Dear all,
Congratulations on almost making it to the end of the week! This email
contains three useful resources related to copyright reform, legal trends
that concern our movement, and how to register for an exciting digital
policy conference (remote attendance). Grab your beverage of choice and
enjoy clicking through these resources...
*What legal trends are relevant to the Wikimedia Movement?*
Wikimedia has a lot to contribute to digital policy and internet governance
discussions beyond Copyright. Our Associate General Counsel, Jacob Rogers,
just published a great essay on the trends he's observed in his tenure at
Wikimedia and what they mean for us going forward. Read the full essay
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikilegal/A_changing_legal_world_for_free_k…>,
or synopsis on Diff
<https://diff.wikimedia.org/2024/02/15/a-changing-legal-world-for-free-knowl…>
.
*Let's Connect clinics on Copyright Reform*
Peer learning clinics on Copyright Reform have now concluded. Members from
Wikimedia Colombia, Italy, Sweden and Indonesia shared their unique
experiences advocating for copyright reform - what worked, what *really* did
not, and why they've continued to be active on public policy advocacy on
topics far beyond copyright. You can access the video recordings and slide
decks on the Let's Connect page
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Knowledge_Sharing/Connect/Calendar>.
Additional resources that were popular during these sessions, like how to
describe the Wikimedia Model or access Copyright campaign examples can be
found on our Resource Center
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Public_policy/Resources>.
Courses on copyright reform can be found under "Copyright" on our
"Documentation"
tab
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Public_policy/Documentat…>
.
*Register for the Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF)*
DRIF is taking place from April 23-25th in Accra, Ghana. This is a major
regional forum in which digital policies and internet governance in Africa
are debated and shaped, and we're showing up big with four sessions.
Wikimedians
will be representing the valuable insights our movement has to share on the
conference theme of "fostering rights and inclusion in the digital
age." Registration
is now open <https://whova.com/portal/registration/draif_202404/>. We hope
you'll attend virtually for one or all of these sessions:
1.
Faire résonner les voix : l'inclusion des Femmes ouest africaines dans
lesProjets Wikimedia
2.
Connect the Unconnected: Strengthening Women’s Access to Rural Broadband
Connectivity in Africa
3.
An Internet for and by the people: What we gain when we treat the
internet as a shared public good
4.
Fostering Trust Online in the Year of Democracy: Lessons on Combating
Disinformation on Wikipedia
Have a wonderful end to your week and even better weekend,
Ziski
Franziska Putz (she/her)
Senior Movement Advocacy Manager
Global Advocacy, Wikimedia Foundation
Fputz(a)wikimedia.org
UTC Timezone
Dear Wikimedia friends,
Welcome to 2024! I hope it's been a nice journey so far.
I'm delighted to share that some of the people on this list will be running
workshops on *January 30 & February 21 *about their public policy advocacy
work on copyright reform. An overview of both is below. These workshops are
hosted via Let's Connect [1], a peer learning program for and by
Wikimedians.
You will need to register, but the link is not yet available. Please save
the date if one of these options interests you.
*January 30: Copyright Reform Advocacy *
- Date & Time: January 30th @ 16 - 18:00 UTC
- Presenters: WM Colombia & WM Italia
- Topic: This clinic will inform participants about creative, impactful
solutions to potential issues with copyright policy. Wikimedia Colombia
will describe their experience participating in a government-initiated
copyright reform process and the tactics, such as working with allies,
that helped them be successful in this process. Wikimedia Italia will
discuss what happens when the government is not interested in copyright
reform, and how the chapter has deployed creative ways to demonstrate the
value of copyright reform.
*February 21: Awareness + Education as tactics for Copyright Reform*
- Date & Time: February 21 @ 15 - 17:00 UTC
- Presenters: WM Indonesia & WM Sweden
- Topic: It's possible to push for copyright reform as part of other
ongoing initiatives, without immediately trying to change legislation. This
clinic will show some creative ways of raising awareness and start engaging
in activities to raise awareness and participate in policy discussions
around copyright issues. WM Sweden's story will demonstrate how the chapter
turned a massive defeat into a source of strength, while WM Indonesia will
cover how their ongoing education initiatives can support their public
policy advocacy plans.
Hope to see you there!
Ziski
---
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Knowledge_Sharing/Connect
Franziska Putz (she/her)
Senior Movement Advocacy Manager
Global Advocacy, Wikimedia Foundation
Fputz(a)wikimedia.org
UTC Timezone
Prosit!
Please excuse us, but this will be a long report :/
—
As the European political families are gearing up for European Parliament
elections in June, the legislative work is still really, really intensive.
This is caused by the technical fact that if a file isn’t wrapped up by the
end of February there simply won’t be enough time to formally adopt it.
—
We can report on agreements on the anti-SLAPP Directive, the European Media
Freedom Act and the Cyber Resilience Act. All three are relevant to
Wikimedians and Wikimedia projects. Meanwhile the Child Sexual Abuse
Materials Regulation is stuck, while the infamous AI Act’s saga is heading
to a culmination this Friday.
Dimi & Michele
=== anti-SLAPP Directive ===
The anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) proposal
<https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?refere…>,
which was published in April 2022, aims at protecting persons who engage in
public participation from manifestly unfounded or abusive court proceedings
that present a cross-border aspect. It is part of the European Democracy
Action Plan
<https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM%3A2020%3A790%3AFIN&…>.
