Re: [Wikimedia-l] Trust and safety on Wikimedia projects - Wikimedia-l

23 May 2020

Hi  Lodewijk,

This ecosystem you are describing is exactly what we are hoping for.

And we absolutely agree that what you called "education" is needed.
We referred to it as "training" and "capacity building" in this
sentence in
the statement:

"To that end, the Board further directs the Foundation, in collaboration
with the communities, to make additional i*nvestments in Trust & Safety
capacity*, including but not limited to: development of tools needed to
assist our volunteers and staff, research to support data-informed
decisions, development of clear metrics to measure success, *development of
training tools and materials* (*including building communities’ capacities
around harassment awareness and conflict resolution*), and consultations
with international experts on harassment, community health and children’s
rights, as well as additional hiring."

Best,
Shani.

...

 From: effe iets anders &lt;effeietsanders(a)gmail.com&gt;
 Date: Sat, May 23, 2020 at 4:26 AM
 Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Trust and safety on Wikimedia projects
 To: Wikimedia Mailing List &lt;wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org&gt;

 Thanks for this step - I wish that it wouldn't be necessary. I'm not sure
 of all the implications, but was mostly wondering: will this be primarily a
 stick, or is the foundation also going to invest more heavily in carrots
 and education?

 I get the impression that we have much progress to make in training,
 educating and exposing correct behavior (some chapters have made attempts
 at this). So much of our energy already goes into the bad behavior, that it
 exhausts many community members. I'm confident that the Trust and Safety
 live through a more extreme version of that daily.

 I'd wish that we manage to build an ecosystem that encourages good
 behavior, diverts bad behavior at a very early stage, and removes the bad
 actors that cannot be corrected. Probably not as popular as punishing
 people, but hopefully more constructive for the community as a whole.

 Lodewijk

 On Fri, May 22, 2020 at 4:52 PM Nataliia Tymkiv &lt;ntymkiv(a)wikimedia.org&gt;
 wrote:

  Hello, Dennis!

 Not at all. What it means is that this a not a process that goes into  play
  *before* a decision to act is made, but *after*.
It should stand as an
 option for those who want to ensure that actions taken are fair, as long  as
  the case does not relate to legal risks or other
severe concerns.

 Best regards,
 antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv

 NOTICE: You may have received this message outside of your normal working
 hours/days, as I usually can work more as a volunteer during weekend. You
 should not feel obligated to answer it during your days off. Thank you in
 advance!

 On Sat, May 23, 2020, 01:58 Dennis During &lt;dcduring(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote:

   "Work with community functionaries to
create and refine a retroactive
 review process for cases brought by involved parties, excluding those  cases
  which pose legal or other severe risks "

 What does "retroactive review process" mean?

 I hope it doesn't mean applying standards that were not promulgated at  the
 > time to past actions and applying severe sanctions to the alleged
 > perpetrators.
 >
 > On Fri, May 22, 2020 at 5:59 PM María Sefidari &lt;maria(a)wikimedia.org&gt;
 > wrote:
 >
 > >  Hello everyone,
 > >
 > > Today, the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees unanimously passed  a
   >
resolution and published a statement[1] regarding the urgent need to  make
 > > our movement more safe and inclusive by addressing harassment and
 > > incivility on Wikimedia projects. The statement builds on prior
 > statements
 > > from 2016 and 2019,[2][3] affirms the forthcoming introduction of a
 > > universal code of conduct, and directs the Wikimedia Foundation to
 > rapidly
 > > and substantively address these challenges in complement with  existing
  > > community processes.
 > >
 > > This includes developing sustainable practices and tools that  eliminate
   >
harassment, toxicity, and incivility, promote inclusivity, cultivate
 > respectful discourse, reduce harms to participants, protect the  projects
 > > from disinformation and bad actors, and promote trust in our  projects.
   >
 > Over the past nearly twenty years, the movement has taken a number of
 > unique and sometimes extraordinary steps to create an environment  unlike
  > anything else online: a place to share
knowledge, to learn, and to
 > collaborate together. In order for the movement to continue to thrive  and
  > make progress to our mission, it is
essential to build a culture that  is
  > welcoming and inclusive.
 >
 > Research has consistently shown that members of our communities have  been
 > > subject to hostility and toxic behavior in Wikimedia spaces.[4][5]  The
   >
Wikimedia 2030 movement strategy recommendations have also identified  the
 > > safety of our Wikimedia spaces as a core issue to address if we are  to
  > > reach the 2030 goals, with concrete
recommendations which include a
 > > universal code of conduct, pathways for users to privately report
 > > incidents, and a baseline of community responsibilities.[6]
 > >
 > > While the movement has made progress in addressing harassment and  toxic
   >
behavior, we recognize there is still much more to do. The Board’s
 > resolution and statement today is a step toward establishing clear,
 > consistent guidelines around acceptable behavior on our projects, and
 > guiding the Wikimedia Foundation in supporting the movement’s ability  to
 > > ensure a healthy environment for those who participate in our  projects.

