Wikinews:Water cooler/miscellaneous/archives/2023/February



Last call to vote on revised UCoC enforcement guidelines!

Hi all,

A friendly and final reminder that the voting period for the revised Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement Guidelines closes tomorrow, Tuesday, 31 January at 23:59:59 UTC.

The UCoC supports Wikimedia’s equity objectives and commitment to ensuring a welcoming, diverse movement, and it applies to all members of our communities. Voting is an opportunity for you to be a part of deciding how we uphold this commitment to our community and each other!

To vote, visit the voter information page on Meta-wiki, which outlines how to participate using SecurePoll.

Many thanks for your interest and participation in the UCoC!

On behalf of the UCoC Project Team, JPBeland-WMF (talk) 21:31, 30 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hello all,
The vote on the Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement Guidelines is now closed. The results will now be counted and scrutinized to ensure that only eligible votes are included. Results will be published on Meta and other movement forums as soon as they become available, as well as information on future steps. Thank you to all who participated in the voting process, and who have contributed to the drafting of Guidelines.
On behalf of the UCoC Project Team,
JPBeland-WMF (talk) 21:47, 1 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Tech News: 2023-06

MediaWiki message delivery 10:21, 6 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Universal Code of Conduct revised enforcement guidelines vote results

The recent community-wide vote on the Universal Code of Conduct revised Enforcement Guidelines has been tallied and scrutinized. Thank you to everyone who participated.

After 3097 voters from 146 Wikimedia communities voted, the results are 76% in support of the Enforcement Guidelines, and 24% in opposition. Statistics for the vote are available. A more detailed summary of comments submitted during the vote will be published soon.

From here, the results and comments collected during this vote will be submitted to the Board of Trustees for their review. The current expectation is that the Board of Trustees review process will complete in March 2023. We will update you when their review process is completed.

On behalf of the UCoC Project Team, JPBeland-WMF (talk) 19:30, 13 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Tech News: 2023-07

MediaWiki message delivery 01:48, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Mentioned (briefly) by the Press Gazette

The Press Gazette, apparently some UK meta-news outlet, ranked the top 25 media startups since 2000. One is the WMF, and thus: "Top news/information brands: Wikipedia, Wikinews, Wikimedia Commons...Its flagship [sic] project is [sic] online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia but the non-profit also publishes Wikinews, a platform which provides free news content that purports to be neutral." To be expected, though. Heavy Water (talk) 05:04, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Wow! That's great for WMF to be listed in one of the top media outlet. M:DRC (talk) 05:20, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Weird to use 2000 as a line in the sand. Is that to avoid Google (Alphabet) and Amazon (and possibly others) from being on the list? But it is nice that Wikinews got mentioned as part of WMF. Usually, we get ignored. SVTCobra 05:34, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Wikipedia regularly and consistently scoops the general press; the project does so in part by not reviewing before publication (although new edits are not shown by default, they are still available - and bots monitor them for scoops.) Instant gratification is a big motivator. - Amgine | t 17:50, 19 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Tech News: 2023-08

MediaWiki message delivery 01:57, 21 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Community feedback-cycle about updating the Wikimedia Terms of Use starts

Hi everyone,

From February, 21 to April 2023, the Wikimedia Foundation Legal Department is hosting a feedback cycle about updating the Wikimedia Terms of Use (ToU). Detailed information has been published on Meta here.

The Terms of Use are the legal terms that govern the use of websites hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. Feedback on the draft proposal will be gathered from February through April.

This update comes in response to several things:

  1. Implementing the Universal Code of Conduct
  2. Updating project text to the Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 license (CC 4.0)
  3. A proposal for better addressing undisclosed paid editing
  4. Bringing the ToU in line with current and recently passed laws affecting the Wikimedia Foundation including the European Digital Services Act

Regarding the Universal Code of Conduct and its enforcement guidelines, we are instructed to ensure that the ToU include it in some form.

Regarding CC 4.0, the communities had determined as the result of a 2016 consultation that the projects should upgrade the main license for hosted text from the current CC BY-SA 3.0 to CC BY-SA 4.0. We’re excited to be able to put that into effect, which will open up the projects to receiving a great deal of already existing CC BY-SA 4.0 text and improve reuse and remixing of project content going forward.

Regarding the proposal for better addressing undisclosed paid editing, the Wikimedia Foundation intends to strengthen its tools to support existing community policies against marketing companies engaged in systematic, undisclosed paid editing campaigns.

Finally, regarding new laws, the last ToU update was in 2015, and that update was a single item regarding paid editing. The last thorough revision was in 2012. While the law affecting hosting providers has held steady for some time, with the recent passage of the EU’s Digital Services Act, we are seeing more significant changes in the legal obligations for companies like the Wikimedia Foundation that host large websites. So with a decade behind us and the laws affecting website hosts soon changing, we think it’s a good time to revisit the ToU and update them to bring them up to current legal precedents and standards.

As part of the feedback cycle two office hours will be held, the first on March 2, the second on April 4.

See the page on Meta to get all the information.

For further information, please consult:

On behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation Legal Team, JPBeland-WMF (talk) 15:39, 21 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Your wiki will be in read only soon

Trizek (WMF) (Collaboration) 21:20, 27 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Tech News: 2023-09

MediaWiki message delivery 23:47, 27 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]