It introduces minimum common rules “by developing a common EU understanding
on what constitutes a SLAPP and by introducing procedural safeguards”. As
you may be aware, our projects and communities are facing SLAPP cases
across Europe, including in Portugal
<https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/07/27/high-stakes-for-the-wikimedia-project…>
and Estonia
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CEE/Newsletter/Newsroom/Is_suing_Wikipedia_…>
.
—
The legal affairs Committee (JURI) voted last week and approved the
provisional agreement between the Parliament and the Council. Now, the
parliament’s plenary needs to formally approve the text (normally the end
of February) and then it will be the turn of Council. Once the text is
formally adopted by both Institutions and after 20 days of its publication
in the Official Journal, it will enter into force (possibly already in
April). From that moment, it will start to apply the two years’ time period
to transpose the Directive.
—
Overall, the agreement can be considered satisfactory as it introduces some
common safeguards that until now the EU lacked. There are nonetheless a few
aspects on which Wikimedia Europe wants to focus at national level when
Member States will transpose the Directive. Indeed, Member States can
decide to offer further protection, for instance, on the early dismissal
mechanism, the possibility to introduce the right to ask for the
compensation of damages or the possibility to take into account the
ubiquitous nature of the Internet as a relevant element to determine the
cross-border nature of a case. We will prepare “transposition
documentation” and work with interested communities across the continent.
=== EMFA ===
The European Media Freedom Act is intended to boost media and journalistic
freedom <https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_5504>
across the bloc. It is a bag of very versatile measures that are intended
to help protect a pluralistic media landscape. Things like rules on
government spending on public service announcements and enshrining the
protection of sources at the EU level. For Wikimedia this law is relevant,
because it also wants to limit how online platforms moderate content
provided by media providers, which are defined as media outlets but also
individual journalists.
—
The agreed text has been voted by the Culture and Education (CULT)
Committee 24 January and now the parliament’s plenary is supposed to
endorse it at the end of February. Once the text is formally voted on by
both co-legislators, it will be published in the Official Journal and will
enter into force (possibly already in April). The new law will start to
apply 15 months after its entry into force, but some articles will apply
earlier.
—
The agreed text of Article 17 would require online platforms to accept
self-declarations from media service providers who identify as such and
warn such users ahead of moderating their content and to allow them a
fast-track channel to contest decisions. All this can be problematic,
seeing that disinformation is sometimes produced by media providers.
Despite the fact that Wikimedia projects were exempted from this provision
in the Commission proposal, and that Parliament introduced Recital 35a
explicitly recognising the role of online encyclopaedias and excluding them
from the scope of the Article
<https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-9-2023-0264_EN.pdf>, the
final version of the text contains a less clear carveout. This means that
Wikipedia is in scope, but the exact extent of the obligations likely won’t
mess with the established content moderation practices. The technical and
legal language is messy, if you care about a deep-dive, please ping us :)
—
On the other hand, lawmakers reached a non satisfactory deal on Article 4
of the EMFA, which is supposed, among other things, to protect journalists
from the possibility to deploy spyware against them. As we care about
freedom of information and journalism, we supported this provision as well.
=== Transparency and targeting of political advertising ===
The proposed regulation
<https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?refere…>
aims at regulating political advertising services, including targeting and
amplification techniques, making them more transparent. The deal is sealed
and is expected to enter into force 20 days after its publication in the
Official Journal.
—
The final agreement solves the issue of the definition by introducing the
remuneration element and encompassing in house activities as well as
political campaigns.This was important to us, as some iterations of the
definition could have covered encyclopaedic content. Nonetheless, the new
definition leaves room for a broad interpretation, especially concerning in
house activities, which could catch civil society advocacy in scope.
—
A ban for non-EU sponsors has been introduced, in the last three months
preceding an election or referendum, be it at EU, national, regional or
local level.
—
With regard to the possibility to use special categories of personal data
to profile people and deliver targeted messages, legislators introduced a
specific prohibition. The latter applies also to inferred data (even though
this is specified in a recital and not an Article), thus offering a proper
protection.
—
The new rules will enter into application after 18 months from the adoption
of the regulation. This practically means that they will not be in place
for the future EU elections foreseen in June 2024.
=== CRA ===
We finally have a deal on the Cyber Resilience Act
<https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CONSIL:ST_17000_202…>,
a law for internet-connected products that is meant to improve the security
and software maintenance of your smart toaster and AI-powered fridge (just
random examples). The tool originally chosen is to create obligations to
manufacturers and/or vendors. We were involved in these negotiations
<https://wikimedia.brussels/who-should-be-liable-for-free-software/>
because the newly proposed obligations could have seriously messed up the
free & open software ecosystem.
—
In the end the CRA will not harm free software and is unlikely to cause
havoc on the open source environment, as long as it is outside a commercial
activity. Two main clarifications were added:
-
(10c) .. the provision of free and open-source software products that
are not monetised by their manufacturers is not considered a commercial
activity.
-
(10c) This Regulation does not apply to natural or legal persons who
contribute source code to free and open-source products that are not under
their responsibility.
—
Truth be told, this is still a terrible piece of law and we have to be
honest, at best it won’t do much harm. The original proposal by the
Commission was not well thought out and more a result of the “We need to do
something!”-reflex. The co-legislators tried to fix it on the fly, but
politically didn’t want to re-think the entire approach. In the end we are
stuck with definitions in recitals (the non-active part of the text),
obligations without corresponding penalties (what’s the use?) and how
exactly the compliance will look like is largely left to the European
Commission to decide by issuing guidances later on. All in all the EU would
have been better off without this law.
"In the final iteration of the text, seen by Euractiv, non-profit
organisations that sell open source software on the market but reinvest
all the revenues in non-for-profit activities were also excluded from
the scope."
