Thanks to Greg for the quick official response from the WMF which
includes the active recognition and acceptance of the problem.
The open letter was also published on meta at
for anyone wishing to comment or add notes on wiki rather than using
email.
Noting "in the future we will do more thorough due diligence". It may
be of benefit for the WMF to respond on Meta with any details about
what will change to ensure preventative due diligence measures have
been put in place, such as the one suggested in this email thread of
early engagement with the community rather than a Phabricator task on
the day.
Thanks,
Fae
On Fri, 24 Apr 2020 at 06:18, Gregory Varnum <gvarnum(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
Hi all,
I am responding on behalf of the Foundation in my capacity handling movement
communications, including managing any campaigns on
wikimediafoundation.org.
As others from the Foundation have stated on this mailing list in the past, from time to
time the Wikimedia Foundation engages in public policy matters which are aligned with the
advancement of the Wikimedia mission or our values as an organization.
Having said that, we agree with some of the criticisms you have raised. We had understood
the Earth Day Live campaign to be both global and apolitical. However, we agree that the
final campaign was both more US-centric and more political than we had understood in
advance. The banner is no longer running, and in the future we will do more thorough due
diligence.
We remain strongly committed to climate sustainability as a value of the Wikimedia
Foundation. We will continue to advocate on behalf of it and other values that uplift and
advance free knowledge globally.
I hope you all had a productive and safe Earth Day, and wish you all continued health and
safety.
Yours,
-greg
-------
Gregory Varnum
Communications Strategist
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
gvarnum(a)wikimedia.org
Pronouns: He/Him/His
> On Apr 23, 2020, at 3:07 AM, RhinosF1 - <rhinosf1(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Should this be posted on wiki for others to sign?
>
> Samuel
>
> On Thu, 23 Apr 2020 at 07:51, Fæ <faewik(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> OPEN LETTER
>>
>> Dear Katherine Maher,
>>
>> The WMF home website landing page (
https://wikimediafoundation.org)
>> yesterday featured a full-page banner directing all visitors globally
>> to
https://www.earthdaylive2020.org. This is a site used for Americal
>> political lobbying, refer to the email discussion attached.
>>
>> Could you, or the responsible member of your management team, please
>> explain exactly how this happened?
>>
>> There is zero doubt that this was a serious operational error, misuse
>> of WMF development time and a misuse of the Wikimedia brand. It is
>> certain that you will agree that the buck stops with the CEO. The
>> decision to use the Foundation's website for American lobbying is in
>> conflict with your not for profit status and is in conflict with the
>> charitable status promoted to donors worldwide.
>>
>> If the management team and yourself are going to continuing political
>> lobbying and using WMF resources to raise funds for Americal political
>> organizations which have no agreed relevance to the mission of the
>> Foundation, there must be a published transparent governance review by
>> the WMF board of trustees to examine and agree on this significant
>> operational change to the public Foundation strategy and the terms for
>> the CEO.
>>
>> Thank you in advance.
>>
>> Link to Phabricator task to implement the banner:
>>
https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T250508
>> CC: María Sefidari as WMF Chair.
>>
>> Fae
>>
>> On Thu, 23 Apr 2020 at 05:50, K. Peachey <p858snake(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T250508
>>>
>>> On Thu, 23 Apr 2020 at 09:53, Chris Gates via Wikimedia-l
>>> <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> It seems that they just gave a link to that website, which...eh...
>>>> When I opened it, I heard one sentence of the stream before I stopped
>> it
>>>> and read the rest of the webpage: "and then we give thanks to
spirit,
>> for
>>>> the air we breathe, for the earth..." After reading the rest of
the
>>>> webpage, I un-paused it, and am currently listening to a bit of
>> propaganda
>>>> promoting unions and more extensive labor laws.
>>>>
>>>> The linked website is explicitly political, explicitly on the American
>>>> left, and explicitly in favor of certain highly contentious American
>>>> political proposals. I would like to hear the reasoning for why that
>> link
>>>> has been shown, and it seems to me simply unjustifiable. The WMF is the
>>>> host of a series of community-built projects, not a political activism
>>>> organization.
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>> Vermont
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Apr 22, 2020 at 5:12 PM Ziko van Dijk
<zvandijk(a)gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hello,
>>>>> I can confirm that I see the same also here in the Netherlands.
>> Which is
>>>>> strange, there are no general elections here before 2021...
>>>>> An explanation about this link would be interesting.
>>>>> Kind regards
>>>>> Ziko
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Am Mi., 22. Apr. 2020 um 22:50 Uhr schrieb Yair Rand <
>> yyairrand(a)gmail.com
>>>>>> :
>>>>>
>>>>>> The WMF corporate site (
wikimediafoundation.org) currently has
a
>>>>>> full-page ad with the text "We are watching Earth Day Live
today.
>> Will
>>>>>> you?". This links to an external site with the text
"Click here to
>> sign
>>>>> on
>>>>>> to the US Youth Climate Strike Coalition Earth Day Demands -
From
>>>>> congress
>>>>>> and the next president, we demand a People’s Bailout, a Green
New
>> Deal,
>>>>> and
>>>>>> Land Back for Indigenous Peoples", and prompting readers
to
>> "Pledge to
>>>>> vote
>>>>>> for our future" and to subscribe to "US Climate
Strike".
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Everyone here already knows how unacceptable this is, and why,
so
>> I don't
>>>>>> think this requires any further explanation. The WMF should
>> immediately
>>>>>> take this down, and make certain that this kind of thing
can't
>> happen
>>>>>> again. They've failed yet again at preventing inappropriate
>>>>>> political activism in WMF's communications, and must take
serious
>> action
>>>>> to
>>>>>> fix this constant stream of terrible failures.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -- Yair Rand
>> --
>> faewik(a)gmail.com
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
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>
> --
> Thanks,
> Samuel
> _______________________________________________
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