Hello,
Feeling heartbroken over the news of Wikipedia being banned in Pakistan by
Shehbaz Sharif led Pakistan Government. Knowledge should be freely
accessible to all, not limited by censorship.
Good time to get our maps corrected without vandalism. Can someone tell how
will it impact India? What are the next steps?
Regards,
Jayantilal
--
Regards,
Jayantilal
Sent from my iPhone
Hi Everyone,
I hope you are well.
For your information, I am cascading further an email from Wikimedia-I
regarding the blocking of Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects in Pakistan.
Please go through the same if you haven't already, and feel free to get in
touch with me if you have any questions. I am highlighting below a key
excerpt from the email.
*The Wikimedia Foundation is already examining various avenues and
investigating how we can help restore access while staying true to our
values of verifiability, neutrality, and freedom of information.*
*If you or someone you know is contacted by the Pakistani government in
reference to the block, please contact us at legal(a)wikimedia.org
<legal(a)wikimedia.org>. If you or someone you know is in immediate physical
danger in reference to the block, please contact emergency(a)wikimedia.org
<emergency(a)wikimedia.org> right away. We are actively working to reach out
to community leaders in the area.*
Best,
Rachit
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Stephen LaPorte <slaporte(a)wikimedia.org>
Date: Sat, Feb 4, 2023 at 7:15 AM
Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Block of Wikipedia in Pakistan
To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Hello everyone,
Today, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) ordered that access
to Wikipedia be suspended in Pakistan. We are urging the Pakistan
government to restore access to Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects immediately
<https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2023/02/03/wikimedia-foundation-urges-…>
.
This action denies the fifth most populous nation in the world access to
the world's largest, free online knowledge repository. If it continues, it
will also deny the world the perspective of the people of Pakistan and the
benefit of their knowledge, history, and culture.
The Wikimedia Foundation received a notification from the Pakistan
Telecommunication Authority on February 1, 2023, stating “the services of
Wikipedia have been degraded for 48 hours” for failure to remove content
from the site deemed “unlawful” by the government. The notification further
mentioned that a block of Wikipedia could follow, if the Foundation did not
comply with the takedown orders. As of Friday February 3, our internal
traffic reports indicate that Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects are no
longer accessible to users in Pakistan.
The Wikimedia Foundation is already examining various avenues and
investigating how we can help restore access, while staying true to our
values of verifiability, neutrality, and freedom of information.
We are also prepared to support any members of the Wikimedia communities
who are impacted. If you or someone you know is contacted by the Pakistani
government in reference to the block, please contact us at
legal(a)wikimedia.org. If you or someone you know is in immediate physical
danger in reference to the block, please contact emergency(a)wikimedia.org
right away. We are actively working to reach out to community leaders in
the area.
For over twenty years, our movement has supported knowledge as a
fundamental human right. In defense of this right, we have opposed a
growing number of threats that would interfere with the ability of people
to access and contribute to free knowledge. We know that many of you will
want to take action or speak out against the block. For now, please
continue to do what is needed to remain safe. We will keep you updated on
any new developments, actions we are taking, and ways which you can help
return access to Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects in Pakistan.
Thank you,
Stephen
--
Stephen LaPorte (he/him/his)
General Counsel
Wikimedia Foundation
*NOTICE: As an attorney for the Wikimedia Foundation, for legal and ethical
reasons, I cannot give legal advice to, or serve as a lawyer for, community
members, volunteers, or staff members in their personal capacity. For more
on what this means, please see our legal disclaimer
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Legal_Disclaimer>.*
_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
Public archives at
https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org…
To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org
--
Rachit Sharma (he/him)
Snr Global Movement Communications Specialist, South Asia
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
*We help everyone share in the sum of all knowledge. *
*We are the people who keep knowledge free.*
Greetings everyone,
If you haven't participated yet, the Wikimedia sound logo contest voting
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Sound_Logo_Vote> is open until
December 20, 05:29 IST. Please participate to help choose a sound that will
represent Wikipedia and Wikimedia content on audio devices, it only takes a
few minutes to vote. This project has been ongoing for at least 1.5 years,
more so in the past 9 months, and has seen community members all over the
world, sound professionals, and staff from different teams collaborate to
bring us here. I found this blog post
<https://diff.wikimedia.org/2022/10/31/screening-3235-sound-submissions/> about
the experience of volunteer screeners an interesting read. Seeking
information and engaging with knowledge has become a more diverse
experience globally, with sound being among the fastest growing, and this
project aims to better attribute Wikimedia content in such settings. I
believe this is an important project, especially since I have worked on
audio-visual content digitization.
