[Foundation-l] video presentation on explicit images on WMF projects

Mon Jan 18 15:33:00 UTC 2010

On Thu, Jan 14, 2010 at 3:19 PM, David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com> wrote:

>> As for the link, showing these in greatly enlarged  versions, without
>> the context of the articles in which they are used, is setting up a
>> strong bias. We've never engaged in that use of the material, nor
>> would we. If people want to take our material out of our encyclopedic
>> content and turn it into sexually-focused presentations, that is their
>> look-out.
>
> Indeed. The video basically comes across as a threat to try to drum up
> a moral panic against Wikimedia.

I don't see it that way at all. The narration was calm and
unsensational and a gentle pan across an image can hardly said to be
grossly misrepresentative either.

As for taking the images out of context of articles; well as they may
be viewed on Commons with no context I  don't see that as a valid
point.

Don't misunderstand me, I think our articles on sexual organs should
have a photo and Commons is our repository for such. But I was
somewhat taken aback by a few of the pics in that video... are we ever
going to have an article called "gay facial"?