2023:Program/Legal, Advocacy, and Risks/YHJP3X-Russia: editing Wikimedia projects in the time of cholera
Title: Russia: editing Wikimedia projects in the time of cholera
Speakers:
Victoria
I started editing Russian Wikipedia in 2006 and (too) soon became and admin there. I was a member of the Russian Wikipedia Arbitration Committee twice. I was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation in 2021 and serve on the Community Affairs and Product and Technology Committees.
Room: Room 307
Start time: Sat, 19 Aug 2023 16:00:00 +0800
End time: Sat, 19 Aug 2023 16:30:00 +0800
Type: No (pretalx) session type id specified
Track: Legal, Advocacy, and Risks
Submission state: confirmed
Duration: 30 minutes
Do not record: false
Presentation language: en
Abstract & description[edit source]
Abstract[edit source]
Wikimedia projects have an uneasy relationship with the Russian government. In 2015, Russian Wikipedia was temporarily blocked in Russia. The situation has become acute after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Several editors were jailed, others had to leave the country, and most of the Russia-based functionaries surrendered their rights. The Russian court repeatedly fined Wikimedia Foundation. However, unlike Instagram and Facebook, none of the Wikimedia projects was blocked in Russia in March 2023. I will discuss measures the Russian Wikimedia communities employ for the editors’ safety during the war.
Description[edit source]
Aim: to update the Wikimedia Community on the state of the Wikimedia projects in Russia during the war with Ukraine.
I will discuss the post-2010 relationship between the Wikimedia projects and the Russian government, focussing on the measures taken by the communities after the 2024 Russian invasion of Ukraine: mass anonymisation of editors in the articles about wars, replacement of the Russia-based functionaries with those based abroad, and what not to do when the editors are jailed.
Further details[edit source]
Qn. How does your session relate to the event themes: Diversity, Collaboration Future?
Wikimedia projects in Russia are represented by more than 40 so-called “small” languages.
Qn. What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?
Everyone can participate in this session
Qn. What is the most appropriate format for this session?
Onsite in Singapore- Remote online participation, livestreamed
- Remote from a satellite event
Hybrid with some participants in Singapore and others dialing in remotely- Pre-recorded and available on demand
