Dear all,
as many people have asked me to share the slides I and others presented at Wikimania, and also as I represented Wikimedia-ZA at the Celtic Knot conference, I am sharing the online doc where we workshopped before and right up to the last minute: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aFY4uxHEHBeBIkoznzO3-TGAY3PI8XPo3Oh6RnVR...
I have also cc'd Kirsten whom I met at Wikimania who wishes to join Wikimedia-ZA's email list please.
Regards,
With regard to my deregistration today, I have refuted the allegations that I attended and disrupted the Tunis Conference, was never there, also was not admitted to the Decolonising the Internet preconference.
Not sure which is more pathetic an invitation-only, secret "Decolonising the Internet Conference" or a Wikimania Event held in Cape Town South Africa, that can't find a space for a session on apartheid memory? Yes, you read that right, apartheid, the thing that our country is famous for, the problem of lack of digital assets of banned publications like Grassroots, South Press and New Nation. Editors were detained and tortured, people were forceably disappeared, and you want me to accept the allegation that I am hurting the organisers and delegates feelings by raising this question outside the event? Why am I on the outside, because that's where I belong. #Wikimania #WikiRacism #WikiApartheid #WikiDeletions
Placing a person under discursive sanctions, clamping down on press freedom and barring me from a Wikipedia Conference is never the correct response to the questions: What about Apartheid Deletions? What about Apartheid Memory? What about lack of digital assets for the anti-apartheid movement on Wikipedia
@*jimmy_wales* https://twitter.com/jimmy_wales I am personally complaining and holding responsible for my de-registration & lack of apartheid memory session at @*Wikimania* https://twitter.com/Wikimania. Absolutely appalling organisers treat anti-apartheid activists with same contempt as apartheid state
This is where I start placarding and reaching out to other banned individuals
I think we need to educate people on what is occurring here, build our own wikipedias, and do as much as possible to disrupt the Wikimedia Foundation and its Collaboration with the Alt-Right Apartheid State
https://etherpad.net/p/Wikimania_Censorship
On 20 July 2018 at 15:59, Michael Graaf graaf.michael@gmail.com wrote:
Dear all,
as many people have asked me to share the slides I and others presented at Wikimania, and also as I represented Wikimedia-ZA at the Celtic Knot conference, I am sharing the online doc where we workshopped before and right up to the last minute: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aFY4uxHEHBeBIkoznzO3- TGAY3PI8XPo3Oh6RnVRWhI/edit?usp=sharing
I have also cc'd Kirsten whom I met at Wikimania who wishes to join Wikimedia-ZA's email list please.
Regards,
-- *Michael Graaf*
*Researcher, Editor &*
*Community Informatics Practitioner* keybase.io/michaelgraaf +27795487242 _______________________________________________ WikimediaZA mailing list WikimediaZA@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaza To unsubscribe, send an email to WikimediaZA-unsubscribe@lists. wikimedia.org
As far as we can see, there was no presentation proposed on that topic.
Coming to a symposium and complaining that a topic isn't being covered, while you never proposed it in the first place, and expecting it to be put on the agenda at short notice, is disruptive behavior.
There will be a number of Wikimania events in the coming year, for example Wiki Indaba, where that topic could be raised.
ubuntupunk@gmail.com ubuntupunk@gmail.com schrieb am Fr., 20. Juli 2018, 17:39:
With regard to my deregistration today, I have refuted the allegations that I attended and disrupted the Tunis Conference, was never there, also was not admitted to the Decolonising the Internet preconference.