“the provision of free and open-source software products with digital
elements that are not monetised by their manufacturers is not considered a
commercial activity”.
===CSAM ===
This proposed regulation wants to establish unified rules on cohabiting
child sexual abuse material and grooming of minors online. Regular readers
of this report know that the most contentious issue is a provision that
would oblige messaging services to actively scan all users’ messages to
detect such material.
—
The European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) led by Spanish
lawmaker Zaralejos (EPP) has edited the proposal and gotten approval by the
plenary for its position
<https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?refere…>.
The solution is to restrict the scanning of private conversations only to
cases where a judge has given permission as part of criminal procedures.
The Council, on the other hand, still can’t agree on a joint paper. Only
after they agree they could start negotiation with the parliament. From
what we hear some Member States (and especially their police and security
services) aren’t fans of end-to-end encryption and wouldn’t mind it being
bowled away by the CSAM Regulation. At the same time Germany, Poland and
France keep blocking negotiations citing privacy and fundamental rights
concerns. If the Council doesn’t reach an agreement soon, this law simply
won’t see the light of day.
—
Not directly related, but kind of related, the Wikimedia Foundation
has published
its new child safety policy
<https://diff.wikimedia.org/2024/01/25/wikimedia-foundation-launches-new-chi…>
and provided better public explanations on how it tackles such thorny
issues. Protecting children online is also an obligation under the Digital
Services Act and a major political issue across countries. Such
communication is definitely very useful.
===Resolution on EU Crimes ===
In the meantime, the European Parliament adopted its resolution on EU crimes
<https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2024-0044_EN.pdf>. The
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union in its Article 83 contains
,a list of crimes to be recognised by all member States. According to the
same Article, in order to change the Treaty the Council needs the approval
of the Parliament.
—
What is of interest to us in this resolution is its Paragraph 12, where
Parliament: "Stresse[ed] that misuses of the internet and the business
model of social media platforms, which is based on micro-targeted
advertising, contribute to spreading and amplifying hate speech, inciting
discrimination and violence and increasing the risk of revictimisation;
calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure the correct
implementation of current legislation, such as Regulation (EU) 2022/20651,
and to make use of all means and instruments at their disposal to counter
the dissemination of hate speech online"
=== DSA Enforcement ===
The Digital Services Act, the EU’s general content moderation law, is
gradually entering into force with both regulators and platforms working on
readiness. Member States are passing laws on appointing national
regulators, while the Commission is working, among other things, on
guidelines. An expected timeline for the next:
-
After March: A Consultation about general guidelines on risk assessments
under Art 34 DSA.
-
Guidelines on data access are likely to come after EU elections.
-
End of 2024: Consultation about Trusted Flagger guidelines. The
guidelines should ideally give protection against abuse by large TFs, while
also allowing smaller organisations to make use of this tool.
—
Meanwhile the Wikimedia Foundation has submitted feedback
<https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/1…>
on the planned guidelines for transparency reports under the DSA.
===AI Act===
The AI Act’s fate will be decided this Friday in Brussels, where Member
States need to vote on a “take-it-as-is-or-leave-it” proposal by the
Belgian Council Presidency. The same agreement has already been approved by
the parliament. Germany, France and Italy still haven’t decided on their
position and continue to criticise the “over-regulation” of general purpose
AI models (a.k.a. large language models). Still, even if the three vote
against, they won’t have enough weight to block it, they would need another
country, literally any, to form a so-called “blocking minority”. Austria
still hasn’t confirmed how they will position themselves. Expect a more
detailed analysis once this saga is over.
—
Of course a political cliffhanger is nothing to stop a solid bureaucracy
from expanding. The European Commission established a European AI Office
<https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/commission-decision-establ…>
that is supposed to monitor and enforce rules on general purpose AI
models.
=== France ===
France is working on passing a “national content moderation and DSA
transposition law” that comes packaged with many, many bad ideas
<https://wikimedia.brussels/wikipedia-will-be-harmed-by-frances-proposed-sre…>.offering
a proper protection.
—
Following the vote of the of 17 October the French National Assembly on the
SREN bill
<https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/dyn/16/textes/l16t0175_texte-adopte-sean…>
(17 October 2023), the French Government made a new notification to the
European Commission, an obligation they have under EU law. This
notification kicks of a standstill period that is set to expire the 9 of
February.
—
In the meanwhile the EU Commission, sent a letter to the French government,
also an option under EU rules, in which formally expressed its point of
view (quite negative). This response automatically extended the standstill
period until 11 March 2024.
=== Sweden ===
19 January saw the publication of an official government report
<https://www.regeringen.se/contentassets/6b70735c6c05451c9728a4a2d987bf05/in…>
in Sweden, with proposed modernizations of the exceptions and limitations
in the Swedish copyright act. The report is based on a public inquiry, in
which Wikimedia Sverige's Eric Luth has been one of 13 experts, and the
proposals include a modernised freedom of panorama provision, new
exceptions for parody and news reporting, and a better environment for
scientific research and open science.
===Denmark===
We gather that the Danish government might be preparing a very similar
process of an inquiry, report and then proposed legislation to update
copyright exceptions & limitations. WMDK is engaged.
=== EU Elections ===
Ahead of EU elections European party groups have usually draft documents
called manifestos that outline their main proposal. We have tried to
suggest ideas across the political spectre and are keeping an eye on the
final documents. These usually come in handy for outreach purposes after
the elections.
