust and mutual flourishing. A little birdie shared that this year they want to make it feel like even more of a festival, so a real focus on P&T demos, activations, and installations of all kinds. That's where you all come in. I'm thinking of @Richard Knipel <[email protected]>'s event at the AI Impact Summit, @Lydia Pintscher <[email protected]> anything WikiData related, and of course, this fits beautifully with @Evelin Heidel <[email protected]> 's work with the Climate Justice Working Group. If you're not sure where to start, talk to @Sadik Shahadu <[email protected]> - he's had multiple sessions accepted over the past few years. *Update: Advocacy network programming* Thank you to those who took the time to respond to our survey reviewing WMF's advocacy programming, collaboration, and communications. There's a few immediate changes we have lined-up, and a few sticky questions we'll be digging into via focus groups after Wikimania. For now... You said it’s not always clear where to find updates ➡️ We will centralize updates more clearly through the policy mailing list and streamline where key information is shared on Meta-Wiki. Details to be discussed in the focus group. You said quarterly advocacy calls and monthly internet governance calls are the most useful formats, but timezones are hard ➡️ We will continue investing in these calls and explore adding more regional and thematic policy briefings. We will start rotating timezones for regular calls. You said you want more opportunities for direct support from peers and collaboration ➡️ We will continue building spaces for peer exchange and relationship-building. You said Day Zero workshops would benefit from more practical exercises ➡️ We will incorporate more real-world scenarios and role-playing into future workshops. *Wikimania plans!* The advocacy day zero workshop is live! Feel free to register by adding your name to the event Meta-Wiki page <https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2026:Wikimania/Day_Zero_Advocacy_Workshop>. This will run on Tuesday, *July 21,* 2026, in-person only, at the conference venue, from *14:30 - 16:30*. We've got some great stories to share from the Wikimedia movement, including features from UN engagements, copyright in Brazil and Nigeria, and more. *What WMF has been up to...* 1. 🎉 The Wikimedia Foundation is now an official member <https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2026/05/13/wikimedia-foundation-joins-the-digital-public-goods-alliance/>of the UN-endorsed Digital Public Goods Alliance. We've committed to an advocacy initiative and a P&T initiative <https://new.digitalpublicgoods.net/roadmap/9e4d7409-9cb0-4072-ae16-eaceedb8068b> as part of our membership. Practically, it will strengthen our relationships with important players and access to global fora where decisions are made about the future of the internet and the role of the open knowledge movement within that future. Please incorporate this into any external talking points! Here is some guidance <https://docs.google.com/document/d/14XS-rJERlp6WCIwFBbvAXWUld1AJkcBSNSSMQ2xkoAA/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.fjgxhthb4mki> on how. 2. Unblocking access to Wikipedia for editors in Indonesia. Overview of our work <https://www.thejakartapost.com/business/2026/05/01/wikimedia-completes-indonesia-registration-under-threat-of-ban.html>; and you can put this in the broader context of DNS blocking as a tactic, as documented in this report from Article19 <https://www.article19.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ARTICLE-19_DNS-Abuse_FINAL_30.04.26.pdf> . 3. We participated in the stakeholder consultations leading up to the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance <https://www.un.org/global-dialogue-ai-governance/en> this July in Geneva, in close coordination with Wikimedia Switzerland and Wikimedia Deutschland. You can see our written submission here <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WMF_Submission_to_the_UN_Global_Dialogue_on_AI_Governance,_May_7_2026.pdf>. Amalia Toledo, our policy expert for Latin America, joined a related event hosted by the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) to gather input from civil society and Global Majority stakeholders to inform the July 2026 Global Dialogue on AI Governance. Amalia’s takeaway: *We need to be very clear in our message and make a specific demand. AI cannot remain accurate or reliable if its extractive business practices deplete the people-governed digital ecosystems on which it depends. We must demand a governance model that ensures fair reuse, attribution, and direct support for the human infrastructure of digital public goods.* 4. You can find a full recap of our April activities here <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2026/04/05/dont-blink-protecting-the-wikimedia-model-its-people-and-its-values-in-february-2026/> . *What Wikimedians and allies have been up to...* *Awareness raising about Wikimedia's unique model and value in the age of AI* - @Friederike von Franqué <[email protected]> from WMDE was on The Good Robot podcast, covering how feminist principles and decentralized infrastructure are transforming the internet from a corporate service into a public commons. Take a listen <https://open.spotify.com/episode/0SBkOol7WJ5GiX3rNAe4re?si=4nKbrr3FSYOm44_dySP_NA> ! - @Gonzalo Bazgan <[email protected]> from Argentina, @Regine Njiké <[email protected]> from Cameroon, and others have or are about to host informal information sharing events with local offices for the UN Department of Global Communications to help strengthen awareness of the important work Wikimedians do to strengthen information integrity. - @Daria Cybulska <[email protected]> @Sally Latham <[email protected]> from WMUK co-hosted a networking breakfast with me in London about *Information Integrity in the Age of AI.