Not sure which is more pathetic an invitation-only, secret "Decolonising the Internet Conference" or a Wikimania Event held in Cape Town South Africa, that can't find a space for a session on apartheid memory? Yes, you read that right, apartheid, the thing that our country is famous for, the problem of lack of digital assets of banned publications like Grassroots, South Press and New Nation. Editors were detained and tortured, people were forceably disappeared, and you want me to accept the allegation that I am hurting the organisers and delegates feelings by raising this question outside the event? Why am I on the outside, because that's where I belong. #Wikimania #WikiRacism #WikiApartheid #WikiDeletions
Placing a person under discursive sanctions, clamping down on press freedom and barring me from a Wikipedia Conference is never the correct response to the questions: What about Apartheid Deletions? What about Apartheid Memory? What about lack of digital assets for the anti-apartheid movement on Wikipedia
@*jimmy_wales* https://twitter.com/jimmy_wales I am personally complaining and holding responsible for my de-registration & lack of apartheid memory session at @*Wikimania* https://twitter.com/Wikimania. Absolutely appalling organisers treat anti-apartheid activists with same contempt as apartheid state
This is where I start placarding and reaching out to other banned individuals
I think we need to educate people on what is occurring here, build our own wikipedias, and do as much as possible to disrupt the Wikimedia Foundation and its Collaboration with the Alt-Right Apartheid State
https://etherpad.net/p/Wikimania_Censorship
On 20 July 2018 at 15:59, Michael Graaf graaf.michael@gmail.com wrote:
Dear all,
as many people have asked me to share the slides I and others presented
at
Wikimania, and also as I represented Wikimedia-ZA at the Celtic Knot conference, I am sharing the online doc where we workshopped before and right up to the last minute: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aFY4uxHEHBeBIkoznzO3- TGAY3PI8XPo3Oh6RnVRWhI/edit?usp=sharing
I have also cc'd Kirsten whom I met at Wikimania who wishes to join Wikimedia-ZA's email list please.
Regards,
-- *Michael Graaf*
*Researcher, Editor &*
*Community Informatics Practitioner* keybase.io/michaelgraaf +27795487242 _______________________________________________ WikimediaZA mailing list WikimediaZA@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaza To unsubscribe, send an email to WikimediaZA-unsubscribe@lists. wikimedia.org
-- *David Robert Lewis* *PO BOX 4398* *Cape Town* *8000* *South Africa*
*Mobile 082 425 1454* *Home 021 788 3119* *Fax **0862396815* *Skype david.robert.lewis* _______________________________________________ WikimediaZA mailing list WikimediaZA@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaza To unsubscribe, send an email to WikimediaZA-unsubscribe@lists.wikimedia.org
Good Day Robert
I believe that the actual reason you were deregistered was for refusing to follow the "Friendly space policy" By taking photos and videos of people without consent, and refusing to stop when you were requested to do so.
I would love to hear about your presentation on Apartheid, which as you correctly point is still a painful topic for us in this country. Are you are to share it on this platform?
Kindest regards
Dumisani Ndubane
On Jul 20, 2018 17:39, "ubuntupunk@gmail.com" ubuntupunk@gmail.com wrote:
With regard to my deregistration today, I have refuted the allegations that I attended and disrupted the Tunis Conference, was never there, also was not admitted to the Decolonising the Internet preconference.
Not sure which is more pathetic an invitation-only, secret "Decolonising the Internet Conference" or a Wikimania Event held in Cape Town South Africa, that can't find a space for a session on apartheid memory? Yes, you read that right, apartheid, the thing that our country is famous for, the problem of lack of digital assets of banned publications like Grassroots, South Press and New Nation. Editors were detained and tortured, people were forceably disappeared, and you want me to accept the allegation that I am hurting the organisers and delegates feelings by raising this question outside the event? Why am I on the outside, because that's where I belong. #Wikimania #WikiRacism #WikiApartheid #WikiDeletions
Placing a person under discursive sanctions, clamping down on press freedom and barring me from a Wikipedia Conference is never the correct response to the questions: What about Apartheid Deletions? What about Apartheid Memory? What about lack of digital assets for the anti-apartheid movement on Wikipedia
@*jimmy_wales* https://twitter.com/jimmy_wales I am personally complaining and holding responsible for my de-registration & lack of apartheid memory session at @*Wikimania* https://twitter.com/Wikimania. Absolutely appalling organisers treat anti-apartheid activists with same contempt as apartheid state
This is where I start placarding and reaching out to other banned individuals
I think we need to educate people on what is occurring here, build our own wikipedias, and do as much as possible to disrupt the Wikimedia Foundation and its Collaboration with the Alt-Right Apartheid State
https://etherpad.net/p/Wikimania_Censorship
On 20 July 2018 at 15:59, Michael Graaf graaf.michael@gmail.com wrote:
Dear all,
as many people have asked me to share the slides I and others presented at Wikimania, and also as I represented Wikimedia-ZA at the Celtic Knot conference, I am sharing the online doc where we workshopped before and right up to the last minute: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aFY4uxHEHBeBIkoznzO3- TGAY3PI8XPo3Oh6RnVRWhI/edit?usp=sharing
I have also cc'd Kirsten whom I met at Wikimania who wishes to join Wikimedia-ZA's email list please.
