I find these activities by the WMF really disturbing for the community.
Looking at previous discussions, I am not the first one to voice these
issues, but here is my summary:
== It is cherry-picking ==
The WMF has no long-term commitment to immigration issues. This leads to
the appearance that the WMF is cherry-picking an issue against a specific
US administration while ignoring both previous administrations and
established bipartisan trends in US foreign policy. When I read these
communiqués, there are immediate questions that arise about its consistency:
* Why does the WMF remain silent about US immigration policies towards
Mexicans, which have been going on for more time?
* Why does the WMF position itself against religious discrimination on
immigration policies, but ignores ideological discrimination?
== It is not necessary ==
A lot of us in the community support organizations that engage in advocacy
on immigration issues. We chose to support organizations that match our
political positions and I encourage other members of the community to get
involved in organizations matching theirs. But it does not make sense that,
when I support the Wikimedia Foundation, I get to support an organization
sustaining political positions that enter in conflict with mine.
== It does not respect ideological diversity in the community ==
As an extension of previous point: the WMF position does not respect the
ideological diversity in the community. We signed up for free knowledge,
not to promote a very narrow and particular political position. Some
example of issues that raise political conflicts for some members of the
community:
* When the WMF says "the U.S., where we have unique freedoms that are
essential to supporting the Wikimedia projects", what unique freedom are
they referring to? Some of us find that plainly offensive from a country
that we consider to have severe problems for freedom, and that we consider
that play an international role that is damaging to freedom worldwide.
* When the WMF specifically refers to Libya: why doesn't it condemn NATO
invasion of Libya, which destroyed the country and caused a major
immigration crisis in Europe? Some of us find this kind of position
offensive too.
== It alienates the community ==
If the WMF wants to get involved in advocacy activities beyond its core
mission, at least, it should perform a global consultation process with the
community to approve it. Otherwise, a lot of us are alienated by the fact
that we are supporting a project that performs advocacy activities that we
might not share, and we didn't even had the chance to get out voices heard.
Best,
MarioGom
On Tue, Jul 3, 2018 at 12:42 AM, Katherine Maher <kmaher(a)wikimedia.org>
wrote:
*This letter is also available on Meta-Wiki here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/?curid=10631068
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/?curid=10631068>*
*Please consider supporting with translations. *
Dear friends,
On Tuesday, the highest court in the United States, the Supreme Court,
ruled in favor of the current U.S. administration’s restrictions[1] on
travel and immigration from seven countries.[2] In a 5-4 ruling, the Court
found that the restrictions were lawfully created, despite their breach of
the longstanding ideals of the U.S. immigration system and disturbing
comments [3] made by the current administration about the religious basis
for some of these restrictions.
Of the seven countries named, at least three have active Wikimedia
communities. The Wikimedia chapter in Venezuela, Iranian Wikimedians user
group, and proposed Libyan user group represent the reality that our
movement has no borders. Our mission does not discriminate, it unites: in
these and other countries, we have friends, allies, and fellow Wikimedians.
To our fellow Wikimedians, particularly those from or with family in
affected countries: we stand with you and reject the premise of this
outcome. Our movement is possible because of the belief that everyone,
everywhere, should be able to contribute to shared human understanding. We
believe in a world where every country, language, and culture can freely
collaborate without restriction in our shared effort of making free
knowledge accessible to every person. Wikipedia is proof of what can happen
when these freedoms are unrestricted. When our ability to come together is
limited, the world is a poorer place.
The Wikimedia Foundation has opposed the restrictions since earlier
versions were first introduced. We responded to an executive order in early
2017[4] by joining many other organizations and companies in signing a
series of amicus briefs before the courts hearing these cases.[5] We have
posted an update on the Wikimedia blog detailing our position on the most
recent outcome of this case. [6]
We are mindful that these restrictions may have real impacts on individual
staff and community members, as well as our families and communities. The
Wikimedia Foundation rejects the spirit of this ban and similar
restrictions in place around the world that treat some more equally than
others. Our commitment to our global ethos and shared vision will continue
to guide our policy efforts into the future, as we strive to uphold the
values that make our movement possible.
Katherine
[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_13780
[2]
https://www.apnews.com/3a20abe305bd4c989116f82bf53539
3b/High-court-OKs-Trump's-travel-ban,-rejects-Muslim-bias-claim
[3]
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/12/donald-trump-
calls-halt-muslims-entering-151207220200817.html
[4]
https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/01/30/knowledge-knows-no-boundaries/
[5] See
https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/02/06/amicus-brief-immigration-travel-
restrictions/,
https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/03/15/amicus-brief-us-travel-restrictions/
,
and
https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/09/18/amicus-brief-us-travel-immigration/
[6]
https://blog.wikimedia.org/2018/07/02/supreme-court-
immigration-wikimedia-values/
--
Katherine Maher
Executive Director
Wikimedia Foundation
1 Montgomery Street, Suite 1600
San Francisco, CA 94104
+1 (415) 839-6885 ext. 6635
+1 (415) 712 4873
kmaher(a)wikimedia.org
https://annual.wikimedia.org
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