Of course Wikipedia has an article on it. :-) It refers to “the Middle East and North Africa.” From, I dream of horses She/her
> On Dec 6, 2022, at 12:01 PM, Nathan <[email protected]> wrote: > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MENA?wprov=sfla1 > > On Tue, Dec 6, 2022, 2:59 PM Neurodivergent Netizen > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> Can you tell us what MENA stands for? >> >> From, >> I dream of horses >> She/her >> >> >> >> >> >>> On Dec 6, 2022, at 8:28 AM, Wikimedia Trust and Safety <[email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>> >>> Hello all, >>> >>> On December 6th 2022, the Foundation undertook 16 global bans to users who >>> were engaging in conflict of interest editing on Wikipedia projects in the >>> MENA region. While we are unable to discuss Foundation office actions in >>> detail due to legal limitations and for the safety of our communities, we >>> would like to speak a little more to this situation as it involves the >>> safety and security of all of us. >>> >>> As Wikimedia projects have risen in prominence across the world, it has >>> attracted increasing attention of those who would like to control the >>> information published on it, for political or other reasons. Community >>> members have addressed concerns of this sort for many years, but sometimes >>> volunteers who intervene in such cases may themselves face retaliation for >>> their actions. The Foundation does its best to support volunteers in such >>> cases, in order to preserve their safety. >>> >>> In January of 2022, the Foundation began an investigation into alleged >>> conflict of interest editing on Wikipedia projects in the MENA region. In >>> that investigation, we were able to confirm that a number of users with >>> close connections with external parties were editing the platform in a >>> coordinated fashion to advance the aim of those parties. These connections >>> are a source of serious concern for the safety of our users that go beyond >>> the capacity of the local language project communities targeted to address. >>> Due to the gravity of this situation, and in order to keep our users and >>> the projects safe, the Foundation issued these 16 global bans. >>> >>> Such actions can be distressing to those who know individuals involved and >>> to those who don’t. They can cause volunteers to mistrust each other and to >>> mistrust the Foundation and to be unsure if they can safely contribute. We >>> are unable to share more details about this situation due to the reasons >>> mentioned above, but we want to assure you that the Foundation will >>> continue to explore various ways to keep everyone safe and free to >>> contribute to the projects. We want to thank those community members across >>> the globe who address such situations every day and encourage all of you to >>> consider how to be safe in your volunteer activities. We recognize that as >>> we move forward, we will need to work with our communities to find a global >>> process to navigate safety challenges that allow such situations to be >>> dealt with as transparently as possible while also prioritising avoiding >>> risk to the safety of our users. >>> >>> For anyone who feels unsafe on Wikimedia projects we encourage you to use >>> the local community processes or to contact us for assistance. The >>> Foundation and the community will work together, or in parallel, to enhance >>> the safety of all users whenever necessary with whatever means we can. >>> >>> To contact the Trust & Safety team please email [email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]>g. >>> >>> Kind regards, >>> >>> WMF Office/Trust and Safety >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]>, guidelines at: >>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >>> Public archives at >>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/NJUOKYM2UTKFH53OKGIXW6OSEEDUI3AL/ >>> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>, guidelines at: >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >> Public archives at >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/SOYG4CIA6H7WMAMWGRZWT3HJXPFEFVCJ/ >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>_______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > Public archives at > https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/PJJLIZDA4PA74PN45DBF3LCY4UATLCGI/ > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
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