—
The Social Democrats want to ensure that Europe harnesses the power of AI
to protect workers and citizens following the ‘human in control’ principle.
They are also envisioning major investment in digital public infrastructure
and education and to protect democracy and workers’ rights against “Big
Tech’s pursuit of profit or algorithmic management.”
—
The German Social Democrats - SPD - have also adopted their own party
programme for the European elections. It explicitly states the intention to
introduce an Open Knowledge Act.
—
The Greens will be pushing the idea of “Digital Fairness Act” that protects
citizens from “intrusive online advertising practices” and protects the
rights of individuals and the common good. Interestingly they also mention
data spaces that should open anonymised social data for non-commercial uses.
—
If you know of more relevant content in the national party programmes you
can read, please send tips to dimi(a)wikimedia.be :)
--
Wikimedia Europe ivzw
Hi all,
I hope your week is going well!
This group has expressed interest in continued skill development and
capacity building related to public policy advocacy. I am therefore doing
more to share learning opportunities related to digital rights issues that
are pertinent to Wikimedia. This time: the Internet Shutdown Academy
training. Summary below, full details below the line.
This is a 7 week program. Through online courses, discussion, and
networking opportunities, you'll gain expertise on topics like:
- Designing internet shutdown research and advocacy campaigns
- Using tools to document internet shutdowns technically
- Circumventing censorship and shutdowns with known VPNs and
circumvention tools
- Documenting human rights violations during shutdowns
- Engaging the private sector
- Using strategic litigation
To apply, simply *fill out this short application form
<https://smallmedia.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7fdb14e291091d23007369…>
[1]**
<https://smallmedia.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7fdb14e291091d23007369…>*
by *Monday, January 29th*. No prior expertise is required - just a passion
for digital rights and a willingness to learn. Core materials will be
available in Spanish, French, Arabic, Farsi, Swahili, Portuguese and
English.
Best,
Ziski
--
[1]
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdp_C-yMUWhFknFBnwL2jKgionOLCskQgZ…
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Laura Henderson <keepiton(a)lists.riseup.net>
Date: Mon, Jan 22, 2024 at 8:11 AM
Subject: [KeepItOn] Internet Shutdown Academy training program (round 2!)
To: <keepiton(a)lists.riseup.net>
Dear community,
On behalf of the Advocacy Assembly, I'm excited to announce that we'll be
running a second version of the 7-week Advocacy Assembly Shutdown Academy
training program, and *we hope that you will circulate this call for
applications to those in your network.*
Last year's Advocacy Assembly Internet Shutdown Academy Mentored Training
program received over *1,060 applications from 135 countries*,
demonstrating the overwhelming global demand for knowledge about how to
fight back against shutdowns. Given the immense interest in the first
mentored AA-ISA program, we are running it again from February through
April 2024. The program will provide support and community as you complete
ten Internet Shutdown Academy courses. You'll also have opportunities to
engage with mentors, experts, and funders.
Through online courses, discussion, and networking opportunities, you'll
gain expertise on topics like:
- Designing internet shutdown research and advocacy campaigns
- Using tools to document internet shutdowns technically
- Circumventing censorship and shutdowns with known VPNs and
circumvention tools
- Documenting human rights violations during shutdowns
- Engaging the private sector
- Using strategic litigation
By completing the program, you'll earn a certificate and join a global
network of advocates working to protect internet access.
To apply, simply *fill out this short application form
<https://smallmedia.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7fdb14e291091d23007369…>
*
by *Monday, January 29th*. No prior expertise is required - just a passion
for digital rights and a willingness to learn. Core materials will be
available in Spanish, French, Arabic, Farsi, Swahili, Portuguese and
English.
Best,
Laura
Dear all,
I hope you'll forgive me for contacting you yet again in such a short span
of time - yet another exciting copyright-related opportunity to share!
An ally of ours, EFF, is organizing Copyright Week from Jan 22 - Jan 26
(see email below). They have asked if there are any blogs that might fit
with the themes of this year. These will be shared on social media etc and
get a nice boost in coverage. The themes are:
- Public Domain (@Paolo Casagrande <paolo.casagrande(a)wikimedia.it>)
- AI & Copyright ( @Silvia Gutiérrez <silviaegt(a)wikimedia.org> & @Giovanna
Fontenelle <gfontenelle(a)wikimedia.org>)
- Device & Digital Ownership
- Free Expression and Fair Use (@Mehman Ibragimov
<mehman(a)wikimedia.ge>, @Justice
Okai-Allotey <owulakpakpo(a)gmail.com>, @Douglas Scott
<Douglas.I.Scott(a)gmail.com>)
- Copyright Enforcement as a Tool of Censorship
*Do you have any blogs or published materials that you'd like me to share
with the organizers? *Please let me know by Wednesday, January 17.
Thank you and have a lovely weekend,
Ziski
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Katharine Trendacosta via Copyright-week <copyright-week(a)eff.org>
Date: Fri, Jan 12, 2024 at 10:18 AM
Subject: [Copyright-week] Copyright Week 2024
To: public-interest-copyright(a)publicknowledge.org <
public-interest-copyright(a)publicknowledge.org>, Recreate Coalition <
core-copyright-reform-coalition(a)googlegroups.com>, copyright-week(a)eff.org <
copyright-week(a)eff.org>
Hello! We are once again heading up Copyright Week. As usual, feel free to
send me any blogs you have that might fit any of the (very broad) topics
and we will social them around.
This year, Copyright Week will run from the 22nd to the 26th of January,
with each day having a theme. Don’t worry about when your blogs are
published, we will just be sharing them on those days.
