This would not have happened had there been any oversight (community or otherwise), and it could have been pulled down quickly enough had there been any community members with the ability to edit the site. Perhaps it's time to reconsider how the WMF corporate site operates.
I appreciate that the WMF is committed doing more thorough due diligence in the future. It's very important to do so. There's a very good reason why community consultation is required when dealing with any Collaborative Advocacy, but given that even existing requirements weren't followed, I'm not very optimistic that this new commitment holds weight. Also importantly, the Foundation's Policy and Political Association Guideline, which was written by WMF Legal in the aftermath of SOPA to iron out clear boundaries on activism, explicitly rules out any political activism relating to environmental issues, stating: > Policy and political associations should protect and advance Wikimedia’s mission “to empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content under a free license or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally.” Accordingly, we will not support causes unrelated to or inconsistent with that mission. For example, no support should be given to: environmental issues; [...]" The WMF just inadvertently threw its weight behind dozens of controversial causes that have nothing to do with our mission. I hope that the WMF will manage to operate more appropriately in the future. --Yair Rand בתאריך יום ו׳, 24 באפר׳ 2020 ב-1:18 מאת Gregory Varnum < gvar...@wikimedia.org>: > 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/> > gvar...@wikimedia.org > Pronouns: He/Him/His > > > On Apr 23, 2020, at 3:07 AM, RhinosF1 - <rhino...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > Should this be posted on wiki for others to sign? > > > > Samuel > > > > On Thu, 23 Apr 2020 at 07:51, Fæ <fae...@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 <p858sn...@gmail.com> wrote: > >>> > >>> https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T250508 > >>> > >>> On Thu, 23 Apr 2020 at 09:53, Chris Gates via Wikimedia-l > >>> <wikimedia-l@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 <zvand...@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 < > >> yyairr...@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 > >> -- > >> fae...@gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > >> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > >> <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > > -- > > Thanks, > > Samuel > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
