Thoughts tagged "Wikipedia"

Short thoughts, notes, links, and musings by . RSS

Something I wish journalists understood better: anyone can nominate an article for deletion on Wikipedia, which kicks off a week-long discussion — even if the article is perfectly acceptable and will ultimately be kept. This does not mean "Wikipedia is trying to delete X!!"

Half the time I see news articles about "Wikipedia is trying to delete X!", I go look at the discussion and it's

Long column of "Keep" votes in a Wikipedia deletion discussion

This long read in The Verge does a remarkable job of describing how Wikipedia's editing community works, the project's strengths and weaknesses, and the threats it faces.

In a time of misinformation, in a time of suppression, having this place where people can come and bring knowledge and share knowledge, that is a statement.
The site's volunteers face threats from Trump, billionaires, and AI.

I’ve spent the better part of two decades dealing with people trying to dox and harass the volunteers who make Wikipedia the incredible resource it is today.

I liked it better when they weren’t in Congress.

Letter from House Oversight Committee Chairs James Comer and Nancy Mace

I also spent six years on the same (volunteer!) Arbitration Committee from which Oversight is now demanding private communications. Even just threats like this one, regardless of followthrough, will it so much harder for them to do their thankless work.

Looking forward to the full-throated condemnation of this letter by those who accused the Biden administration of pressuring social media firms to moderate COVID-19 and election fraud misinfo! Any second now...

Ed Martin, interim US attorney for DC, has written a letter to the Wikimedia Foundation, threatening its status as a nonprofit entity.