Jan. 22: Public Domain
The public domain is our cultural commons and a crucial resource for
innovation and access to knowledge. Copyright should strive to promote, and
not diminish, a robust, accessible public domain.
Jan 23: Device and Digital Ownership
As the things we buy increasingly exist either in digital form or as
devices with software, we also find ourselves subject to onerous licensing
agreements and technological restrictions. If you buy something, you should
be able to truly own it – meaning you can learn how it works, repair it,
remove unwanted features, or tinker with it to make it work in a new way.
Jan 24: Copyright and AI
The growing availability of AI, especially generative AI trained on
datasetts that include copyrightable material, has raised new debates about
copyright law. It’s important to remember the limitations of copyright law
in giving the kind of protections creators are looking for.
Jan 25: Free Expression and Fair Use
Copyright policy should encourage creativity, not hamper it. Fair use makes
it possible for us to comment, criticize, and rework our common culture.
Jan 26: Copyright Enforcement as a Tool of Censorship
Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right essential to a
functioning democracy. Copyright should encourage more speech, not act as a
legal cudgel to silence it.
Best,
Katharine
--
Katharine M. Trendacosta (she/her)
Director of Policy and Advocacy
Electronic Frontier Foundation
katharine(a)eff.org
@k_trendacosta
(415) 436-9333 x190
*My working hours may not be yours, I do not expect a response outside of
your working hours*
Stand up for your digital rights
Act.eff.org
_______________________________________________
Copyright-week mailing list
Copyright-week(a)eff.org
https://mail.eff.org/mailman/listinfo/copyright-week
Dear all,
I hope this message finds you well.
As indicated in our recent Diff announcement (see below), we are excited to
share news about the inaugural global Wiki Advocacy meet-up, a gathering
designed for Wikimedians actively involved in advocacy and public policy
initiatives to share, learn and discuss common challenges. This event aims
to promote and safeguard the Wikimedia model, emphasizing its crucial role
in ensuring access to relevant online information. Leveraging the upcoming
UNESCO World Press Freedom Day, scheduled to be hosted in Chile in May next
year, Wikimedia Chile is honored to organize this gathering which will take
place as a side event of UNESCO's conference on *May 3rd and 4th, 2024*, in
Santiago, Chile.
Given the specialized nature of this topic and the hands-on approach we
intend to have, we will have limited availability of seats for the event.
Consequently, we extend a cordial invitation to you to participate.
To secure your spot, we kindly request you to complete the application form
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf3a68QldZdEBczmd41wY_-xCFgog3Yq4J…>
by *December 22, 2023*, by the close of business in your respective time
zone. To further facilitate participation, we are pleased to announce the
availability of *20 full scholarships for Wikimedia representatives* and 5
partial scholarships for participants hailing from beyond the Wikimedia
movement.
Your active involvement in this significant initiative will undoubtedly
contribute to the success of the event, fostering meaningful discussions
and collaborations within the Wikimedia community.
We're looking forward to having you join us in the coming year.
Warm regards,
---------- Forwarded message ---------
De: Diff <donotreply(a)wordpress.com>
Date: lun, 27 nov 2023 a las 9:37
Subject: [New post] 1st Global Wiki Advocacy Meet Up in Santiago, Chile:
Announcing the application process
To: <catalina.frigerio(a)wikimediachile.cl>
[image: Site logo image] Mimartinez WMCL posted: " “Strengthening the
Wikimedia Voice in Public Policy” will be the first global Wiki Advocacy
meet-up for Wikimedians who conduct advocacy and public policy activities
to protect and promote the Wikimedia model. The meeting will take place on
May 3rd a" Diff <https://diff.wikimedia.org> 1st Global Wiki Advocacy Meet
Up in Santiago, Chile: Announcing the application process
<https://public-api.wordpress.com/bar/?stat=groovemails-events&bin=wpcom_ema…>
Mimartinez WMCL
Nov 27
- *“Strengthening the Wikimedia Voice in Public Policy” *will be the
first global Wiki Advocacy meet-up for Wikimedians who conduct advocacy and
public policy activities to protect and promote the Wikimedia model.
- The meeting will take place on *May 3rd and 4th, 2024 in Santiago,
Chile*.
- Application and scholarship process are open from *November 27 to
December 22,* end of day anywhere on Earth.
In May 2024 Chile will host the Unesco World Press Freedom Day
<http://diff.wikimedia.org?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=54ac62399e05589…>
with a conference that will reunite regional and global governments,
academics and researchers, and civil society representatives. The aim of
the conference is to discuss the future of freedom of press and the access
to information in a shifting world full of new challenges like a rapidly
changing informational ecosystem crossed by new content platforms and
technologies.
Wikimedia Chile will use this unique opportunity to host *“Strengthening
the Wikimedia Voice in Public Policy”,* the first global Wiki Advocacy
meet-up for* Wikimedians who conduct advocacy and public policy activities
to promote and protect the Wikimedia model and its role in assuring access
to relevant online information.* The meeting will be a side event of the
Unesco conference, and will take place on *May 3rd and 4th, 2024 in
Santiago, Chile*.
*Application process now open*
Knowing this is a very specific topic and that the meeting will have a
practical approach (with several workshops and collective exercises) *we
will have limited seats for it*. If you want to participate, *please
complete the **application form*
<http://diff.wikimedia.org?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=45c7f693cfd5fdd…>*
by December 22, 2023, at the end of the day in your country.*
If you have any doubts about the questions to be completed in the
application, please refer to the FAQ section
<http://diff.wikimedia.org?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=37372b304805b77…>
of our Meta
<http://diff.wikimedia.org?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=0427288db83aa04…>
page. *Using the application form will be mandatory for all those who are
interested in participating. *
People coming from other open knowledge or digital rights ecosystem
organizations that share values with the Wikimedia movement are also
encouraged to apply.