 * Developing and introducing, in close consultation with volunteer
 contributor communities, a universal code of conduct that will be a  binding
 > minimum set of standards across all Wikimedia projects;
 >
 > * Taking actions to ban, sanction, or otherwise limit the access of
 > Wikimedia movement participants who do not comply with these policies  and
  > the Terms of Use;
 >
 > * Working with community functionaries to create and refine a  retroactive
 > > review process for cases brought by involved parties, excluding those
 > cases
 > > which pose legal or other severe risks; and
 > >
 > > * Significantly increasing support for and collaboration with  community
  > > functionaries primarily enforcing such
compliance in a way that
 > prioritizes
 > > the personal safety of these functionaries.
 > >
 > > Together, we have made our movement what it is today. In this same  way,
  > we
 > > must all be responsible for building the positive community culture  of
   the
 > future, and accountable for stopping harassment and toxic behavior on  our
 > > sites.
 > >
 > > We have also made this statement available on Meta-Wiki for  translation
   and
  wider distribution.[1]

 On behalf of the Board,
 María, Board Chair

 [1]

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/May_…

 [2]

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/Nove…

 [3]

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/Arch…

 [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Harassment_survey_2015

 [5]

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Insights/2018_Report#Experience_o…

 [6]

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Recomme…
  > >
 > > == Statement on Healthy Community Culture, Inclusivity, and Safe  Spaces
   ==
 >
 > Harassment, toxic behavior, and incivility in the Wikimedia movement  are
  > contrary to our shared values and
detrimental to our vision and  mission.
 > > They negatively impact our ability to collect, share, and disseminate
 > free
 > > knowledge, harm the immediate well-being of individual Wikimedians,  and
   >
threaten the long-term health and success of the Wikimedia projects.  The
   Board
does not believe we have made enough progress toward creating
 welcoming, inclusive, harassment-free spaces in which people can  contribute
 > productively and debate constructively.
 >
 > In recognition of the urgency of these issues, the Board is directing  the
 > > Wikimedia Foundation to directly improve the situation in  collaboration
  > > with our communities. This should
include developing sustainable
 > practices
 > > and tools that eliminate harassment, toxicity, and incivility,  promote
    inclusivity, cultivate respectful discourse, reduce
harms to  participants,
  protect the projects from disinformation and bad
actors, and promote  trust
 > in our projects.
 >
 > Specifically, the Foundation shall:
 >
 > * Develop and introduce a universal code of conduct (UCoC) that will  be a
 > > binding minimum set of standards across all Wikimedia projects.
 > >
 > > ** The first phase, covering policies for in-person and virtual  events,
   >
technical spaces, and all Wikimedia projects and wikis, and developed  in
 > > collaboration with the international Wikimedia communities, will be
 > > presented to the Board for ratification by August 30, 2020.
 > >
 > > ** The second phase, outlining clear enforcement pathways, and  refined
   with
  broad input from the Wikimedia communities, will
be presented to the  Board
  for ratification by the end of 2020;

 * Take actions to ban, sanction, or otherwise limit the access of  Wikimedia
 > movement participants who do not comply with these policies and the  Terms
 > > of Use;
 > >
 > > * Work with community functionaries to create and refine a  retroactive
    review process for cases brought by involved parties,
excluding those  cases
  which pose legal or other severe risks; and

 * Significantly increase support for and collaboration with community
 functionaries primarily enforcing such compliance in a way that  prioritizes
 > the personal safety of these functionaries.
 >
 > Until such directives are implemented, the Board instructs the  Foundation
 > > to adopt and implement policies for reducing harassment and toxicity  on
  > our
 > > projects and minimizing legal risks for the movement, in  collaboration
   with
 > communities whenever practicable. Until these two phases of the UCoC  are
 > > complete and operational an interim review process involving  community
  > > functionaries will be in effect. In
this interim period, the Product
 > > Committee of the Board of Trustees will also advise the Trust & 
Safety
  > > team.
 > >
 > > To that end, the Board further directs the Foundation, in  collaboration
  > > with the communities, to make
additional investments in Trust &  Safety
  > > capacity, including but not limited to:
development of tools needed  to
  > > assist our volunteers and staff,
research to support data-informed
 > > decisions, development of clear metrics to measure success,  development
   of
 > training tools and materials (including building communities’  capacities
 > > around harassment awareness and conflict resolution), and  consultations
   > with
international experts on harassment, community health and  children’s
 > > rights, as well as additional hiring.
 > >
 > > The above efforts will be undertaken in coordination and  collaboration
   with
 > appropriate partners from across the movement, seek to increase  effective
  > community governance of conduct and
behavioral standards, and reduce  the
   long-term
need of the Foundation to act. It is the shared goal of the  Board
  and Foundation that these efforts advance a
sustainable Wikimedia  movement
 > and support, rather than substitute, effective models of community
 > governance.
 >
 > We urge every member of the Wikimedia communities to collaborate in a  way
   that
models the Wikimedia values of openness and inclusivity, step  forward
 > to do their part to create a safe and welcoming culture for all, stop
 > hostile and toxic behavior, support people who have been targeted by  such
 > > behavior, assist good-faith people learning to contribute, and help  set
  > > clear expectations for all
contributors.
 > >
 > > --
 > >
 > >
 > > María Sefidari Huici
 > >
 > > Chair of the Board
 > >
 > > Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
 > > _______________________________________________
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 Dennis C. During
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