This is the second time I remember that the Friendly Space Policy was invoked to remove a Wikimania attendee from a situation, presumably because of in-person misconduct on their part, where the removal was made public but the reason of removal was kept secret.
The problem with such secretive invocations of Friendly Space is that it is very difficult, as Reem and others have pointed out, to not see this as a punishment. I understand that it is very difficult to balance the specific, personal sensitivities and cultural preferences of several hundred people from different cultures. But as this discussion has shown, it is counter-productive to use Friendly Space this way, because other Wikimaniacs are left worrying what the appropriate behaviour is supposed to be. I don't know the details of this incident because it wasn't public. But from what I know of Romaine from previous Wikimanias, I'm disappointed that this incident couldn't have been handled behind the scenes with T&S and the people involved. The fact that Romaine felt the need to go public about his removal as an organiser showed mis-handling of process. Well, actually the previous time was 6 years ago, so maybe we're doing well. We did try reforming the friendly space policy around 2013-14 but couldn't agree on something better at the time... The doors of improvement always stay open for the Wikimedia movement. --Deryck On 20 July 2018 at 11:28, James Alexander <jalexan...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > Hey all, > > I am, as always, sorry, that this has spilled out into the public sphere > more I do not think that is ever a good thing as discussion of specific > situations like this only serves to increase discomfort, make people feel > even less safe and make victims of everyone. > > Event Safety and Friendly Spaces is a top priority of any conference > whether big or small as well as one of the issues that can be most > difficult to deal with since it is always a balance of situations, feelings > and people who are frequently acting in good faith. I can confirm that > Trust & Safety was involved here and, like most people who are working on > Friendly Spaces, we never aim to take serious actions if we are able to > avoid it. Most issues are dealt with by local attendees or organizing > volunteers with only short reminders or chats and escalate from there only > as things become more serious or repetitive. The same is true for T&S who > generally doesn't even become involved until it is a larger situation. I > will admit that whenever a local organizer or volunteer is involved the > seriousness is increased some because they are, rightly or wrongly, seen as > in a position of influence and power which amplifies any and all issues > that arise. It does not, however, change the focus of trying to take the > least amount of actions possible. > > I will be the first to admit (and did when talking to Romaine yesterday) > that he has done an enormous amount of great work for events and nothing we > did was meant to demean that even if it felt that way to Romaine. Like any > Friendly Spaces actions nothing we did was meant as a punishment (even > though, again, I understand it can feel that way) but was done because we > felt they were the best thing to do for event safety. I can certainly > guarantee that the decision was not taken lightly. > > As many have noted the entire story is not out in the open and, honestly, > won't be. I know that won't make everyone happy but unfortunately is almost > always going to be the case for specific cases. If you want to speak about > process questions and the like, the team (including myself) is certainly > willing to do so. We have a table on the 2nd floor or you can grab one of > us around the conference. > > James > > *James Alexander* > Manager, Trust & Safety (Operations) > Wikimedia Foundation > >
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