*Scholarships*
To ensure participants' diversity and global representation we will grant *20
full scholarships to Wikimedia representatives *and 5 partial scholarships
for participants coming from outside the Wikimedia movement.
The scholarship application is also open through the general application
form
<http://diff.wikimedia.org?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=45c7f693cfd5fdd…>
.
*Important dates*
- Applications open: November 27 – December 22
- Communication of applications and scholarship decisions: January 2024
- Travel logistics: January – March 2024
- Pre-conference online workshops: January- April 2024
- Meeting will take place on May 3rd and May 4th
*About the meeting*
The ongoing changes in regulations concerning the Internet will continue to
affect Wikimedia projects. This first Global Wiki Advocacy Meeting aims to
underscore the increasingly crucial role of Wikimedia affiliates in shaping
public policy and supporting free access to knowledge in digital
enviroments.
Between September and October 2023, Wikimedia Chile circulated a Conference
Engagement Survey
<http://diff.wikimedia.org?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=184ef53c472d1aa…>among
the Wikimedia community, which was answered by *more than 100 people around
the world.* Based on those responses, the main objectives of this meeting
are:
· identify strategies and tactics to face the challenges posed by Internet
regulatory developments that have been identified as relevant around the
world for the Wikimedia movement.
· improving advocacy capacity building and knowledge sharing among
Wikimedians.
· Strengthen the network of Wikimedians interested in advocacy and public
policies.
These topics and conversations will be conducted hosted by Wikimedia Chile
with the support of the WMF Global Advocacy Team.
“The people who lead these projects are best placed to advocate for the
needs of the Wikimedia community in their own countries and to partner with
the Foundation to promote *Wikimedia’s unique vision of a public
interest-focused Internet where decentralized community-led governance and
content moderation models can thrive*. The Chile workshop is an important
step in coordinating the public policy advocacy work of affiliates and the
Foundation", said Franziska ("Ziski") Putz, Senior Movement Advocacy
Manager in the Wikimedia Foundation.
*Learn more*
To stay updated on the Conference and know more about scholarships and the
application process, we recommend that you visit the Conference page
<http://diff.wikimedia.org?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=0427288db83aa04…>
on Meta. *The main language of the Conference will be English*.
Unfortunately, we will not have live translation.
*If you have any questions or require further information, please feel free
to reach out to us (in English or Spanish) at:** contacto(a)wikimediachile.cl
<contacto(a)wikimediachile.cl>*
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Automattic, Inc. - 60 29th St. #343, San Francisco, CA 94110
Hi everyone,
In celebration of Human Rights Day
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Day>, the Human Rights Team is
excited to host a one-hour conversation focused on exploring and addressing
human rights risks, particularly for Wikimedians. This event aims to shed
light on the unique challenges faced by the volunteers and to foster a
deeper understanding of the human rights implications inherent in their
work.
Join us on 8 December 2023 at 6 pm UTC. Click the link to find your local
time <https://zonestamp.toolforge.org/1702058400>.
Following a brief presentation, the session will be formatted as a
community brainstorming and sharing session - participants will learn about
the human rights risks that Wikipedia faces and together we will discuss
and identify threats from different perspectives along with methods to
respond and mitigate them.
Participants will consider the following questions:
-
Why do human rights matter?
-
How does the Wikimedia Foundation advocate for and protect human
rights?
-
What is the Foundation’s Human Rights Policy and why does it matter?
Attendees are encouraged to add their questions ahead of time on the
etherpad <https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/Human_Rights_Day>.
*Please **register to join the Zoom call
<https://wikimedia.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkdeqprTgjHNBS8325J_dyMedzeUGs…>.*
Hope to see you there!
--
*Ricky Gaines *(he/him)
Senior Human Rights Advocacy Manager
Wikimedia Foundation
rgaines(a)wikimedia.org
Hello, everybody!
This month we will give you a more in-depth view of fewer files. In
particular the Political Advertising Regulation seems to be reaching the
finishing line. The AI Act, on the other hand, looks stuck.
Dimi & Michele
=== Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising ===
The proposed regulation
<https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52021PC0731>
aims at regulating political advertising services with a focus on targeting
and amplification techniques. The state goal is making them more
transparent and thus contributing to the proper functioning of the internal
market for those services. The last trilogue meeting (the de facto final
stage of the legislative deliberations) took place on 6 Novmber and
lawmakers, under the guidance of the Spanish Presidency, managed to reach a
political deal.
—
The final agreement solves the thorny issue of defining political
advertising by introducing a remuneration element and encompassing in house
activities as well as political campaigns. Nonetheless, the new definition
leaves room for a broad interpretation, especially concerning in house
activities. Some civil society organisations are worried that their regular
advocacy activities might get caught in the crossfire. At Wikimedia Europe
we followed this debate to ensure that no definition of political
advertising would cover Wikipedia articles about politicians and parties,
for instance.
—
A ban for non-EU advertisers has been introduced, in the last three months
preceding an election or referendum, be it at EU, national, regional or
local level.
—
With regard to the possibility to use special categories of personal data
to profile people and deliver targeted messages, legislators introduced a
specific prohibition. The latter applies also to inferred data, thus
offering a proper protection. At Wikimedia Europe we expressed support to
ban the use of targeted advertising based on sensitive data. During the
deliberations some Member States wanted to explicitly allow this for
political campaigns, although this has been prohibited by the Digital
Services Act just a few months earlier.
