Dear all, Fjmustak (Farah Jack Mustaklem, a recent candidate for the WMF board) has uploaded a picture of the two jailed Wikipedians, Osama Khalid (User:OsamaK) and Ziyad Alsufyani (User:Ziad), to Commons:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Osama_Khalid_and_Ziyad_Alsufyani.jpg Andreas On Sun, Jan 8, 2023 at 12:41 AM Wikimedia Trust and Safety <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello everyone, > > We would like to thank you, Nanour, for the suggestion and apologize that > the suggestion was necessary. We have now translated our message to the > community into Arabic and posted a further update > <https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%A7:%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86/%D9%85%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AA#Foundation_statement> > there, as we were made aware that much of the erroneous information > spreading in the press and on social media is causing a lot of distress > within our Arabic Wikipedia communities. Here is the updated text: > > Our investigation and these bans are not connected to the arrest of these > two users. The ban decision impacted 16 users, not all of whom were > administrators, from Arabic and Farsi Wikipedia. As stated below, we have > no reason to believe that these individuals are all residents of Saudi > Arabia; on the contrary, this seems extremely unlikely. Further, we imagine > you are all aware that editors are volunteers, not paid by the Foundation, > and that the Foundation does not have offices or staff in Saudi Arabia. > > While, as stated, the December office action is unrelated to the arrests > of two Wikimedians in Saudi Arabia, the safety of Wikimedia volunteers > always remains our utmost concern. We understand the desire to take action > or speak out. Know that we need to act in the interests of any volunteer > whose safety is under threat. As indicated in yesterday’s message, > additional publicity around such cases can cause harm, as can speculation > and misinformation. We are confident that everyone values the safety of > their fellow volunteers and can understand the constraints this might > create. > > Best regards, > WMF Office/Trust and Safety > > > On Fri, Jan 6, 2023 at 7:26 PM Wikimedia Trust and Safety < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Hello everyone, >> >> Over the last couple of days, there have been several media reports about >> the Foundation’s most recent office action, taken on December 6 >> <https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/thread/NJUOKYM2UTKFH53OKGIXW6OSEEDUI3AL/>. >> More are certain to follow. These media reports are based on a release from >> SMEX and Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) that contains many >> material inaccuracies. Some of the errors will be obvious to our community >> - for perhaps the most obvious, the report states that the 16 users are all >> based in Saudi Arabia . This is unlikely to be the case. While we do not >> know where these volunteers actually reside, the bans of any volunteers who >> may have been Saudi were part of a much broader action globally banning 16 >> editors across the MENA region. Indeed, many of them are not active in the >> Arabic language projects. These organizations did not share the statement >> with the Foundation, and “sources of knowledge” as cited in their release >> can get things wrong. In addition, we do not have staff in the country >> named and never have, contrary to a message put out by the same groups on >> social media. >> >> As we noted in December in our statement, we are unable to discuss >> Foundation office actions in detail. The Foundation always lists >> accounts banned as a result of its investigations >> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMF_Global_Ban_Policy#List_of_global_bans_placed_by_the_Wikimedia_Foundation>. >> It is our goal to be as transparent as we can be within essential >> protection policies, which is why we do not ban in secret, but instead >> disclose accounts impacted and (when large numbers are involved) have >> disclosed the rationale. >> >> The roots of our December action stretch back over several years. We were >> initially contacted by outside experts who made us aware about concerns >> they had about Farsi Wikipedia. We can’t comment on that report right now, >> but it will be published by that organization soon. This report not only >> contributed to our August 23, 2021 modification of our non-disclosure >> agreement >> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Confidentiality_agreement_for_nonpublic_information&diff=21925066&oldid=21609723> >> to make it harder for rights-holders to be coerced, but led to further >> evaluation of issues across MENA. The December bans were the culmination of >> those evaluations. >> >> Wikimedia is, as mentioned above, an open knowledge platform, and it >> thrives on open participation. Investigations and global bans are not >> things that any of us take lightly, but the Foundation is committed to >> supporting the knowledge-sharing models that have created so many valuable >> information resources in hundreds of languages across the world. Our first >> line of defense of our Terms of Use >> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_use#4._Refraining_from_Certain_Activities> >> are our volunteers themselves. Where issues present a credible threat of >> harm to our users and to the security of Wikimedia platforms, we will do >> the best we can to protect both. >> >> We trust and hope that our communities understand that misinformation >> about this action has the potential to cause harm to the individuals >> involved. We believe in the incredible value produced by our volunteers >> across the globe, but even so we recognize that being found in >> contravention of a website’s Terms of Use — even in a manner that >> organization finds serious enough to warrant a ban — is not the equivalent >> of being convicted of any crime. Accordingly, we ask you to please be >> conscious of the real people involved, in the spirit of our long >> established respect for living people on our sites >> <https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Resolution:Biographies_of_living_people>. >> We realize that it is tempting to speculate, but we do ask you all to >> recall that people’s employment options, their relationships, and even >> their physical safety may be compromised by speculation. >> >> If anyone feels unsafe on Wikimedia projects, please use the local >> community processes or contact us. The Foundation and community will work >> together or in parallel to enhance the safety of all volunteers. To contact >> the Trust & Safety team please email [email protected] . >> >> Best regards, >> WMF Office/Trust and Safety >> > _______________________________________________ > 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/6CVH4JDZMB6ED7ITX767CGDZGUGU6AYS/ > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
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