Regards,
-- *Michael Graaf*
*Researcher, Editor &*
*Community Informatics Practitioner* keybase.io/michaelgraaf +27795487242 _______________________________________________ WikimediaZA mailing list WikimediaZA@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaza To unsubscribe, send an email to WikimediaZA-unsubscribe@lists. wikimedia.org
Am posting my response to James Alexander's email here FYI, and his original email all below
My name is David Robert Lewis, an independent researcher at Medialternatives.com.
As an anti-apartheid activist and journalist at several banned publications taken off the shelves by the apartheid state, I object to your blatantly dishonest and false accusations.
I therefore refute the allegations that I have in any way disrupted the Tunis Conference, since I have not traveled out of my country for several years.
Secondly I refute any allegation that I attended the so-called "Decolonising the Internet" Pre-Conference in Cape Town, since I was not admitted to the event, but was rather subjected to contempt by Anasuyas of WhoseKnowledge.org.
Instead of making space for my concerns about the obliteration and deletion of apartheid memory, in particular the deletion of inter alia, pages on Student Unrest on UCT campus, Apartheid Death Squads, Apartheid Dirty Tricks, bannings of journalists and torture of editors by the regime, and/or my concerns surrounding lack of anti-apartheid digital assets and digitization of archives, she proceeded to dispute my credentials, telling me that she would 'only communicate with me when she got back to India'.
I therefore left the venue quite hurt and upset and proceeded to film some delegates entering and leaving the conference venue.
I interviewed a delegate from Brazil, a delegate from Mexico and latin America and was accosted by a Wikimedia Foundation official who inst
On 19 Jul 2018 7:41 pm, "James Alexander" jalexander@wikimedia.org wrote:
Dear Mr. Lewis,
My name is James Alexander, I am the Operations Manager for Trust & Safety at the Wikimedia Foundation.
I am writing to tell you that we have decided to cancel your registration to Wikimania 2018 in Cape Town for tomorrow (Friday), Saturday and Sunday. If you choose to try and attend anyway you will be asked to leave.
I realize that this may seem a bit abrupt however we received complaints from attendees feeling uncomfortable about your behavior at the Decolonizimg the Internet conference earlier this week in addition to concerns about your behavior at WikiIndaba in Tunis earlier this year. As I am sure you understand we need to take the safety and comfort of our attendees as a paramount concern and the decision has been made that at this time your attendance would disrupt that too much. I am sorry that this message came to you so close to the actual event as it did but unfortunately we were not able to fully understand the situation until today.
As always please let me know if there is any questions and I appreciate your understanding.
James Alexander
Manager, Trust & Safety
Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia Foundation
ead of upholding my rights as a citizen, proceeded to attack my standing as a member of the press in public.
I had to inform her that South Africa has a free press and also that the preamble to our constitution compels citizens and non-citizens alike, to respect those who fought during the struggle for freedom.
I therefore once again, provide you with an opportunity to correct your course of action, to restore my credentials at the conference and to make space for apartheid memory.
https://medialternatives.com/about/
Dear Dumisani,
The email from James Alexander makes absolutely no mention of this policy, and it is doubtful whether it would apply outside a venue nor whether Wikimania has any jurisdiction in this regard to impose any demands external to the conference. At no point did any Wikimedia foundation person instruct me on this policy, instead the person in question, proceeded to attack my standing as a member of the press, refusing to accept my response inter alia, that I would consider her instructions as a journalist to not upload any video to the Internet. She however did accept that the right to privacy needs to be weighed against the right to freedom of expression.
Am still compiling a documentary on the problem of Apartheid Memory and Wikipedia, and attacking me in this way serves absolutely no purpose.
Would definitely love to give a presentation on the problem of lack of anti-apartheid digital resources and the issues to do with the bannings, removals and deletions of several newspapers for which I worked during that period.
