Hi all,
*COVID-19* reveals the *crucial importance of digital civic engagement* and informational freedom for years to come. It will serve as a reference point for pointing out the *merit of voluntary work for Wikipedia *all over the world.
So WMDE decided to focus it's* summer policy brief *on how Wikipedia helps people all over the world with vital and trusted medical information ("COVID-19: Wie Wikipedia uns durch unsichere Zeiten hilft") https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Politikbrief_3_Sommer_2020_Wikimedia_Deutschland_e._V.pdf in june and distributed it to 6 federal parliamentary comittees of relevance for free knowledge.
We now had it translated to provide it to Wikimedians who might find it useful, e.g. for approaching policy makers in their local contexts: *"COVID-19: How Wikipedia helps us through uncertain times" https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_Policy_Brief_-_COVID-19_-_How_Wikipedia_helps_us_through_uncertain_times.pdf*
*Our main calls to parliaments and governments:*
- support and express appreciation for digital voluntary work (e.g. by implementing funding programmes) - public authorities ought to provide access to publicly funded data from administrative bodies, public institutions etc. in freely accessible and editable formats - support secure legal frameworks in this context - support evidence-based approaches to regulating online platforms (EU digital services Act)
Hope you might find the policy brief useful and happy about any feedback!
best regards Lilli