Wikipedia announced on Tuesday, February 2, 2021, that Wikimedia Foundation has “launched a first-of-its-kind” Universal Code of Conduct that expands on the project’s existing policies to create a global set of community standards for addressing negative behavior on the site.
Furthermore, Wikimedia Foundation is the nonprofit organization that operates Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia free knowledge projects.
The number of Wikipedia volunteers who participated in the creation of the universal code of conduct is 1,500 volunteers.
Out of the 1,500 volunteers were from 9 different Wikipedia projects representing five continents and 30 languages.
In addition, as stated in the Wikimedia Foundation, the “new Universal Code of Conduct launching marks an important step in the evolution of the site’s mission of creating a civil public square that captures the sum of all human knowledge.”
“Today, we’re launching a pioneering new code of conduct for addressing negative behavior on our sites, marking an important step in our 20-year evolution.”
-Wikipedia on Twitter
Here’s a statement of the CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation Katherine Maher:
“Our new universal code of conduct creates binding standards to elevate conduct on the Wikimedia projects, and empower our communities to address harassment and negative behavior across the Wikimedia movement. Through this effort, we can create a more welcoming and inclusive environment for contributors and readers, and a more representative source of knowledge for the world.”
Here are the code’s most distinguishing standards:
- Clearly defining acceptable behavior
- Delinating harassment on and off the projects for all Wikipedia participants
- Preventing the abuse of power and influence to intimidate others
- Combating deliberate introduction of false or inaccurate content
- Will provide consistent enforcement process and shared responsibility between the Foundation and volunteer communities
Source: Wikimedia Foundation