With regard to the alleged lateness and disruptive nature of the challenge to the organisers to provide some time for apartheid memory and considering this topic should't be foreign or new to anyone living here, at least for those of us with humanities and social science degrees, I think the omission speaks to the lack of engagement by Wikimedia ZA, the last local event I attended was some time ago, on Wiki loves Monuments, and to my knowledge no further invitations to any local events have been forthcoming, at least no forum for discussion on issues pertinent to local editors.
When I first started editing, there was one or two attempts to organise a social, but nothing came of it, I guess this has something to do with general lack of free time in a volunteer framework, so great pity no resources were dedicated by Wikimedia ZA to canvassing local editors, I will take another look at my user page to see if I missed any invites, my apologies if this is the case.
Kind regards
David Robert Lewis
On 20 July 2018 at 18:25, Dumisani Ndubane ndubaneds@gmail.com wrote:
Good Day Robert
I believe that the actual reason you were deregistered was for refusing to follow the "Friendly space policy" By taking photos and videos of people without consent, and refusing to stop when you were requested to do so.
I would love to hear about your presentation on Apartheid, which as you correctly point is still a painful topic for us in this country. Are you are to share it on this platform?
Kindest regards
Dumisani Ndubane
On Jul 20, 2018 17:39, "ubuntupunk@gmail.com" ubuntupunk@gmail.com wrote:
With regard to my deregistration today, I have refuted the allegations that I attended and disrupted the Tunis Conference, was never there, also was not admitted to the Decolonising the Internet preconference.
Not sure which is more pathetic an invitation-only, secret "Decolonising the Internet Conference" or a Wikimania Event held in Cape Town South Africa, that can't find a space for a session on apartheid memory? Yes, you read that right, apartheid, the thing that our country is famous for, the problem of lack of digital assets of banned publications like Grassroots, South Press and New Nation. Editors were detained and tortured, people were forceably disappeared, and you want me to accept the allegation that I am hurting the organisers and delegates feelings by raising this question outside the event? Why am I on the outside, because that's where I belong. #Wikimania #WikiRacism #WikiApartheid #WikiDeletions
Placing a person under discursive sanctions, clamping down on press freedom and barring me from a Wikipedia Conference is never the correct response to the questions: What about Apartheid Deletions? What about Apartheid Memory? What about lack of digital assets for the anti-apartheid movement on Wikipedia
@*jimmy_wales* https://twitter.com/jimmy_wales I am personally complaining and holding responsible for my de-registration & lack of apartheid memory session at @*Wikimania* https://twitter.com/Wikimania. Absolutely appalling organisers treat anti-apartheid activists with same contempt as apartheid state
This is where I start placarding and reaching out to other banned individuals
I think we need to educate people on what is occurring here, build our own wikipedias, and do as much as possible to disrupt the Wikimedia Foundation and its Collaboration with the Alt-Right Apartheid State
https://etherpad.net/p/Wikimania_Censorship
On 20 July 2018 at 15:59, Michael Graaf graaf.michael@gmail.com wrote:
Dear all,
as many people have asked me to share the slides I and others presented
at
Wikimania, and also as I represented Wikimedia-ZA at the Celtic Knot conference, I am sharing the online doc where we workshopped before and right up to the last minute: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aFY4uxHEHBeBIkoznzO3- TGAY3PI8XPo3Oh6RnVRWhI/edit?usp=sharing
I have also cc'd Kirsten whom I met at Wikimania who wishes to join Wikimedia-ZA's email list please.
Regards,
-- *Michael Graaf*
*Researcher, Editor &*
*Community Informatics Practitioner* keybase.io/michaelgraaf +27795487242 _______________________________________________ WikimediaZA mailing list WikimediaZA@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaza To unsubscribe, send an email to WikimediaZA-unsubscribe@lists. wikimedia.org
-- *David Robert Lewis* *PO BOX 4398* *Cape Town* *8000* *South Africa*
*Mobile 082 425 1454* *Home 021 788 3119* *Fax **0862396815* *Skype david.robert.lewis*
WikimediaZA mailing list WikimediaZA@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaza To unsubscribe, send an email to WikimediaZA-unsubscribe@lists. wikimedia.org _______________________________________________ WikimediaZA mailing list WikimediaZA@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaza To unsubscribe, send an email to WikimediaZA-unsubscribe@lists. wikimedia.org
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