* Attendees included policy think tanks, children's rights organizations, academics, and publishers. These groups often talk to each other in 1:1 settings, but don't always have as wide of a network as Wikimedia groups do given our position as a platform operator, information broker, product owner, and civil society group all in one. Leaning into this convening power is something we can do in all countries. *Better arguments and new friends to protect open source and the digital commons?* - Our friends at Open Knowledge @Alek Tarkowski <[email protected]> and @Aditya Singh <[email protected]> are consolidating a joint research initiative in which we've reviewed all responses to the European Open Digital Ecosystems consultation in order to identify new policy arguments we can adapt, and new partners we may want to work with to better advocate for protections for the digital commons. Relatedly, the European Commission has removed the Open Source Strategy from its latest indicative list of points to be discussed at the Commission meetings. We expect more information to be shared shortly about how/where this will be pursued instead. Watch this space. - @Amalia Toledo <[email protected]> and @Renata Avila <[email protected]> are investigating what it means to understand and treat open knowledge as critical infrastructure <https://medium.com/wikimedia-policy/knowledge-as-critical-digital-infrastructure-a-call-to-action-for-a-resilient-future-5e23968b170e>. This is the advocacy work we'll be pursuing through our DPGA membership. Here's exactly what we committed to <https://new.digitalpublicgoods.net/roadmap/9e4d7409-9cb0-4072-ae16-eaceedb8068b> . *Copyright* - On April 29th, many on this list were in Paris for the Exploratory Dialogue <https://openheritagestatement.org/dialogue> event that CC hosted at UNESCO to celebrate the Open Heritage Statement <https://openheritagestatement.org/>. This event was a masterclass in two things: (1) how to put on excellent panels that feature diverse perspectives and concrete case studies about why open knowledge matters; (2) clear, concise talking points about the value of open knowledge. Luckily, you can find many of those talking points here <https://docs.google.com/document/d/13SF4F3jBk6pnD_3-ZS1exwyAerQtll4Z5a9rKj0Ookg/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.f5uvh0ld03f1>and watch the recordings. <https://creativecommons.org/2026/05/06/how-can-equitable-access-to-heritage-help-solve-global-challenges-an-exploratory-dialogue/> @Brigitte Vézina <[email protected]> @Dee Harris <[email protected]> *Online safety laws and age-verification in EU* - The EU's age verification app is technically ready <https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-says-age-verification-app-is-technically-ready?ref=internet.exchangepoint.tech>, von der Leyen announced, telling online platforms they have "no more excuses" for not checking users' ages. The app lets people verify their age via passport, national ID, or trusted providers like banks, without platforms logging any personal data. The Commission also set out a new recommendation <https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/commission-sets-out-common-approach-eu-wide-age-verification-technologies,> reiterating its approach. - The French Senate approved the social media ban for under-15s, becoming the first EU chamber to do so. The French law is relevant to Wikimedia: the text explicitly excludes from its scope online encyclopedias or platforms for developing and sharing free software. This is an important precedent. WMEU will work towards national laws and any eventual EU-level framework following suit. - Greece has announced plans <https://www.euractiv.com/news/greece-to-ban-anonymity-on-social-media/> to end anonymity on social media, requiring platforms to link all accounts to verified real identities. Most Wikimedia editors contribute pseudonymously or anonymously. Any mandatory real-identity verification regime, whether national or EU-wide, would be incompatible with how volunteer communities like ours function. We will monitor this future Greek proposal closely. - *Confused by all of this? Same. Some readings: *(1) A new IETF working draft <https://mallory.github.io/draft-knodel-age-arch/draft-knodel-age-arch.html?ref=internet.exchangepoint.tech> sets out a technology-neutral framework for age assurance on the internet, comparing methods across service, device, and network enforcement layers. (2) Researchers from Harvard's Berkman Klein Center argue in Science <https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aec7804?ref=internet.exchangepoint.tech> that blanket social media bans and age restrictions for children are blunt, often counterproductive tools; additional academic research <https://mikespecter.com/assets/pdf/AgeVerification.pdf> is starting to come out. (3) Overview of why these tools may be bad for privacy <https://spectrum.ieee.org/age-verification> rights. - *Still confused? Same. *WMF is working on a series of explainers that breakdown where this trend came from, how it affects our projects, what actions WMF and affiliates have taken around the world thus far, and what we need to do as a movement to prepare for how this trend will advance. @Stan Adams <[email protected]> @Amanda Jardine <[email protected]> *=== 🙏That's all (and only some of it) for now**🙏* * ===* Franziska Putz (she/her) Senior Movement Advocacy Manager Global Advocacy, Wikimedia Foundation [email protected] UTC Timezone
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