Dear all,
I hope you had a lovely long weekend. I’m Ziski from the Wikimedia
Foundation’s Global Advocacy team; I’m based in London and have been
fortunate to meet some of you. I am reaching out with an* important update
about UK regulatory affairs. *
On 8 May, 2025, the Wikimedia Foundation announced a legal challenge
against a new element of the UK Online Safety Act,
<https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2023/09/19/wikimedia-foundation-calls-…>which
could have detrimental effects for Wikipedia. This is an aspect of the same
law that the Foundation has been warning the government about in
parliamentary debates and an open letter campaign, which many of you
supported. We are bringing a legal challenge because the negative impacts
that this law threatens to have on Wikipedia have not been addressed.
The challenge targets the Categorisation Regulations, which are currently
so broadly written that Wikipedia could be classified as a “Category 1”
service. As a Category 1 service, Wikipedia could face duties that would
threaten our mission, for example, by disempowering users who wish to keep
their identity private. In
<https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/05/08/wikimedia-foundation-brings-legal-cha…>this
blog post
<https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/05/08/wikimedia-foundation-brings-legal-cha…>
you
can learn more about our legal challenge.
The Foundation will also be hosting a Zoom call on Tuesday, May 13 @ 18:00
- 19:00 BST to answer any questions you may have. Please register for the
call *via this link
<https://wikimedia.zoom.us/meeting/register/yG-qXyR0RAStKsDVMmhtIA>.*
Best wishes,
Ziski
Franziska Putz (she/her)
Senior Movement Advocacy Manager
Global Advocacy, Wikimedia Foundation
Fputz(a)wikimedia.org
UTC Timezone
Hello everyone,
Sorry it's a bit late, but here is June's Mini Wiki. Below are more ideas
on small tasks that you can get involved in the wiki world this month.
*June – Mini Wiki*June sees the start of the international photography
competition Wiki Loves Earth
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Earth_2025> and for
the first time England
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Earth_2025_in_England>
will be participating along with Wales
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Earth_2025_in_Wales>,
Scotland
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Earth_2025_in_Scotland>
and Northern Ireland.
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Earth_2025_in_Ireland>
For this month’s Mini Wiki why not go outside to take images and videos of
the natural heritage in your area? You can take photos of the landscapes or
close ups of wildlife and add them through the competition pages of your
respective nation above to be in with a chance of winning prizes and having
your work recognised.
Once you have added your image to Wikimedia Commons, why not see if it can
be added to illustrate a Wikipedia article? Here are some pointers to help
you add your image to an article:
- Is there a Wikipedia article on the location / region you have
photographed?
- If you have photographed wildlife does Wikipedia have good quality
images? It’s fine to replace an image if you are replacing it with a higher
quality image.
- Include a caption to show what’s in the image; it is useful to include
the date, season and year.
If you have a little bit more time you can add the image to a relevant
Wikidata item. For example if it’s a picture of a place or animal, you can
see if that place / animal already has a Wikidata item and attach the image
to that item using the “Image” property (P18). Or, if it doesn’t have an
item you can create a new item.
<https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:ItemByTitle>
It’s Volunteer’s Week <https://volunteersweek.org/> in June. Wikimedia
Projects would not exist without the support of people like you who
contribute to the projects. Why not take a few minutes to thank someone and
recognise their contribution to the Wikimedia projects on their user page.
Maybe you’ve been impressed by someone’s contribution or used someone’s
image in an article, why not send them a note to let them know? Or give
them a Wiki Barnstar <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Barnstars>?
There are many other ways you can spread kindness on Wikipedia, see here
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Kindness_Campaign#How_to_give_recog…>
for more ideas to show your appreciation on Wikipedia.
To help us keep track of how Mini Wiki is being used, please use the
hashtag #wmuk in your edit summary so we can see your contributions!
We’re also keen to hear from your experience with Mini Wiki.
Best wishes,
--
Rupal Karia (she/her)
Outreach and Community Coordinator
*My pronouns are she/her and my name is pronounced like this
<https://namedrop.io/rupalkaria>*
Working hours - Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 9-5pm
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