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Wikipedia Recognized as a Digital Public Good

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

Wikimedia Europe is keen to share that Wikipedia has been recognised as a digital public good. It is an important recognition for community-led free knowledge projects, which will help our advocacy efforts. In these troublesome times for the information ecosystem, it is of utmost importance defending free knowledge and access to information through the safeguard of alternative platform models, like distributed and community-led online encyclopedias, that proved their resilience.

This post was originally published on the Wikimedia Foundation website and can be accessed here.

Wikipedia has officially been recognized as a digital public good (DPG) by the Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA), a multistakeholder initiative that maintains a Registry of Digital Public Goods: open source-software, data, AI models, standards, and content created for the public interest.  The DPGA is endorsed by the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General in support of open source technologies that contribute to the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This recognition of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia hosted by the nonprofit organization the Wikimedia Foundation, highlights its unique role in advancing global access to a free and open source of trusted knowledge in the public interest. 

According to Liv Marte Nordhaug, CEO of the DPGA Secretariat:

“Wikipedia’s recognition as a digital public good is a testament to the power and importance of open access to knowledge. Wikipedia stands as a prime example of how technologies can drive equitable and unrestricted access to information, accelerating the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals worldwide.” 

Wikipedia, the world’s largest online encyclopedia and only top-visited website operated by a non-profit organization, contains reliably sourced information that is shared, maintained, and verified by a global community of nearly 260,000 volunteers in over 300 languages.

“The Wikimedia Foundation works with affiliate organizations and volunteer Wikipedians across the world to advocate for policies that protect and support Wikipedia and other digital public goods upon which the free knowledge ecosystem depends,” said Rebecca MacKinnon, Vice President of Global Advocacy at the Wikimedia Foundation. “We look forward to working with the Digital Public Goods Alliance, along with other organizations and communities that create and maintain digital public goods, to build a better internet that serves the public interest.”

In 2024 Wikimedia Foundation staff along with Wikipedia volunteers from around the world participated in the UN General Assembly’s Summit for the Future and the drafting of the Global Digital Compact—the UN’s blueprint for global governance of digital technology and artificial intelligence. 

In an open letter in early 2024, the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia affiliates called on UN Member States to:

  • Protect and empower communities to govern online public interest projects.
  • Promote and protect digital public goods by supporting a robust digital commons from which everyone, everywhere, can benefit.
  • Build and deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to support and empower, not replace, people who create content and make decisions in the public interest.

The recognition of Wikipedia as a digital public good strengthens these advocacy efforts and affirms Wikipedia’s role in the broader global movement for an internet that protects and promotes community-led spaces. The Wikimedia Foundation will continue working with the UN and other international institutions, governments, and civil society partners to ensure that digital public goods like Wikipedia are protected, supported, and accessible to all.