- cross-posted to:
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- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
What if there was a simple test to make sure every new internet regulation preserved the spaces and parts of the internet that you love the most?
We get it; we really do. Lawmakers across the world are rightly focused on regulating powerful, for-profit platforms to mitigate the harms ascribed to social media and other threats online. When developing such legislation, however, some draft laws can inadvertently place public interest projects like Wikipedia at risk. At the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization that hosts Wikipedia and other Wikimedia platforms, we have found that when a proposed law harms Wikipedia, in many cases it likely harms other community-led websites, open resources, or digital infrastructure.
That is why we have created the Wikipedia Test: a public policy tool and a call to action to help ensure regulators consider how new laws can negatively affect online communities and platforms that provide services and information in the public interest.
Just because it’s low compared to other CEOs doesn’t make it reasonable and justified. Also, Wikipedia isn’t a “high-profile firm”. It’s (at least supposed to be) a non-profit that takes donations to keep the site running and free.