Thanks,
Amrit
Hi Everyone,
I hope you are well and have a great start to 2023!
Happy to share that the Scholarship applications for Wikimania 2023 are
open till the 5th of February.
As you know, Wikimania 2023
<https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikimania> will be
held in Singapore from 16–19 August. This year, the organizers aim to
increase inclusivity for Wikimedians worldwide in line with this edition’s
theme.
*Diversity. Collaboration. Future.*
*Scholarships for Wikimania 2023 are available in different types for
traveling to Singapore:*
-
*Full scholarship: travel, accommodation, and registration are provided;*
-
*Partial scholarship: accommodation and registration are provided.*
You can click on this link to Apply Now
<https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2023:Scholarships>; more details are
in the email below.
*We would like you to share this among your network and community for
increased engagement from the region.*
Best,
Rachit
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Wikimania <wikimania(a)wikimedia.org>
Date: Thu, Jan 12, 2023 at 9:10 PM
Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimania 2023 Scholarships Open: Apply Now!
To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Hello everyone,
Scholarship applications for Wikimania 2023 are now open until Sunday, 5
February! Wikimania 2023 will be held in Singapore from 16–19 August. This
year, we aim to be inclusive for Wikimedians worldwide in line with this
edition’s theme: “Diversity. Collaboration. Future.”
Scholarships for Wikimania 2023 are available in different types for
traveling to Singapore:
-
Full scholarship: travel, accommodation, and registration are provided;
-
Partial scholarship: accommodation and registration are provided.
All scholarship recipients are covered by Wikimedia Foundation Travel
Insurance Policy.
Whereas scholarship recipients have historically written a report to
fulfill scholarship requirements, this year they will have the opportunity
to do volunteer tasks during Wikimania. The Committee will work with
recipients to find a volunteer role that suits each recipient’s skills and
experience. Scholarship recipients opting to volunteer rather than write a
report will be asked to volunteer for 2 hours over the course of Wikimania,
with the option to volunteer more hours if desired.
Apply now! <https://wikimediafoundation.limesurvey.net/799477> Make sure to
share your experiences during your Wikimedia movement journey and support
with links. Newcomers to Wikimedia will be considered. The deadline to
apply for a scholarship is 5th February, end of the day anywhere in the
world. Applicants will be notified of decisions in May.
Read more on Wikimania Wiki
<https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/2023:Scholarships>.
Have questions? You can reach the Scholarships Committee directly at
wikimania-scholarships(a)wikimedia.org.
Best,
The Wikimania 2023 Core Organizing Team
_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
Public archives at
https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org…
To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org
--
Rachit Sharma (he/him)
Snr Global Movement Communications Specialist, South Asia
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
*We help everyone share in the sum of all knowledge. *
*We are the people who keep knowledge free.*
Greetings Wikimedians,
This is a reminder to inform the Open Community Call which is scheduled on 15
January 2023 (Today) will start in half an hour at 6 pm. This call intends
to clarify questions around the conference and the Program/Scholarships,
and plan on hosting regular calls to help answer any questions, concerns,
or clarifications.
Please add the following to your respective calendars and we look forward
to seeing you on the call.
[WCI 2023] Open Community Call
Date: 15 January 2023
Time: 1800 - 1900 [6 pm to 7 pm] (IST)
Google Link: https://meet.google.com/rtq-fhbz-ywf
Furthermore, we have a telegram group for the community members who are
interested to be a part of WikiConference India 2023. Please feel free to
share any thoughts, inputs, suggestions, or questions. Link to join the
telegram group: https://t.me/+X9RLByiOxpAyNDZl
Alternatively, you can also leave us a message on the Conference talk page
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:WikiConference_India_2023>.