—
The new rules will enter into application after 18 months from the adoption
of the regulation. This practically means that they will not be in place
for the future EU elections foreseen in June 2024.
—
Technical meetings are still taking place to translate the political deal
into a coherent (more or less) legislative text and fine tune the details:
the deadline was the 28th of November. Once the final text is agreed, both
Parliament and Council will vote on it (and lawyer linguists translate it).
The vote is then followed by the signature and the publication into the
Official Journal. The adoption is likely to take place in December or at
worst in January 2024.
=== AI Act ===
The Artificial Intelligence Act
<https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?refere…>’s
trilogue negotiations, where the Council and the Parliament are supposed to
hash out a final version of the text, are at a standstill. The drama
reached new heights as parliamentary staffers walked out of a meeting with
government representatives of the Council and European Commission officials
a few days ago.
—
The latest rift is about foundation models (“general purpose AI”). Those
are systems like chatGPT that do not have a specific task and are hard to
pin down in legislation. They weren’t specifically mentioned in the
Commission proposal and were added to the debate by the European
Parliament, which is suggesting to have binding rules on them. At the same
time the Council, led by Germany, France and Italy, is insisting on
sticking to the original plan
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S_WJ2mWjbFL1GM173tYFuWzc_MDTHUr5/view?usp=…>
of a risk-based approach. This would mean that foundational models would
have to comply with obligations if they are deemed “high-risk”. Another
point of contention is how reliable the risk assessments will be, as they
are currently self-assessments by the developers.
—
The Spanish Presidency of the Council is trying to find a middle ground
here, but has been told by the Council’s “big three” that on such a
fundamental issue a decision simply needs to be made and a compromise is
not possible.
—
Wikimedia projects wouldn’t be deemed “high-risk” under the current version
and Wikimedia doesn’t develop foundational models, so we are currently in
the role of a participant in the conversation, but don’t expect direct &
immediate effects.
=== Copyright Agenda-Setting ===
While the next legislative term is unlikely to see an outright copyright
reform, we still expect some legislative files related to intellectual
property to be tackled. Possible topics include orphan works, geoblocking,
database rights, live broadcasts of sports events and the market balance
between music streaming platforms and rights holders.
—
With this in mind it is noteworthy that the European Parliament’s Culture
Committee (CULT) adopted a non-binding, own-initiative report on cultural
diversity and the conditions for authors in the music streaming market
<https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CULT-PR-750068_EN.pdf>. The
final text asks for a better allocation of revenues and more transparency.
It also vaguely points to risks to intellectual property and the music
industry stemming from artificial intelligence.
—
The report calls on the European Commission to analyse the
“discoverability” of European music online. While there is nothing binding
here and this report could end up without any follow-up, it will surely be
used by interested stakeholders to demand legislative proposals from the
European Commission.
—
Another EP committee, on Legal Affairs (JURI), commissioned and published a
study titled Buyout contracts imposed by platforms in the cultural and
creative sector
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k-aab1uM5P57lZPT9sc880ltIdNw2YrB/view?usp=…>.
The study concludes that EU law needs to be changed in order to ensure
artists rights for fair remuneration. Not surprisingly the study is being
used by GESAC, the umbrella for organisations collecting royalties on
behalf of authors, to ask for reforms.
—
On another own-initiative front, the Internal Market Committee (IMCO) voted
recently to call on the Commission to remove the exemption that allows
audiovisual content to continue to be geoblocked across EU countries. This
would mean any content or service to be available everywhere in the EU. The
audiovisual sector is, naturally, not amused and is fighting this is
plenary.
=== END ===
--
Wikimedia Europe ivzw
Salut !
The European Parliament elections are a bit over seven months away and EU
legislators are struggling to squeeze through a few more reforms, before
their time expires. In practice deals need to be wrapped up by February the
latest, otherwise parliament won’t have time to vote on them during their
final plenary session in April. We’ll take you through the open files.
Dimi & Michele
=== EMFA ===
The European Media Freedom Act wants to improve freedom of the press in the
EU through measures such as protections for journalists’ sources and
ensuring public service announcements money is spent in a fair and
transparent way.
—
The European Parliament officially adopted its position
<https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2023-0336_EN.pdf> the 3rd
of October by adopting in plenary the report of the Culture and Education
Committee (CULT). This is good news for us, as the new recital 35a of the
(AM 48) contains an explicit carveout for online encyclopaedias and
educational and scientific repositories from the scope of Article 17 (see
pages 40-41). Not-for-profit projects are not in the scope of the
obligations in the Commission proposal and the Council position, but the
parliament edited the text in a way that it had inadvertently included
them, hence we asked for a clarification. If Wikipedia and its sister
projects were to fall within the scope of this directive, content
moderation of content provided by media outlets would have become legally
more complicated.
—
Going to the three-way negotiations between Council, Parliament and
Commission, we believe that this file will see the light of day, i.e. will
be passed during this legislative term. Negotiations started straight after
the vote in Strasbourg and the first meeting took place the 17thof October.
Two are the main points we will focus our attention on: 1) the exclusion
from the scope of Article 17 and 2) Article 4 that deals with the
deployment of spyware against journalists and their sources.
