[Foundation-l] Liu Xiaobo

Sun Oct 10 18:12:04 UTC 2010

on 10/10/10 1:44 PM, Nathan at nawrich at gmail.com wrote:

> I agree that Peter's post exaggerates the problem the English
> Wikipedia sometimes has with groupthink and an entrenched,
> self-perpetuating bureaucracy. The comparison is unfair to Liu
> Xiaobo's history and work.
> 
> Still, it's ironic that the first response to his somewhat
> inflammatory remarks was to moderate him (in other words, require the
> approval of an apparatchik before his words can be publicly seen.) I'm
> not Peter's biggest fan... but his recent participation on this list
> has been civil and thoughtful, and maybe a warning that Wikimedians
> are sensitive to unfavorable comparisons would have been sufficient.
> 
Excellent observation, Nathan. "Moderation" (which is merely the denial term
for censorship) in an open discussion forum such as this should be extremely
rare. Wisdom, not power, is called for here.

Marc Riddell