Pine, as one of the admins who has worked to fend off this sustained attack, I can attest it is exactly that. Your point is a valid one, but it does not apply to this situation. Pete [[User:Peteforsyth]] On Jun 5, 2016 7:13 AM, "Pax Ahimsa Gethen" <list-wikime...@funcrunch.org> wrote:
> I am defining harassment primarily as personal attacks, not merely > disputes (even strongly-worded disagreement) over content. > > Some examples of what I consider harassment: > > - Vandalizing an editor's user or talk page (hence my Inspire proposal: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IdeaLab/Protect_user_space_by_default > ) > > - Making derogatory comments about an editor's gender, sex, race, > ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, or (dis)ability > > - Posting personal information about an editor that was gathered off-Wiki > > - Evading bans with IP-hopping to do any of the above. > > These actions not only cause "net harm to community health," they cause > unnecessary, avoidable harm to specific individuals, and discourage > marginalized people from participating in the project. > > - Pax > > > On 6/5/16 5:09 AM, Pine W wrote: > >> Hi Pax, >> >> I agree that blaming the victim is an unsatisfactory resolution. >> >> On the other hand, defining what is meant by "incivility" and "harassment" >> can be very tricky. Just because there is a strong disagreement doesn't >> imply that people are being uncivil, and we cannot expect that no one will >> ever lose his or her temper when provoked. Similarly, a pattern of >> disagreement doesn't necessarily imply harassment, and the presumption of >> good faith is rebuttable which means that questioning the motives of >> others >> is occasionally OK. >> >> So, as Sumana once said, we have a tricky situation with regards to >> balancing free speech with hospitality. >> >> I think there are situations in which behavior is egregious enough that it >> is a net harm to community health and cannot be excused. For example, >> comments that demean someone on the basis of race, gender, age, >> nationality, or religious or political beliefs, are generally out of >> bounds. >> >> I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts about how we should define >> harassment, and how we should seek to reduce the frequency of it on >> Wikimedia sites. >> >> Thank you for speaking up. >> >> Pine >> On Jun 4, 2016 19:15, "Pax Ahimsa Gethen" <list-wikime...@funcrunch.org> >> wrote: >> >> Hi all, I'm Pax aka Funcrunch [1]. I've been a Wikipedian since 2008, but >>> this is my first post to this mailing list. (I've been reading list >>> messages on the archives page occasionally for the last several months.) >>> >>> I'm writing because of a concern I have about the community's attitude >>> toward harassment on Wikipedia. I got a Wikinotice about this month's >>> Inspire Campaign, which specifically asks: "What ideas do you have that >>> can >>> help prevent and generally address cases of harassment?" [2] As a victim >>> of >>> several of the harassing behaviors mentioned as examples - " name >>> calling, >>> threats, discrimination, stalking, and impersonation" - I was encouraged >>> to >>> see that this problem was (hopefully) being taken seriously by the >>> Foundation, and submitted a proposal. >>> >>> Looking at the other proposals submitted, I soon noticed that the most >>> popular "ideas" on the list included complaints of "political >>> correctness" >>> and suggesting we shouldn't be so sensitive [3], and that we should just >>> get some sleep and exercise and reconsider why we're so offended. [4] >>> (That >>> first "idea" has since been recategorized by a WMF staffer to remove it >>> from the current campaign.) >>> >>> It really bothers me that a campaign specifically designed to combat >>> harassment - which is a very serious and real problem for people of >>> marginalized identities like myself [5]- is being co-opted by people >>> saying >>> things like " Harassment doesn't cause actual damage," " The existence of >>> harassment is an opportunity to improve ourselves further through >>> self-discipline," and " Harassment on Wikimedia has been exaggerated." I >>> suggest that people who honestly believe this, but are willing to accept >>> that they might be wrong, read a recent essay about online harassment by >>> Anil Dash: "The Immortal Myths About Online Abuse." [6] >>> >>> I'm not "looking to be offended," and I'm not trying to "censor" people >>> who simply disagree with me. I'm trying to help build an encyclopedia, >>> without being harassed by block-evading stalkers hurling hate speech my >>> way. The existing tools and policies are *not* sufficient to deal with >>> this. That's (what I thought was) the point of this Inspire campaign, not >>> complaining about censorship and " crybullying." >>> >>> I've posted a much shorter version of this concern on the Inspire >>> Campaign >>> talk page [7], so feel free to weigh in there instead of here on the list >>> if that's more appropriate. Thank you for reading. >>> >>> - Pax, aka Funcrunch >>> >>> >>> [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Funcrunch >>> [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IdeaLab/Inspire >>> [3] >>> >>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IdeaLab/Stop_%22Political_Correctness%22_as_gauge >>> ! >>> [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IdeaLab/Don't_feed_the_trolls >>> [5] Queer, trans, and black, in my case. >>> [6] >>> >>> https://medium.com/humane-tech/the-immortal-myths-about-online-abuse-a156e3370aee >>> [7] >>> >>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:IdeaLab/Inspire/Meta#Blaming_the_victim >>> >>> > -- > Pax Ahimsa Gethen | p...@funcrunch.org | http://funcrunch.org > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
