Former Wikipedia chief on fighting censorship and potentially paying contributors to address diversity gaps – Atlantic Council

Tue, Jun 22, 2021

New AtlanticistbyNick Fouriezos

Related Experts: Katherine Maher,

Courtesy: Katherine Maher

When the Turkish government asked Wikipedia to take down references to reports that Turkey was supporting militants in Syria, the online encyclopedia refusedand had its reach to more than eighty million Turkish residents cut off. While that would have been a major hit for many online media platforms, Wikipedia was uniquely positioned to weather the storm, battling in court for nearly three years until Turkeys highest court ruled in January 2020 that the governments ban violated free-expression rights.

Wikipedias success was thanks to a series of intentional organizational decisions, said Katherine Maher, who stepped down in April from her post as the Wikimedia Foundations CEO and executive director and who is now a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Councils newly established Democracy & Tech Initiative. At a time when major digital platforms from Facebook and Twitter to TikTok are facing censorship around the worldparticularly in countries like India, Russia, and ChinaMaher believes for-profit media companies can learn from Wikipedias example.

It is expensive, it is hard, it takes multiple years to set up. But I know that those costs are not significantly greater than what is already being expended by these companies to manage their reputations and to manage the sort of regulatory environment, Maher said.

Maher appeared Tuesday at the 360/Open Summit, hosted by the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic Research Lab. In conversation with NBC News senior reporter Brandy Zadrozny, Maher also spoke about how Wikipedia and other platforms can fight disinformation, increase diversity, and foster trust. As Atlantic Council CEO Frederick Kempe put it when introducing the discussion, Wikipedias unique model of volunteer editors, multiple language and other affiliate communities, and nonprofit status makes the platform a microcosm of the world.

Below are some of the key takeaways from the discussion.

Tue, Jun 22, 2021

The former Wikimedia CEO joined 360/Open Summit, hosted by the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensics Research Lab. Heres a transcript of the discussion.

TranscriptsbyAtlantic Council

Nick Fouriezos is an Atlanta-based writer with bylines from every US state and six continents. Follow him on Twitter @nick4iezos.

Wed, May 5, 2021

Facebooks Oversight Board ruled Wednesday that former US President Donald Trump will remain banned from the platform for encouraging the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. And what consequences is it likely to have on online radicalization and the use and abuse of social media around the world?

Fast ThinkingbyAtlantic Council

Mon, Feb 1, 2021

Congress will certainly take on reforming Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, but it should not just focus on the companies and their responsibilities. Legislators should take a good, hard look in the mirror. They must provide the guidelines that are central to reducing violent extremist content online: rules on acceptable versus forbidden online speech.

New AtlanticistbyFrances Burwell

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Former Wikipedia chief on fighting censorship and potentially paying contributors to address diversity gaps - Atlantic Council