I appreciate Andreas keeping this list updated, and it is not tangential
but central to this thread's topic. It is very pertinent that the
self-appointed "spokesperson of this community" (who has styled himself in
this NSA suit as a worrier for freedom) was snuggling up to a truly
despotic regime, helping to polish that turd in the international media and
endorsing it's capture of one of the Wikipedias. (What's been done about
that, by the way? Anything?) And it is pertinent that our self-appointed
spokesperson has finally climbed down from that position ... to a slight
degree ... at least when he's backed into a corner and forced to confront
his embarrassing misstep. Kazakhstan is not the USA, but the US government
is not the only one abusing the privacy of Wikipedia editors and readers.
The question in parenthesis above is a serious one. What actual steps has
the foundation taken to address the capture of Kazakh Wikipedia by the
Kazakh government?
Anthony Cole <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Anthonyhcole>
On Fri, Apr 3, 2015 at 7:58 PM, Austin Hair <adhair(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Okay, but seriously, please stop resurrecting this
thread. If you
think it's important that something be done, start a new one, and
*actually suggest something* rather than just copying articles from
somewhere else.
Austin
On Fri, Apr 3, 2015 at 1:58 AM, Andreas Kolbe <jayen466(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Article in Eurasianet today: "Wikipedia
Founder Distances Himself from
Kazakhstan PR Machine"
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/72831
---o0o---
[...]
On March 20, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales hosted an Ask Me Anything
<
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2zpkxx/we_are_jameel_jaffer_of_the_ac…
conversation
(AMA) on Reddit, a social-networking platform. Before long the audience
was
questioning Wales’s and Wikipedia’s roles in
helping to improve
Kazakhstan’s image. Back in 2011, Wales awarded
<http://www.eurasianet.org/node/66343> a once-and-future Kazakh
government
employee, Rauan Kenzhekhanuly, the inaugural
“Wikipedian of the Year” for
his work with WikiBilim, a Kazakh-language platform criticized both for
receiving state funds and for publishing multiple articles toeing the
authoritarian government’s line. At the time, Wales told
EurasiaNet.org,
“As far as I know, the WikiBilim organization is not politicized.”
But during the AMA, Wales backpedaled on his decision to name
Kenzhekhanuly
the first Wikipedian of the Year.
Wales was on the receiving end of a fresh round of criticism last year
when
Kenzhekhanuly was named deputy governor of
Kazakhstan’s Kyzylorda
region. During the AMA, a commenter asked Wales if he would have bestowed
the award had he known Kenzhekhanuly would go on to serve as deputy
governor. “If I had known in 2011 that someone would get a job that I
disapprove of in 2014, would I refuse to give them an award in 2011?”
Wales
responded. “Yes, I would have refused to give
that award.”
Wales also clarified that Kenzhekhanuly “was not a government official”
at
the time of the award – which is, technically,
true. However, according
to
Kenzhekhanuly’s LinkedIn profile
<https://www.linkedin.com/pub/rauan-kenzhekhanuly/24/8b7/b16>, before
receiving the award he had served both as a policy adviser to the
governor
in Kazakhstan’s Mangystau region, as well as
first secretary at
Kazakhstan’s embassy in Moscow. After the AMA, Wales said by email that
he
was “not aware” Kenzhekhanuly had held those
positions.
[...]
---o0o---
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