[Wikimediaindia-l] Moderation policy on WikimediaIndia-l

Mon Feb 14 12:03:15 UTC 2011

Hi Jyothis,

On Mon, Feb 14, 2011 at 4:39 AM, Jyothis Edathoot <je at jyothis.net> wrote:

> Hari,
>
> Couldnt help asking, but could you please point out whom are you referring
> as trolls here and who attacked you (or any member of EC) personally? As far
> as I see this, community members raised multiple concerns here and other
> threads about transparency in EC's actions and we, as community members,
> would expect the EC to clarify things, rather than coming around and calling
> them trolls and marking it as personal attacks. Such a line of defense is
> not expected from a person sitting in the secretary post of the current EC.
>

I think Hari was referring to Sudhir Ponappa's trolling on this thread.  As
far as I can see, he is a single purpose account (SPA) created by
miscreant(s) for disruption.

http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2011-February/002139.html

Praveenp's email, however unfriendly, was not moderated by either Hari or I
for the sole reason that he is a member of the community.  I respect his
intentions but I cannot respect the manner in which he had addressed the
email to Arjuna.  His response is a personal attack on another member of the
community.

http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2011-February/002121.html

I trust this brings clarity.
<http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2011-February/002121.html>

>
> Just to add, you very well know that the concerns that we see here is not
> something new and has that has been around the time the formation plans were
> announced. I hope you remember the conversation even we had and the
> discussions that happened right at the out set in mailing lists. Sorry to
> say this, but I dont think there was any serious efforts came from forming
> group to reach out to the communities to fixi things up. Atleast not to my
> knowledge and I may be wrong.
>

Jyothis, I am first and foremost a Wikimedian and a part of the community
who happens to be a member of the Chapter EC.[1]  I empathize with your
position that the Chapter has been unable to send timely reports and
communication to the community at large.  We can definitely do much better.
 But let me assure you that there is a large effort that goes behind writing
every note to the India discussion list as the members of the ExecComm work
as a team in order to build consensus amongst themselves in order to present
a unanimous face to the community.  Yes, there are occasional disagreements
which are resolved through discussion.  It's true that we need to make our
communications process more efficient.  We have had a discussion over this
in the past on the EC list where you suggested something that was not
legally possible without Chapter registration.  It is disappointing to see
that you have taken a confrontational approach rather than coming forward to
try and help us overcome these teething issues.

Each and every member of the ExecComm is responsible to the body as a whole.
 Therefore, as a part of the Chapter formation process we delegated tasks
amongst ourselves and reported back to the ExecComm with detailed emails.
 Since September 2010, we have had approximately 600 threads of discussion
amongst the EC which have been *permanently archived* in Wikimedia servers.
 These discussions have ranged from the arranging Wikipedia meetups,
discussions with our consultant, meetings with the Registrar and various
functionaries around Karnataka and outside for organizational support and
more.  If it helps, starting up and running a non-profit organization in
India is very different from elsewhere in the world (saying so because I
think you live somewhere outside this country), there are many laws and
rules which the EC must adhere to.  Please understand that we have all
worked very hard and expended a lot of time and energies over the past year
to make this organization a reality.  None of us have any personal or vested
interests beyond the sheer pleasure that comes with working for an
organization with a mission which is in harmony with our own ideas for a
better world.

To clarify further, I was not a part of the initial team that was formed to
seed the Chapter.  My former attempt at registering a chapter in Ahmedabad
is documented here:

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_India/bylaws/historic

Please rest assured that more details will be available to you shortly.

Now coming to the role of the Chapter: my understanding is that the ExecComm
has no business being the direct representatives of the community. We are a
bunch of volunteers who have made the efforts to organize ourselves into a
formal entity which can be used for co-ordinating and supporting volunteer
efforts around the country for outreach and community building exercises.
 My allegiance is solely to the principles on which the Wikimedia Movement
(and the English Wikipedia project, for that matter) was founded - to spread
free knowledge and make the total sum of human knowledge available to each
and every individual on this planet.  I hold these goals very dear and feel
very passionately about them.  All the members of the ExecComm are bound by
the same understanding and commitment towards these principles.

I will reiterate my understanding: The Chapter exists to support the
Wikimedia community in India and to facilitate its activities across the
country.  A formal organization can forge associations with organizations
who share our goals, and raise funds to support the activities of
volunteers.  This is the *raison d'etre *of the Chapter.  My understanding
is that the Chapter aims to remain as transparent as possible in terms of
its finances and will submit an annual audit report to the Annual General
Meeting.

> No one has said that the list mods has not done there job. If the community
> feels that the current mods are getting swamped and more mods are needed, I
> would assume that it is up to them, as it is their list.
>
> just my opinion, rest of my fellow community members may disagree and
> correct me if I am wrong.
>

I disagree with your assessment, but I am happy to introduce more mods to
the list.

I request you to please be patient, and allow us time to address your
concerns in the most appropriate manner.

>
> Regards,
> Jyothis.
>
>
I am the first customer of http://www.netdotnet.com
>

anirudh (my personal opinion)

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Sir_Nicholas_de_Mimsy-Porpington

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