Hi all,
I have some good news to share with you all -- after nearly three years of
Wikipedia being blocked in Turkey, the Turkish Constitutional Court has
ruled that this is unconstitutional. We hope that access will be restored
soon in light of this ruling, and will keep you updated as we hear further
developments.
Please join me in congratulating the Wikimedia community in Turkey, the
millions of Wikipedia readers in Turkey, and all of those struggling under
censorship around the world, on this critical affirmation of the
fundamental right to knowledge.
Imposed in April of 2017, the block has prevented the 80+ million people in
Turkey from accessing and participating in all language versions of
Wikipedia. It also prevented members of our community in Turkey from freely
engaging with the projects and impaired our movement’s global effort to
represent the sum of all knowledge.
As many of you might recall, we had filed an urgent application to the
European Court of Human Rights in April 2019. Our petition on the legality
of the access ban is currently before the ECHR and we are evaluating our
next steps based on this latest ruling.
A team from within and outside the Wikimedia Foundation has been working
diligently since the block was instituted to restore full access in Turkey.
Throughout this process, we have been guided by our Wikimedia values and a
belief that Wikipedia must be accessible in its entirety; with no
censorship of any kind to be tolerated. We worked closely with Wikimedia
community members in Turkey to understand and act in a way that reflected
their needs, wishes, and local context. We also benefited greatly from
conversations with experts around the world.
We will be posting more information on the Foundation website soon. In the
meantime, I wanted to offer my sincere appreciation and admiration to the
members of our community in Turkey -- you have shown great integrity,
courage, and dedication. Your unwavering commitment to the Wikimedia
projects, despite the obstacles placed in front of you, is an inspiration
to us all.
Thank you to every Wikimedia community member around the world who showed
support for the Turkish community. Your commitment to our sense of
community and the strength of our global movement is an inspiration.
Finally, I would also like to thank the many Foundation staff and others
involved over the past months for your exceptional diligence,
professionalism, and tact in handling a delicate situation.
While this is a favorable ruling for our case in Turkey, it remains to be
seen whether the Turkish government will indeed restore access in Turkey.
And serious threats to free knowledge remain around the world. Today's
ruling is a reminder of the work we still left to do.
But at this moment, let us celebrate this important recognition that the
right to information is fundamental to every human, with happy anticipation
of the return of Turkey to our global community of editors, readers, and
knowledge seekers.
Katherine
--
Katherine Maher (she/her)
Executive Director
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
Hello colleagues,
Please allow me to introduce User:Clovermoss
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Clovermoss>. She volunteered to
collaborate with me on writing this and future issues of *What's Making You
Happy this Week?* and *The Signpost*'s "On the bright side".
Clovermoss is from Canada. She registered on English Wikipedia in September
2018, and she is a graduate of User:Nick Moyes
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Nick_Moyes>' adoption program
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Adopt-a-user>. She recently made
her 4,000th contribution.
Please treat Clovermoss as you would like to have been treated when you
were new here.
*From Clovermoss*:
This week, I'm thankful that I am going to start collaborating with Pine
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Pine> for *On The Bright Side*. I have
been a fan of this *Signpost* feature for a long time and I'm excited to
help make it happen. I'm also thankful for this photo
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fall%C3%A4tsche_South_Moss_in_Autumn.jpg>.
I find that photographs of nature have a tendency to appeal to me, and I
think that this one is stunning. I like moss for its unique texture and
just for being something that exists. I adore the leaves that can be seen
every autumn where I live, and I miss seeing them everywhere I go. However,
I'm also thankful for the comforting aspects of winter: hot chocolate,
candy canes, and the warmth at home.
*From Pine*:
I am grateful to Clovermoss for agreeing to collaborate. I think that
readers will appreciate seeing a new perspective and a new writing style.
Also, because I will spend less time writing *WMYHTW*, I think that I will
be able to spend a little more time on the pilot phase of NavWiki
<https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Navwiki>. NavWiki is progressing
slowly but well.
The topic of writing reminds me of a video clip from *Star Trek: The Next
Generation <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation>*.
