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Benh LIEU SONG (Flickr), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Markus Trienke, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Michael S Adler, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

JohnDarrochNZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Stefan Krause, Germany, FAL, via Wikimedia Commons

Sergey Pesterev / Wikimedia Commons

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from Greenbelt, MD, USA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

640px-Wikimedia_Europe_logo_-_vertical

We are Wikimedians working on EU policy to foster
free knowledge, access to information and freedom of expression.

ABOUT US
KNOWLEDGE EQUITY
FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY LAB

Wikimedia Europe Partners for Research into Wikipedia’s Practices on Information on Elections

Panel debate in the European Parliament
DEM-Debate Kick-Off Panel. Author: Camille Françoise: License: CC-BY 4.0 ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )

1.1 million— the number of times the 2024 European Parliament election article on English Wikipedia has been viewed from May to June 2024. With another 37 language versions and additional millions of views globally, this page exemplifies Wikipedia’s role in informing the public about major political events. Yet, Wikipedia’s impact extends far beyond that. As a widely used repository of knowledge, its content is frequently cited by other media outlets, amplifying its reach and embedding its information within broader public discourse. This means that any inaccuracies or disinformation on Wikipedia could have significant consequences on the public discourse, especially when it comes to sensitive issues like elections.

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Wikipedia and the Digital Services Act: Lessons on the strength of community and the future of internet regulation

adapted illustration by Jasmina El Bouamraoui and Karabo Poppy Moletsane for Wikipedia 20, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Written by Jacob Rogers, Associate General Counsel at the Wikimedia Foundation. Here, you may find the link to the original interview.

We share some considerations about the application of the recently adopted Digital Services Act (DSA), which lays down a new set of rules for online platforms. Under these new rules, Wikipedia has been designated as a VLOP and therefore bears some specific obligations. After one year of formal application, a first preliminary evaluation can be done. In this sense, the interview highlights Wikipedia’s specific characteristics, analyses the compliance burdens for the Wikimedia Foundation and offers some guidance for the future in order to preserve the Wikimedia model.

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A Joint Statement on the Use of Surveillance Spyware in the EU and Beyond

Gobierno Espía Ojo, Gibrán Aquino, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

We took stance against the use of spyware in the EU and beyond. This pervasive technology poses significant threat to European fundamental values, such as democracy and rule of law, and risks severely infringing fundamental rights to privacy and data protection as well as freedom of expression. Alongside with other civil society and journalists’ organisations we called on the new EU Institutions and Member States to take swift action and ban the use of such a technology. We need to protect citizens, including Wikimedians, and their fundamental rights from undue interference and arbitrary behaviours. Here below you can read the statement with the specific calls for action.

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Wikimedia Foundation defeats gambling magnate’s lawsuit in Germany

Aerial image of Justizpalast in Munich, by Carsten Steger, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Written by Phil Bradley-Schmieg and Jacob Rogers.

The Munich Regional Court acknowledged that the contested Wikipedia article (Tipico) contained relevant public information and was correctly sourced. This is very good news also for Wikimedia Europe, which closely followed the adoption of the anti-SLAPP Directive and will advocate for its ambitious and effective transposition in the different Member States.

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Paths to Knowledge Equity – collection of essays

Geometry by Gauthier DELECROIX - 郭天 under CC BY 2.0 license

The four essays touch on foundational questions but also some very real problems that need to be looked at within the Wikimedia community if it comes to knowledge equity. One key aspect of this inward gaze is a deep reflection how to start this work with the communities that are silent (or silenced) at the centre – not just by them or for them.

Read the publication here

Knowledge equity is both an attractive and elusive concept. In our society, governed by meritocracy, knowledge is deemed of value, though with rates varying significantly: be it university education or street smarts. Knowledge is a non-exclusive resource; learning does not take it away from our peers or teachers. Often to the contrary, an act of learning can educate all involved.

