[Advocacy Advisors] Italian Wikipedia community discussing defamation bill

[Stephen LaPorte]

Hello,

The Italian Senate is debating the defamation bill that the Italian
Wikipedia community previously protested. The community is discussing their
response here:
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Bar/Discussioni/Oggi_il_Senato_vota_su_diffamazione_e_diritto_all%27oblio

Here is a Google translation of some proposed banner text:

Dear readers,

once again the independence of Wikipedia is under threat.

In these hours, the Italian Senate is debating a bill on defamation ( DDL
n. 3491 ) which, if approved, would require each site (including Wikipedia)
the correction or deletion of your content on simple request those who
considered damaging to their image or their privacy, and provides for the
criminal conviction and fines of up to € 100,000 in the case of failure to
remove. Similar initiatives are not new , but this time their approval
seems imminent.

Wikipedia recognizes the right to the protection of the reputation of each
and volunteers that contribute for free already strive daily to ensure it.
The approval of this standard, however, be obliged to alter the content
regardless of their veracity . Such a requirement would distort the
fundamental principles of Wikipedia, would be an unacceptable restriction
of its autonomy and a grave threat to the activity of its 15 million
volunteers around the world, who would be inclined to stop dealing with
specific topics or characters, even only "no problems."

Wikipedia is the largest collective work in the history of the human race
in 12 years has become part of the habits of millions of Internet users in
search of a knowledge-neutral, free and above all free. The Italian edition
has almost a million entries, receiving 16 million visits every day, but
this rule may obscure them forever.

The Encyclopedia is the heritage of all. We will not allow it disappears.
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