That's actually the first thing I did when I saw the email, as I wasn't previously familar with the term.
On Tue, Dec 6, 2022, 3:22 PM Neurodivergent Netizen < idoh.idreamofhor...@gmail.com> wrote: > Of course Wikipedia has an article on it. :-) It refers to “the Middle > East and North Africa.” > From, > I dream of horses > She/her > > > > > > On Dec 6, 2022, at 12:01 PM, Nathan <nawr...@gmail.com> wrote: > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MENA?wprov=sfla1 > > On Tue, Dec 6, 2022, 2:59 PM Neurodivergent Netizen < > idoh.idreamofhor...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Can you tell us what MENA stands for? >> >> From, >> I dream of horses >> She/her >> >> >> >> >> >> On Dec 6, 2022, at 8:28 AM, Wikimedia Trust and Safety <c...@wikimedia.org> >> wrote: >> >> Hello all, >> >> On December 6th 2022, the Foundation undertook 16 global bans to users >> who were engaging in conflict of interest editing on Wikipedia projects in >> the MENA region. While we are unable to discuss Foundation office actions >> in detail due to legal limitations and for the safety of our communities, >> we would like to speak a little more to this situation as it involves the >> safety and security of all of us. >> >> As Wikimedia projects have risen in prominence across the world, it has >> attracted increasing attention of those who would like to control the >> information published on it, for political or other reasons. Community >> members have addressed concerns of this sort for many years, but sometimes >> volunteers who intervene in such cases may themselves face retaliation for >> their actions. The Foundation does its best to support volunteers in such >> cases, in order to preserve their safety. >> >> In January of 2022, the Foundation began an investigation into alleged >> conflict of interest editing on Wikipedia projects in the MENA region. In >> that investigation, we were able to confirm that a number of users with >> close connections with external parties were editing the platform in a >> coordinated fashion to advance the aim of those parties. These connections >> are a source of serious concern for the safety of our users that go beyond >> the capacity of the local language project communities targeted to >> address. Due to the gravity of this situation, and in order to keep our >> users and the projects safe, the Foundation issued these 16 global bans. >> >> Such actions can be distressing to those who know individuals involved >> and to those who don’t. They can cause volunteers to mistrust each other >> and to mistrust the Foundation and to be unsure if they can safely >> contribute. We are unable to share more details about this situation due to >> the reasons mentioned above, but we want to assure you that the Foundation >> will continue to explore various ways to keep everyone safe and free to >> contribute to the projects. We want to thank those community members across >> the globe who address such situations every day and encourage all of you to >> consider how to be safe in your volunteer activities. We recognize that as >> we move forward, we will need to work with our communities to find a global >> process to navigate safety challenges that allow such situations to be >> dealt with as transparently as possible while also prioritising avoiding >> risk to the safety of our users. >> >> For anyone who feels unsafe on Wikimedia projects we encourage you to use >> the local community processes or to contact us for assistance. The >> Foundation and the community will work together, or in parallel, to enhance >> the safety of all users whenever necessary with whatever means we can. >> >> To contact the Trust & Safety team please email c...@wikimedia.or >> <c...@wikimedia.org>g. >> >> Kind regards, >> >> WMF Office/Trust and Safety >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines >> at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >> Public archives at >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/NJUOKYM2UTKFH53OKGIXW6OSEEDUI3AL/ >> To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines >> at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >> Public archives at >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/SOYG4CIA6H7WMAMWGRZWT3HJXPFEFVCJ/ >> To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines > at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > Public archives at > https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/PJJLIZDA4PA74PN45DBF3LCY4UATLCGI/ > To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines > at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > Public archives at > https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/BUS6TJJ5YUIJZ6AHP4OKLPREC2HVOSWV/ > To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org
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