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Open letter to protect Wikipedia and other public interest projects in the Global Digital Compact

Wikimedia Europe has signed an open letter, penned by the Wikimedia Foundaiton, that calls on UN Member States to protect Wikipedia and other public interest projects in the forthcoming Global Digital Compact. The Global Digital Compact initiative is a unique and pivotal opportunity to shape our digital world in a manner that advances the public interest and supports sustainable development for everyone, everywhere.  UN Member States have the chance to embrace a positive vision for the internet’s future that supports and empowers diverse communities everywhere to build and operate free and open knowledge projects. The Wikimedia projects, including Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, provide the world with the largest free and open, multilingual, intercultural, universally accessible repository of educational materials ever created. The volunteer-run Wikimedia projects have formed a community-led ecosystem that champions information integrity. They serve as digital public infrastructure for openly licensed, neutral, encyclopedic content in over 300 languages. Wikipedia’s experience of over two decades has taught us that the internet needs to be open, global, interoperable, and inclusive in order to serve all of humanity. To that end, three essential commitments should be included in the text of the Global Digital Compact:

Visions of AI in Popular Culture: report is out

Martians vs. Thunder Child, Henrique Alvim Corrêa for the novel The War of the Worlds, in public domain

Activist organisations often have difficulties with raising awareness around the problems that they make it their mission to solve. While lack of adequate expertise or access to funding that could be spent for information campaigns, are among reasons, there is a lot to be said about the messaging and methods we chose. What if we got inspiration from pop-culture and artworks that excell at translating the emerging tendencies and new technologies into the zeitgeist?

These are the droids you’re looking for

Together with SWPS University’s Institute of Humanities in Warsaw, Poland, we delved into exactly this inspiration! Students worked under the direction of the faculty on data collection and report Visions of AI in Popular Culture: Analysis of the Narratives about Artificial Intelligence in Science Fiction Films and Series. The Wikimedia assignment was to examine attitudes and winning narratives pertaining to the key narrative tropes:

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Wikimania 2024: call for submissions open!

Wikimania Singapore 2023 - Opening reception by Pedro J Pacheco under CC BY SA 4.0 source: Wikimedia Commons

The great celebration of everything Wikimedia will take place in Katowice, Poland, August 7-10 . Wikimedia Europe was asked to curate the track on Legal and Advocacy, which we are happy to support. As Wikimania 2024 gathers under the topic of the Collaboration of Open, we present under your consideration some ideas on how to align with this message.

You can submit a session proposal for Wikimania 2024 here.

Food for thought

In this time of global conflict, disinformation and digital authoritarianism, the Wikimedia movement offers a model for decentralised, grassroots governance of free knowledge. Our movement empowers communities to exercise their right to access knowledge, and to advance other fundamental human rights. The Wikimedia model offers inspiration on how to create connections between people of various backgrounds, cultures and beliefs. 

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We need a Digital Knowledge Act

"Towards progressing science further and faster". Author: Dasaptaerwin. License: Creative Commons CC0 1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en)

A digital knowledge act for europe

In December 2023 the Communia Association, which Wikimedia Europe is a member of, rolled out the idea of a Digital Knowledge Act at the European Union level. A EU regulation that makes the interests of knowledge institutions, such as libraries, universities and schools, a top priority. 

In the past five years we have seen the EU tackling various specific digital issues through legislation – content moderation through the Digital Services Act, market power through the Digital Markets Act, data sharing through the Data Act and the Data Governance Act. All these were necessary steps, we believe, they however treated institutions, such as libraries, archives, universities and schools, almost as an afterthought.  

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Anti-SLAPPs Directive: a step in the right direction. 

"Wikipedia censored", Author: Julo, License: CC-BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en)

 

The new legal tool only introduces minimum safeguards: it’s now up to Member States to transpose the new rules ensuring a comprehensive and meaningful protection for the victims of SLAPPs as well as freedom of expression and information.

Introduction

The European Parliament formally adopted, during the last February plenary session held in Strasbourg, the anti-SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) Directive, which it has also been referred to as Daphne’s law from the name of the Maltese journalist, Daphne Caurana Galizia, who was murdered in 2017. The adopted text is the result of the compromise that both Parliament and Council struck in November 2023, one year and half later the Commission published the proposal. Now, the text needs to be formally adopted by the Council, this will normally happen in March, and published in the Official Journal.

Read More »Anti-SLAPPs Directive: a step in the right direction.