In this scene, Captain Jean-Luc Picard
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Luc_Picard> receives a visit from the
alien "Q". Q is powerful and unpredictable. Here, he offers to help Picard
with drafting a speech (Youtube link)
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuyjhM1vL9I>.
Finally, some thoughts about listening
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listening>. Listening can be done casually,
aggressively, carefully, poorly, well, and any number of other ways.
Clovermoss appears to invest a lot of time and effort in listening. Captain
Picard did too. The actor who portrayed Picard, Patrick Stewart
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Stewart>, stated:
<https://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2019/07/everything-you-need-to-know-…>
"One of the things that I’ve come to understand is that as I talk a lot
about Picard, what I find is I’m talking about myself. There was a sort of
double action that occurred. In one sense Picard was expanding like this
and at the same time he was also growing closer and closer to me as well
and in some respect I suppose even had some influence on me. I became a
better listener than I ever had been as a result of playing Jean-Luc Picard
because it was one of the things that he does terrifically well."
*Closing comments*
What’s making you happy this week? You are welcome to write in any
language. You are also welcome to start a WMYHTW thread next week.
Additional translations of the subject line of this email would be
appreciated on Meta
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine/WMYHTW_translations>. Thanks to
User:Lucas_Werkmeister
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Lucas_Werkmeister> for the German
translation.
Best wishes,
Pine
( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine )
Hello colleagues,
The Wikimedia Café meetings have generally been well received. We had
approximately seven people in the December meeting. In an attempt to make
the meetings be accessible to more people, in January 2020 the Café is
tentatively scheduled for a Saturday, and the Café will be earlier in the
day. The meeting will be on 25 January 2020 at the following time: 11:30 AM
EST, 4:30 PM UTC, and 10 PM ITC.
During the most recent Café we had an extensive discussion about
documentation for Wikitext and templates. We ran out of time to discuss
NavWiki <https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/NavWiki>. For the January
meeting the only non-introductory agenda item so far is NavWiki. You are
welcome to add more items to the agenda
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Caf%C3%A9#25_January_2020_at_11:3…>
.
As usual, the meeting style for the Café will emphasize discussion rather
than presentation. People are welcome to participate as listeners only if
they prefer.
Please see the page on Meta
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Caf%C3%A9> for more information
about the Café. Please watch the page for any updates, particularly to the
schedule or the agenda. Signing up for the meeting is optional, but is
helpful to the organizers so that we can estimate how many people will
attend. Signing up for the meeting also informs us who we should notify
individually if there are significant changes, such as changes to the
schedule.
If there are any problems with connecting to the meeting or if you have any
questions or comments then please write on the Meta talk page.
Best wishes for the new year,
Pine
( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine )
Hi all, and happy holidays to everyone who celebrates them now.
We at Wikimedia Ukraine are wrapping up the year, and we decided to look
back at our biggest highlights and achievements in 2019.
In 2019, we celebrated our 10th anniversary, developed a long-term strategy
— and continued to develop all our landmark projects and programs, such as
Wiki Loves Earth, Wiki Loves Monuments, Wikipedia Education Program, fight
for the freedom of panorama in Ukraine, and much more.
Check a detailed article on our blog —
https://wikimediaukraine.wordpress.com/2019/12/28/wmua-2019-en
Best,
Anton Protsiuk
Project Manager at Wikimedia Ukraine
Dear friends and colleagues
before new year I would like to share the wonderful news that we received
today. Turkey's Constitutional Court finds that the Wikipedia ban
constitutes a violation of the right to freedom of expression. The high
court also requests Ankara 1st Criminal Judgeship of Peace to remove the
ban immediately. Wikipedia has been banned since Apr 2017.
Mardetanha
Hello Wikim[p]edians,
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate and a wonderful New year as we clock
this year to an end.
Please find here a link to our newsletter for November
<https://mailchi.mp/75bf2c909870/november-2019-newsletter> which highlights
current happenings from our community and upcoming activities to
participate remotely.
Don't forget to subscribe to keep updated!
Have a great day!
Best,
Joy
On Behalf of Open Foundation West Africa