===CSAM ===
The regulation laying down rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse
has the intention to set up a system that allows law enforcement, online
services and civil society to detect and remove child sexual abuse material
and online grooming. Wikimedia content is open, so anyone can already scan
or go through our content, which is why this part of the proposal is of
lesser concern to us. However, the pomme de discorde is a provision that
would force online services to scan all interpersonal communication. A
measure we believe is not-proportionate and have voiced this concern,
although our projects don’t offer such functionality.
—
As of mid-October there was no deal in Council on a common position and to
start negotiations with the Parliament. The staunchest opposing voices are
from Germany, Austria and Poland, however France, the Netherlands,
Portugal, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Belgium apparently also share some
concerns. If the deadlock is not resolved soon, this file might be pushed
to the next parliament’s agenda.
=== Anti-SLAPP Directive ===
The proposal, which was published in April 2022, aims at protecting persons
who engage in public participation from manifestly unfounded or abusive
court proceedings that present a cross-border aspect. The acronym stands
for strategic litigation against public participation.
—
Currently there are no common EU rules, the Directive, if passed, will
offer some protection “by developing a common EU understanding on what
constitutes a SLAPP and by introducing procedural safeguards”. More
specifically, it will “provide courts with effective means to deal with
SLAPPs and targets with the means to defend themselves.”
—
Both Council and Parliament adopted their respective positions and trilogue
negotiations are currently taking place, alongside technical meetings.
If Parliament's
position
<https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2023-0264_EN.pdf> was
able to integrate the requests of journalists, activists, human right
defenders and NGOs by widening the protection offered to them, Council’s
general approach
<https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-9263-2023-INIT/en/pdf>
was quite conservative. In this sense, national governments deleted some
fundamental Articles: Article 4 (Matters with cross-border implications),
Article 10 (Stay of the main procedure), Article 11 (Accelerated procedure)
and Article 15 (Compensation of damages).
—
We have engaged within CASE (Coalition against SLAPPs in Europe),
especially after the SLAPP case in Portugal
<https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/07/27/high-stakes-for-the-wikimedia-project…>.
One of our main goals is to have a wide definition of what constitutes a
cross-border case, as in the Parliament’s position. The latter reconognised
the ubiquitous nature of the Internet and asked for the recognition of the
transnational nature of the acts of public participation taking place
online, offering them full protection.
—
For the time being one trilogue took place the 9th of October. In addition,
several technical meetings have taken, or are foreseen to take place before
the last open-ended trilogue, which is scheduled for the 29th of November.
It is nevertheless unlikely that this will be the last one.
=== Directive combating gender-based violence ===
The goal of this file is to reach an agreement for the setting of EU
minimums with regard to cybercrime like revenge porn and online harassment.
—
The new directive would criminalise certain forms of online violence, such
as cyber-stalking, cyber-harassment and “revenge porn”, across the bloc. It
wants to strengthen the victims’ access to justice and rights to
appropriate protection and improve coordination and cooperation between the
national and EU-levels.
—
Council and Parliament started the inter-institutional negotiations. A
trilogue meeting took place in October and two other meetings are scheduled
for November and December. Some Member States and lawmakers are weary of
criminalising some of these practices, as they believe it would cast too
wide a net. Negotiations are likely to conclude successfully, but the clear
delimitation and definition of practices to be criminalised will be key.
===Cyber Resilience Act===
The CRA wants to up Europe’s game when it comes to the safety of software
and online products. It will impose a set of obligations on producers and
distributors of software products, which might have adverse effects on free
& open source software. Which is why we are following the file and have
taken a position together with EDRi and the FSFE.
—
The trilogues are ongoing. The European Parliament committees have approved
their positions
<https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-9-2023-0253_EN.html#_sectio…>
in September. The Council's negotiating position
<https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CONSIL:ST_12536_202…>
is also available. There is a free and open source carve out there in
Recital 10 on page 9.
—
The topic is very controversial, as it will make some participants in the
chain of development more liable. Currently two sentences are attracting a
lot of discussion: “This Regulation applies to free and open-source
software only where such software is made available on the market in the
course of a commercial activity.” and “The sole act of hosting free and
open-source software on open repositories does not in itself constitute
making available on the market. As such, most package managers, code
hosting and collaboration platforms should not be considered to be
distributors within the meaning of this Regulation.”
—
The question of liability for software and its code is complicated, messy
and spread across four different files (CRA, Product Liability Directive,
AI Act, AI Liability Directive). The risk is that the EU will end up with
incompatible or even contradictory provisions. A more general approach
would have been desirable. The CRA is likely to be adopted in this term.
--
Wikimedia Europe ivzw
Hi all,
About a week ago, the annual report "Swedes and the Internet" of 2023 was
released
<https://svenskarnaochinternet.se/rapporter/svenskarna-och-internet-2023/>.
It is a comprehensive report by the Swedish Internet Foundation, with a
statistically representative selection of the Swedish population. The
report has included Wikipedia for many years, but this year, for the first
time I believe, it includes a specific chapter on Swedes' use of Wikipedia.
It would be really interesting to know if there are similar surveys and
reports from other countries. I'm thinking that, if there is, it would be
interesting to compile those surveys and see what general trends are
similar across countries. I think that it could eventually be an
interesting way of getting insights into similarities and differences in
readers' use of Wikipedia.
So I suppose my question is if you know of similar national surveys from
your countries and contexts, on how and by whom Wikipedia is used?
Best,
*Eric Luth*
Projektledare engagemang och påverkan | Project Manager, Involvement and
Advocacy
Wikimedia Sverige
eric.luth(a)wikimedia.se
+46 (0) 765 55 50 95
Stöd fri kunskap, bli medlem i Wikimedia Sverige.
Läs mer på blimedlem.wikimedia.se