Looking forward to connecting with you all.
Thank you!
On Behalf of,
WCI 2023 Organizing team.
Greetings Wikimedians,
As per our planned engagement with the communities for WikiConference India
2023 <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiConference_India_2023> and
beyond, on the occasion of the 22nd birthday of Wikipedia, we are hosting
the third Open Community Call on the 15th of January, 2023. This call will
be a space to address your questions and concerns, take inputs from the
communities, besides giving some conference updates.
Please add the following to your respective calendars and we look forward
to seeing you on the call.
[WCI 2023] Open Community Call
Date: 15 January 2023
Time: 1800 - 1900 [6 pm to 7 pm] (IST)
Google Link: https://meet.google.com/rtq-fhbz-ywf
Furthermore, we have a telegram group for the community members who are
interested to be a part of WikiConference India 2023. Please feel free to
share any thoughts, inputs, suggestions, or questions. Link to join the
telegram group: https://t.me/+X9RLByiOxpAyNDZl
Alternatively, you can also leave us a message on the Conference talk page
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:WikiConference_India_2023>.
Looking forward to connecting with you all.
Thank you!
On Behalf of,
WCI 2023 Organizing team.
Hi,
We would like to invite you to send participation proposals for Hackathon
on 2nd March 2023 as part of the 2nd Wikimedia Technology Summit
<https://indicwiki.iiit.ac.in/summit-2023/>, The event will take place at
IIIT Hyderabad.
The Hackathon brings together Mediawiki technical contributors around the
world, from code creators, maintainers, translators, and designers, to
technical writers and other roles. Newcomers, Open-source developers are
welcome!
In this regard, we would like to invite members who would like to attend in
person to fill out a form for scholarship applications by 23 January 2023,
*Please provide your details at https://forms.gle/91To3a7uDxapDWwRA
<https://forms.gle/91To3a7uDxapDWwRA> *
*As this is Mini Hackathon, you can propose a new problem statement with
is required for Wikimedia technology or related proposals for this
hackathon.
We will inform selected participants of the Hackathon in 1st week of Feb
2023. these selected participants will be assisted/reimbursed to cover
travel, accommodation, food, registration, and a special pass to attend the
Wikimedia Technology Summit which is happening on the 3rd&4th March 2023.
Please note that the hackathon won’t be focusing on the training of new
skills, and it is expected that applications have some experience/knowledge
contributing to technical areas of the Wikimedia ecosystems.
Therefore, we earnestly request you to make our intention more valuable
with your precious attention.
Thanks, and we look forward to your registration. We would very much
appreciate you spreading this information through your channels.
Cordially
Wikimedia Technology Summit Hackathon Team.
Hi ,
We’d like to remind you that scholarships to attend the 2nd Wikimedia
Technology Summit [1], which will take place on the 3rd and 4th of March
2023 (Friday and Saturday) at The International Institute of Information
Technology - Hyderabad, India, are now open. The scholarships will
primarily support active Wikimedia Technology developers and other
stakeholders to participate in the summit.
The Wikimedia Technology Summit (WTS) aims to share and discuss
state-of-the-art tools, technologies, knowledge, and ongoing research
within Wikimedia and its sister projects.
The applications for scholarships can be submitted from 11 December 2022 to
31 December 2022. If you have any questions, please post a message on the
talk page [2].
To apply for a scholarship, you can fill out the application form at
https://forms.gle/KpjzUE5qZtsM7iwS9.
The scholarships will primarily support active Wikimedia Technology
developers and other stakeholders to participate in the conference. The
scholarships will cover travel, accommodation, food, registration, and any
other incidentals related to the conference participation.
We would appreciate it if you could help us spread the word about the
Wikimedia Technology Summit.
On behalf of the organizing committee,
2nd Wikimedia Technology Summit.
Links:
[1]https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/2nd_Wikimedia_Technology_Summit
[2]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:2nd_Wikimedia_Technology_Summit/Schola…