Hello, everyone,
I'm writing with information about the Ombuds Commission (OC), the small
group of volunteers who investigate complaints about violations of the
privacy policy, and in particular concerning the use of CheckUser and
Oversight tools, on any Wikimedia project for the Board of Trustees. I
apologize for the length of the announcement. :)
The application period for new commissioners for 2024-26 recently closed.
The Wikimedia Foundation is extremely grateful to the many experienced and
insightful volunteers who offered to assist with this work.
This year’s OC will consist of thirteen members and one Steward-Observer.
We are experimenting this year with expanding the committee's "regular"
member headcount and leaving vacant the "advisor" positions, which
historically have basically functioned as alternates in case of committee
member attrition.
I am pleased to announce the composition of the 2024 OC:
Ombuds Commission membersだ＊ぜ <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=%E3%81%A0%EF%BC%…
だ＊ぜ, who also may be referred to as Dasze, has been contributing to
Wikimedia since 2015. He's primarily active on Chinese Wikimedia projects,
where he later served as a director of Wikimedia Community User Group Hong
Kong from 2019 to 2023 while users in Hong Kong were suffering various
affection in and out of Wikimedia projects. His expertise is international
law, human rights law, and statistical and quantitative analysis thereon.
He speaks Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese, English and some Japanese.
This is Dasze's first year on the Ombuds Commission and he has been
appointed for a 2-year term.
AGK <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=AGK
AGK has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2008. He is primarily active
on English Wikipedia, where he has been an administrator, Checkuser, and
Oversighter and has served as an Arbitrator. AGK served on the Ombuds
Commission in 2020 and 2021 and again in 2023. AGK's term on the Ombuds
Commission expires in 2026.
Ameisenigel<
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Ameisenigel
Ameisenigel has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2015. He is primarily
active on German Wikipedia, where he served as an Arbitrator from 2020 to
2022, and on Wikidata and is an administrator on both projects. He is also
active as a translation admin in several projects. Ameisenigel speaks
German and English. He has been on the Ombuds Commission since 2021 and his
current term expires in 2026.
Bennylin <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Bennylin
Bennylin has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2004. He's primarily
active on Indonesian and Javanese Wikiprojects, where he's sysop in 6 of
them, Checkuser in Indonesian Wikipedia, bureaucrat in Indonesian
Wiktionary, and also active in Commons, Meta, Wikidata, and MediaWiki. He
has previously served as a global Steward. He speaks Indonesian, English,
Javanese, Chinese and some Spanish. Bennylin has been on the Ombuds
Commission since 2023 and his term expires in 2025.
Daniuu <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Daniuu
Daniuu has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2019. They are primarily
active on Dutch Wikipedia, where they are a sysop and have been a member of
the Arbitration Committee. They are also a global sysop and focus on
counter-vandalism work. Daniuu speaks Dutch and English. Daniuu has been on
the Ombuds Commission since 2023 and their term expires in 2025.
Doǵu<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Do%C7%B5u
Doğu Abaris (Doǵu) has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2012. He is
primarily active on Turkish Wikipedia, where he has served as an
administrator, interface administrator, and oversighter. Additionally, he
is a volunteer MediaWiki developer and is currently working on the Auditor
MediaWiki extension. He is studying software and data engineering at
Singidunum University in Belgrade. His term on OC runs through 2026.
Emufarmers <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Emufarmers
Emufarmers has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2005. He is a
Metapedian who primarily edits the English Wikipedia; he is also a
bureaucrat and sysop on
MediaWiki.org, and has provided software support to
many third-party, non-Wikimedia wikis over the years. He has served as a
VRTS administrator since 2015 and has been on the Elections Committee since
2023. He served on the Ombuds Commission from 2019-2021 and again in 2023.
His current term expires in 2026.
Faendalimas <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Faendalimas
Scott Thomson, user:Faendalimas, has been editing Wikimedia projects since
2006. Originally Australian though based in Brazil, he is a taxonomist and
evolutionary biologist with a background in International Wildlife Policy,
his main editing interest is reptiles and amphibians. He is most active on
WikiSpecies, where he is a bureaucrat, Checkuser, and administrator.
Faendalimas speaks Portuguese and English. He has served on the Ombuds
Commission since 2021 and as Chair from 2022 to 2023, and has been
appointed for a two-year term this year.
MdsShakil <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=MdsShakil
MdsShakil has been contributing to Wikimedia projects since 2019. He is
active on Bengali Wikipedia, Bengali Wikibooks, Wikidata, and Commons. He
is an administrator on Bengali Wikipedia and Bengali Wikibooks and serves
as a global renamer, global rollbacker, and global sysop. He speaks Bengali
and English. MdsShakil has been on the Ombuds Commission since 2023, and
his term expires in 2025.
Minorax <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Minorax
Minorax has been active on Wikimedia projects since 2019. They are a
Metapedian who is active on a large number of projects, including Commons,
where they have over 400,000 edits, English Wikipedia, and Meta, where they
are a Checkuser. They are also a global sysop. Minorax speaks English and
Chinese. Minorax has been on the Ombuds Commission since 2023 and his term
expires in 2025.
Nehaoua<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Nehao…
Nehaoua holds a master's degree in Highway and Bridge Engineering and
currently works as a Civil Engineer. However, his true passion lies with
knowledge and its free access for all. Since 2009, Nehaoua has been an
active Wikimedian, contributing significantly across various projects like
French and Arabic Wikipedia, Wikidata, Wikisource, and Wiktionary. Nehaoua
is fluent in Arabic and French, and is actively improving his English
language skills. Nehaoua's term on OC expires in 2026.
Renvoy<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Renvoy
Renvoy has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2014. He is primarily
active on Ukrainian Wikipedia, where he serves as administrator. Also he
holds roles of global sysop and global rollbacker. Renvoy speaks Ukrainian,
Russian, English, Polish and Lithuanian. His current term runs through 2026.
RoySmith <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=RoySmith
Roy Smith has been editing Wikipedia since 2004. He has been an admin on
English Wikipedia since 2005 and a checkuser since 2021. Previously an
active sockpuppet hunter, as of late 2023, he has dialed that back to
concentrate more on content creation. He is looking forward to working on
the Ombuds Commission and meeting new colleagues from other wiki projects.
His term on OC runs through 2026.
Steward-Observer
The Steward-Observer serves as a liaison between the Ombuds Commission and
the Stewards. The Steward-Observer is a non-voting, advisory role. The
Steward-Observer was nominated by the Stewards and is appointed by the
Wikimedia Foundation to a one-year term. This year's Steward-Observer is…
Vermont <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=Vermont
Vermont (they/them) has been contributing to Wikimedia projects since 2016.
They have been a steward since February 2022, and previously a global sysop
and rollbacker. Vermont is an administrator and checkuser on Meta-Wiki and
the Simple English Wikipedia, and formerly volunteered on the UCoC Phase 2
and Revisions drafting committees. They served as Steward-Observer for the
Ombuds Commission in 2023-24 as well. Vermont's term as Steward-Observer
expires in 2025.
Departing members
Please join me in thanking the following volunteers who are leaving OC, who
have given substantially of their time to serve the commission:
JJMC89 <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth?target=JJMC89
JJMC89 has been contributing to Wikimedia projects since 2015. He is
primarily active on the English Wikipedia, where he has more than 300,000
edits and is an administrator and bot operator, and Commons. He also serves
as a tool administrator on UTRS. He speaks English. He has been on the
Ombuds Commission since 2021.
--
Karen Brown
Trust & Safety Specialist
Wikimedia Foundation
kbrown(a)wikimedia.org