Hello all,
As you may be aware, in December 2020 the Board of the Wikimedia Foundation
resolved to adopt a policy regarding conduct on all Wikimedia projects and
spaces called the Universal Code of Conduct (UCoC)
<https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Universal_Code_of_Conduct>.
The UCoC was created to provide a global baseline of acceptable behavior
for the entire movement without tolerance for harassment. It was created
through a collaborative process through two phases.
After the ratification of the policy, Phase 2 has focused on drafting
Enforcement
Guidelines
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Universal_Code_of_Conduct/Revised_enforcement_guidelines>.
The drafting committee has been revising the enforcement guidelines based
on community feedback from a community-wide vote in March of 2022, and
staff are engaging with the community
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Universal_Code_of_Conduct/Revised_enforcement_guidelines/Conversation_hours>
until the beginning of October for feedback on the revisions before the
committee reconvenes again to ingest and implement further changes.
In the course of conversations, it was raised that a footnote within the
policy itself
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Universal_Code_of_Conduct&oldid=23820546#3.1_%E2%80%93_Harassment>,
specifically within section 3.1, created equity issues within our community
and did not meet its intended purposes of supporting a safe and inclusive
environment
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Universal_Code_of_Conduct&oldid=23820546#3.1_%E2%80%93_Harassment>
.
In April 2022, the Community Affairs Committee of the Foundation’s Board of
Trustees asked staff to lead review of the note to the Board-ratified
Universal Code of Conduct policy (UCoC) section 3.1 “Harassment - Insults”.
After reviewing community sentiment on this note at the community
discussion and other venues, the Board of Trustees has resolved that it be
removed from the Universal Code of Conduct.
<https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Resolution:Revising_Universal_Code_of_Conduct,_September_2022>
The UCoC project team will implement this change directly.
Other potential changes to policy will be reviewed in upcoming rounds of
consultation as it moves into the implementation stage and we are able to
observe the policy in action. This particular provision was felt by a
number of people to be directly harmful to the policy’s goals and
unnecessary for the function of the policy. For that reason, we have
expedited review and action.
We want to thank everyone who contributed to conversations on this text and
worked to improve the UCoC policy.
Best,
Shani Evenstein Sigalov, on behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation's Board of
Trustees.
Shani Evenstein Sigalov
<https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/shani-evenstein-sigalov/>
Vice Chair, Board of Trustees
Chair, Community Affairs Committee
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>