[Foundation-l] WP edit/access blocking in the UK - statement from the WMF

[Florence Devouard]

A link

http://stats.grok.se/en/200812/Virgin_Killer

Ant

Jay A. Walsh wrote:
> Many of you have probably noticed the considerable media coverage over the weekend about 
> blocking of WP content in the UK, and much more alarming, the blocking of WP editing for 
> most UK internet users.
> 
> The Wikimedia Foundation is concerned about this situation.  We are in communication with 
> the responsible self-regulatory authority in the UK, the IWF.  To explain our position to 
> the media and among our community of volunteers we will be distributing the following 
> press statement later tonight.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> ---
> Jay Walsh
> Head of Communications
> WikimediaFoundation.org
> +1 (415) 839 6885 x 609
> 
> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Censorship_of_WP_in_the_UK_Dec_2008
> 
> ---
> 
> Censorship in the United Kingdom disenfranchises tens of thousands of Wikipedia editors
> 
> Wikimedia Foundation opposes action by internet watchdog group to blacklist encyclopedia
> article
> 
> San Francisco CA, December 7, 2008: As of December 6, 2008, most Internet users in the
> United Kingdom no longer have full access to Wikipedia. Due to censorship by the UK
> self-regulatory agency the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), most UK residents can no
> longer edit the volunteer-written encyclopedia, nor can they access an article in it
> describing a 32-year-old album by German rock group the Scorpions. Wikipedia visitors in
> the UK have also reported performance issues accessing the site.
> 
> The IWF has confirmed to the Wikimedia Foundation that it has added Wikipedia to its
> blacklist, which also had the unintended consequence of rendering UK-based internet users
> unable to edit the encyclopedia, and possibly harming the site's performance inside the UK.
> 
> The IWF says its blacklist is used, on a voluntary basis, by 95% of UK-based residential
> Internet Service Providers. A statement on the IWF website says it added the Wikipedia
> article to the blacklist after the article was reported by a user, and an IWF assessment
> found it to be “potentially illegal.”
> 
> “We have no reason to believe the article, or the image contained in the article, has been
> held to be illegal in any jurisdiction anywhere in the world,” said the Wikimedia
> Foundation's General Counsel, Mike Godwin. “We believe it's worth noting that the image is
> currently visible on Amazon, where the album can be freely purchased by UK residents. It
> is available on thousands of websites that are accessible to the UK public.”
> 
> “The IWF didn't just block the image; it blocked access to the article itself, which
> discusses the image in a neutral, encyclopedic fashion,” said Sue Gardner, Executive
> Director of the Wikimedia Foundation. “The IWF says its goal is to protect UK citizens,
> but I can't see how this action helps to achieve that – and meanwhile, it deprives UK
> internet users of the ability to access information which should be freely available to
> everyone. I urge the IWF to remove Wikipedia from its blacklist.”
> 
> The Wikimedia Foundation is proud of the work done by its volunteer editors, who have
> created an encyclopedia which external studies repeatedly validate as equal or better in
> quality compared with conventional encyclopedias. Wikipedia's editors take care to ensure
> the quality of the content of the encyclopedia, and to safeguard the core community values
> of freedom, independence, and neutrality.
> 
> The Wikimedia Foundation will continue its discussions with IWF to resolve this matter.
> 
> Q/A can be found here:
> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Censorship_of_WP_in_the_UK_Dec_2008QA
> 
> 
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