[Foundation-l] Blackout at Italian Wikipedia

[Mike Godwin]

Kat Walsh writes:

> I am happy to see the Italian community behind the opposition to the
> proposed law because I do think it's contrary to what Wikimedia does,
> and to see that there is consensus among the Italian community to do
> something drastic; there will be a far greater effect on the Italian
> wiki than a short blockage if bad laws are passed. (And part of
> me--the part that's been around for a billion years--is thrilled to
> see a community coming to such a decision on their own, via what seems
> like a reasonable process, without waiting for approval or support.)

Speaking only for myself, this precisely reflects my views. I applaud
the Italian Wikipedians' decision to challenge this law so directly.

> But I'm not sure about denying access completely for several days. I think the action that
> was done may be too much, that maybe something could have been done to
> generate as much attention without cutting off access as much.

I understand Kat's doubts here, but my intuitive reaction, having
dealt with government censorship of various sorts for more than 20
years, is that more dramatic action is most likely to be effective in
persuading a government to change course. Governments that want to
censor -- like the USA, the United Kingdom (through its public-private
partnership), and now the Italian government -- tend to build up a lot
of inertia behind their policy choices. It's very hard to get a
government to change its mind. You have to challenge government
officials in a big, dramatic (and usually longer-lasting) way to get
their attention and make them responsive.

Of course this is an experiment -- we don't yet know whether the
Italian Wikipedians' efforts will be successful. But I think it's
probably better to dare too much than too little. I think the Italian
Wikipedians are courageous on this issue, and they totally have my
personal support.

I'd also like to +1 the thought that the very existence of Wikipedia
is not itself NPOV -- it reflects a philosophical and political
position, and one that just about all of us here agree with.

There are some governments that won't respond positively to any
protest effort -- the People's Republic of China is one of these, and
not just because Chinese readers have an alternative in Baidu. Let's
hope the government of Italy takes a better position than the PRC
would.


--Mike