Thank you Christophe and the rest of the Wikimedia Foundation trustees for dedicating time and thought to this important topic.
I'm optimistic that if we collaborate together as a community we can make a difference in the level of harassment on Wikimedia projects and maybe even other parts of the internet. Sydney Sydney Poore User:FloNight On Thu, Dec 8, 2016 at 3:18 PM, Christophe Henner <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello everyone, > > As many of you know, over the past couple of years the Wikimedia Foundation > has taken a focused look at community health—particularly in regards to > harassment. The Foundation's Board has been monitoring and discussing this > issue over the past year with great interest. We have prepared a statement > offering our thoughts on this topic, and providing a clear mandate for the > Foundation’s leadership to fully engage on this issue. > > Our statement is below and has been posted on Meta-Wiki, where it is set up > for translation: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/November_2016_-_Statement_on_Healthy_Community_Culture,_Inclusivity,_and_Safe_Spaces > > Since the Foundation was established, we have been invested in building a > positive community culture. As part of these efforts, we have monitored the > projects for instances of harassment, escalating our capacity to respond in > recent years. Thanks to the work of the Foundation's Support and Safety > Team, we now have data in the form of the 2015 Harassment Survey[1] about > the nature of the issue. This has enabled us to identify key areas of > concern, and step up our response appropriately. This research shows that > harassment has a negative impact on participation in our projects. This has > implications for our ability to collect, share, and disseminate free > knowledge in support of the Wikimedia vision. Our statement speaks to the > Board's duty to help the Foundation fulfill its mission. > > The Board is committed to making our communities safer and will not accept > harassment and toxic behavior on Wikimedia projects. We believe this matter > deserves the Foundation's attention and resources, and have confirmed this > responsibility at our latest Board meeting on November 13th. The questions > that lay before us all now are how to best address this threat, rather than > if we should attempt to do so. > > The Board especially appreciates and applauds the work being done to > address this important issue by many community leaders across the movement > and teams within the Foundation. We look forward to seeing this cooperative > work not only continue, but expand. Finally, we encourage everyone who is > interested in helping the Foundation address this threat to our vision and > mission to engage in the upcoming discussions around this issue. > > On behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees, > > Christophe Henner, Board Chair > > María Sefidari, Board Vice Chair > > [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Harassment_survey_2015 > > > Statement by the Wikimedia Board on Healthy Community Culture, Inclusivity, > and Safe Spaces > > > At our Board meeting on November 13, and in Board meetings in September and > June, we spent considerable time discussing the issues of harassment and > hostility on the internet generally, and more specifically on the Wikimedia > projects. > > This is an important issue. Approximately 40% of internet users, and 70% of > women internet users, have personally experienced harassment.[1] Of people > who have reported experiencing harassment on Wikimedia projects, more than > 50% reported decreasing their participation in our community.[2] Based on > this and other research, we conclude that harassment and toxic behavior on > the Wikimedia projects negatively impacts the ability of the Wikimedia > projects to collect, share, and disseminate free knowledge. This behavior > is contrary to our vision and mission. > > Our communities deserve safe spaces in which they can contribute > productively and debate constructively. It is our belief that the Wikimedia > Foundation should be proactively engaged in eliminating harassment, > promoting inclusivity, ensuring a healthier culture of discourse, and > improving the safety of Wikimedia spaces. We request management to dedicate > appropriate resources to this end. > > We urge every member of the Wikimedia communities to collaborate in a way > that models the Wikimedia values of openness and diversity, step forward to > do their part to stop hostile and toxic behavior, support people who have > been targeted by such behavior, and help set clear expectations for all > contributors. > > [1] 2014 Pew Research Center Study, found at: > http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/10/22/online-harassment/ > > [2] 2015 WMF Harassment Survey, found at: > https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Harassment_Survey_2015_-_Results_Report.pdf > > > > Christophe HENNER > Chair of the board of trustees > [email protected] > +33650664739 > > twitter *@schiste* skype *christophe_henner* > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > New messages to: [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines New messages to: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe>
