[Foundation-l] REPOST: free speech and wikinews

[Erik Moeller]

Chad-
> The initial goal of this effort as a whole was distributing encyclopedic
> knowledge to the world at large.  If a new Wikinews project might
> interfere with the ability to get a Wikipedia into the hands of people
> worldwide, I tend to think that the proposed Wikinews project's goals
> must take a back seat to those of the already existing Wikipedia
> project.

I find it very dubious that an NPOV Wikipedia can exist in the long term 
in an environment where an NPOV Wikinews cannot. Either it will be 
modified to suit the interests of the censors, or it will be censored.

I am deliberately writing "an NPOV Wikipedia" and not "an NPOV 
encyclopedia." There is an important distinction. Unlike traditional 
paper encyclopedias, Wikipedia is, in fact, very good at dealing with 
current events -- so good that, in cases of major global events, it 
often provides much better background information than Wikinews itself. 
The Chinese Wikipedia has an "In the news" section on the frontpage just 
like the English one, and articles about current political issues are 
created as they happen.

I do not disagree that Wikinews faces an increased risk, since it will 
cover everyday politics in much greater detail than Wikipedia does. I 
do, however, also believe that the integrity of our information is of 
paramount importance, and that the Chinese Wikipedia will face serious 
issues of integrity, if it does not already do so.

In an environment dominated by fear, NPOV will be difficult to maintain. 
The peer dynamics may ensure conformity with the government's version of 
reality: "Don't write this -- you don't want all of Wikipedia to be 
censored!" Are we, as a community, sending the Chinese Wikipedians the 
signal that this is the *wrong* thing to do? That, if an NPOV 
presentation will be censored, then we must face that censorship? That 
it is important to stand up for this principle?

By launching the Chinese Wikinews when there are enough interested 
participants, we could send this clear signal. We could let everyone 
know that the Wikimedia community is not driven by fear, but by a thirst 
for knowledge and a desire to share it. If the Chinese government wants 
to censor a community-driven project whose stated goal is a neutral 
presentation of the facts on any subject, then let it do so. And then 
let the Chinese people find out about it.

Be bold.

Erik