Paid Wikipedia editing & disclosure series, 2015
Drawing by Nicholas Boudreau, licensed CC BY
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Category Archives: governance
Washington Post asks, “why give to Wikipedia?”
The Washington Post just published a story about the Wikimedia Foundation’s annual fund-raising campaign: Wikipedia has a ton of money. So why is it begging you to donate yours? Reporter Caitlin Dewey, who quoted me and several others, did a good job with a tough topic. … Continue reading
Posted in conflict of interest, core, governance, journalism, wiki, Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia
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Superprotect removed: A milestone, and what it means
Yesterday the Superprotect user right, which I have long opposed, was removed from Wikimedia’s servers. In announcing the removal, the Wikimedia Foundation characterized Superprotect — accurately and appropriately, I would say — as having “set up a precedent of mistrust” among … Continue reading
Posted in Administrator, governance, wiki, Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia
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Exploring a Center for a People-Centered Internet
This weekend, I was honored to join Vint Cerf, Mei Lin Fung, and a host of others in a discussion about what a “People-Centered Internet” would look like, and how to bring it about. Mei Lin invited me to bring … Continue reading
Posted in Free licenses, gender, governance, government, history, wiki, Wikipedia
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If Wikipedia required Open Access sources, it would be a lot less useful
Starting in 2008 I wrote a Wikipedia article on a proposed casino, to be built in the Columbia River Gorge. I wrote the article because I believed it was an important topic (and an Oregonian reporter and a Harvard scholar agreed); but … Continue reading
On partial disclosure
“Full” and “disclosure”: they’re two words that go together like peanut butter and jelly. Disclosure is meaningless unless its scope is appropriate. Has anybody called for Hillary Clinton to pick whichever email messages she’d like show to the public? No! … Continue reading
A survey of how paid Wikipedia services approach disclosure
Yesterday I described how one Wikipedia writing firm, David King’s Ethical Wiki, recently found that its practices ran afoul of Wikipedia’s Terms of Use (ToU), and announced changes to its practices. How do other agencies offering Wikipedia services approach similar … Continue reading
Wikipedian-for-hire must make clearer disclosure, says Wikipedia community & foundation
In August, longtime Wikipedia-editor-for-hire David King appealed to the broad community of Wikipedia editors and, simultaneously, to the staff of the Wikimedia Foundation, asking if it was OK for him to skip disclosing specifics called for by the site’s Terms of … Continue reading
Posted in governance, paid editing, Terms of Use, wiki, Wikimedia Foundation
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Wikipedia cofounder misrepresents the site’s rules on paid editing
Please scroll down for Jimmy Wales’ responses to this on Facebook and Quora, outlined in red. Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales is, unsurprisingly, frequently approached by reporters as a top authority on the site. For instance, the article “Wikipedia struggles to save its … Continue reading
Superprotect: How Wikimedia board candidates addressed it
I have long held that the Wikimedia Foundation’s flawed approach to software development and deployment, culminating in the sudden release of the draconian “superprotect” software feature last year, would be the central issue in this year’s election for three of … Continue reading
Posted in governance, Terms of Use, wiki, Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia
Tagged Trustee election 2015
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PR firm covertly edits the Wikipedia entries of its celebrity clients
How a big Hollywood firm altered Naomi Campbell’s entry Recently, Wiki Strategies was informed about the Wikipedia exploits of public relations firm Sunshine Sachs. Since Wikipedia’s editing history is preserved for all to see, we asked freelance journalist Jack Craver … Continue reading
Posted in core, governance, journalism, paid editing, Statements of Ethics, Terms of Use, wiki, Wikipedia
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Pete Forsyth