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-for-protection-and-fair-treatment-of-wikipedia/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-challenge-to-new-uk-online-safety-act-requirements/this blog post https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/05/08/wikimedia-foundation-brings-legal-challenge-to-new-uk-online-safety-act-requirements/ 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@wikimedia.org
UTC Timezone