I want to thank the Portuguese Wikipedia community in Brazil for their hard work as Wikimedians and especially their dedication to and passion for the free distribution of truthful information. Like other projects, Portuguese Wikipedia represents an amazing collaboration and building of an encyclopedia that will survive for many ages. You share in the honor of constructing something great for the benefit of others.
Although I am not a Portuguese Wikimedian, if I may say so, I am a bit concerned about seeing the situation in Brazil on Portuguese Wikipedia somewhat escalating. May I please suggest consideration of calm and restraint in deciding how the community responds to the situation.
At the Foundation, we have no tolerance for censorship of truthful information. Because of legal ethical rules that apply in the United States, however, my legal team may represent only the Foundation, not community members unfortunately. Nevertheless, with a clear understanding that we are not the lawyers for those members, we often help support them with our extensive global experience when the members are faced with serious unjustified threats. In doing so, of course, we rely on the community to follow its own policies, such as NPOV, and to take the necessary steps to ensure that contributions are factual, legal, and non-infringing. As set out in our terms of use , WMF does not control or influence the content contributed by community members.
In the case of the investigation that has involved one of the members of the community, we fear there is a misunderstanding since we are genuinely surprised by the summaries that have been provided to us. Although we may be mistaken, we actually thought WMF acted quite appropriately in this case with a close focus on the issue. Although I prefer not to go into too much detail given the ongoing matter, as I understand, the Wikimedian approached us when he received an apparent request to appear for questioning as part of an investigation. At that time, at our expense, one of my most senior attorneys at WMF contacted legal counsel in Brazil to seek a better understanding of the risks. Legal counsel advised us about the case in detail, suggesting that, under the circumstances, the risk should be relatively low if certain things (as we understood them) were in fact so. It appeared to us that the Wikimedian agreed. We nevertheless cautioned that the Wikimedian attend any meeting with police officials with legal representation to ensure his rights were adequately protected against unjustified claims.
At that time, there were preliminary inquiries as to whether the Foundation would pay for legal counsel. Under the Legal Fees Assistance Program and the Defense of Contributors policy, certain threshold criteria must normally be met. One such criterion is that the user must usually be named as a defendant in a legal action, which was not so here. We nevertheless were in close contact with the Wikimedian as we saw it. If the investigation had escalated, we would have reassessed the need for additional support.
In a later update, we understood that the Wikimedian had obtained legal counsel and that the two attended a productive meeting with the investigator. We also had our Brazilian legal counsel review certain investigation documents, which confirmed our assessment.
There was a request that WMF staff members be interviewed on the community policies applicable to Portuguese Wikipedia. As a general matter, we are not familiar with the policies applicable to Portuguese Wikipedia. We suggested that the Portuguese community play a role in this regard.
We were watching the situation closely and providing guidance where we were able. We care deeply about our community, and, in cases of serious unjustified allegations, we seek to help support the community. Indeed, these types of cases are not uncommon. Experienced in international matters, we are constantly involved in rebutting unjustified allegations worldwide, and, if I may say so, we are often successful at it.
Again I believe that the community should not aggravate the situation to avoid misunderstandings or misperceptions which may unjustly expose community members to unfounded legal threats. For this reason, I reiterate my recommendation of consideration of calm and restraint in assessing and responding to the situation.
Thank you for your genuine concern about free expression and your indignation against unjust censorship. Thank you for collecting and developing educational content under a free license or in the public domain for the benefit of the world.
With warm regards,