This page in a nutshell: The Wikimedia Foundation is seeking input about the application of the Universal Code of Conduct. This page hosts the discussion related to English Wikipedia. Discussions are happening on many projects and are listed at the 2021 consultations page. |
The Wikimedia Foundation is seeking input about the application of the Universal Code of Conduct.
The goal of this consultation is to help outline clear enforcement pathways for a drafting committee to design proposals for a comprehensive community review later this year. The proposals may integrate with existing processes or additional pathways that may be suggested. For more information about the UCoC project, see Universal Code of Conduct overview.
Discussions are happening on many projects and are listed at the 2021 consultations page.
Please discuss in the subsections below and let me know if you have any questions. Xeno (WMF) ( talk) 22:32, 5 April 2021 (UTC)
There are five topics with several questions to help start conversations. Feedback provided will have a significant impact on the draft for enforcement guidelines that will be prepared following the comment period.
Derogatory comments about other editors may be removed by any editor. I would like to see that expanded to cover more forms of harassment than personal attacks. Removing awful content is not "whitewashing" how truly awful some of the discussions on Wikipedia are, it's making them less awful. Vexations ( talk) 12:32, 13 April 2021 (UTC)
would you feel better having that silently deleted, or having them come back, strike the comment, and apologise for their intemperance?But I see a lot of personal attacks (only a tiny minority directed at me) and very few that people strike and exceedingly few that people apologise for, including when someone correctly points out "this is a personal attack". So I think the question to ask is "would you feel better having that deleted or having it remain?" I'd rather it be replaced with {{ redacted}} so that people can see something was written but don't read what unless they're going looking for it. It's interesting because the comments you make all apply exactly as written to WP:BLP enforcement, and this we do see as non-negotiable (at least, when it comes to article subjects—sometimes BLP overlaps with anti-harassment in interesting ways). So clearly lines can be established and these patterns of striking comments could become accepted by the community. It's just about whether it helps de-escalate conflict, or will only provide more fuel. A few months ago a user correctly struck a comment I made that fell afoul of BLP, in an interaction I behaved improperly in throughout. I'm glad they did because the result is that I had to take the situation seriously and learned something about BLP that I might not have if they had just commented "I think you shouldn't have said that". Even though I was very hostile at the time. Though it doesn't excuse my actions, hopefully I can redeem myself by behaving better in future. — Bilorv ( talk) 00:28, 14 April 2021 (UTC)
block, ban, disable email and TPA, range blocks, edit filters, and protection where we can), but I'm not sure it's the most severe or difficult to deal with. It'd be nice if UCOC enforcement dealt with the problem of unblockables, and also with the problem of new editors subject to problems (esp offwiki) who are not familiar with norms and reporting mechanisms available to them (indeed, Wikipedia:Contact us has no mention of mechanisms existing, such as ArbCom's contact info). ProcrastinatingReader ( talk) 18:10, 6 April 2021 (UTC) (copied from #Comments from zzuuzz)
At the moment, the community deals with vandals by RBI. The draft text of this universal code of conduct, at section 3.3, requires us to engage with them: it clearly and specifically rules out our current process of reverting vandals' edits and denying them the oxygen of attention. Where is the correct place to discuss fixes to the draft UCoC text?— S Marshall T/ C 23:39, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
What types of approaches and structures can work here? What would help volunteers to be successful in performing the mediation work crucial to the collaborative process? Xeno (WMF) ( talk) 16:35, 25 April 2021 (UTC)
I sometimes wonder if what I'm about to say is out of scope for what the WMF is thinking, but I think it's relevant so I'll say it anway. It addresses several of the questions posed, and none at the same time. I think it might be the elephant in the room.
I deal with an enormous amount of harassment - to me, other users, article subjects, as well as others - death threats, graphic threats of violence, threats to family members, persistent libel, doxxing, pestering, racial, sexual, you name it. The next steps are usually relatively straightforward and swiftly done in my experience - block, ban, disable email and TPA, range blocks, edit filters, and protection where we can (other lesser methods are available). In some cases we'll see a WMF ban get put in place. It just continues however, and it's usually from a relatively small group of the same people. The way I see it, a WMF global ban is not even an end goal, but usually just the start. We don't need guidelines of unacceptable behaviour to stop harassment, that is easy, we need the WMF to act in the real world, to work with ISPs, legal, PR, tech, the ordinary admins who witness it, and really anyone else they need to, in order get the crazies effectively legally and technically kicked off the site. -- zzuuzz (talk) 05:19, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
I agree entirely with zzuzz's comments above - in my opinion the English Wikipedia handles most cases of harrassment as well as it can, by blocking offenders and the tools they use (e.g. open proxies, VPN endpoints, etc.), and requesting global locks if required in cases of cross-wiki abuse. However, this is ultimately a game of whack-a-mole. We have multiple LTAs that get hold of new proxies of various types incredibly easily and start up their lunacy once again. We need concerted action from the WMF in the following areas: (a) a system to proactively globally block open proxies & VPN endpoints, (b) a framework to request "Office contact" with ISPs whose subscribers commit serious, on-going, intractable abuse on Wikimedia projects, and most importantly (c) a formal way for admins, stewards, and functionaries on the various projects to work with the WMF to address the issues of long-term, serious abuse. Without these, the UCoC is going to achieve very, very little I fear. ƒirefly ( t · c ) 14:32, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
A general concern – it doesn't make clear about whether it applies to non-Wikimedia actions. For example, suppose someone has a Twitter or personal blog or website, and they make a post which has nothing to do with any Wikimedia project. Could such a post be punished under this code of conduct? Or should actions/statements/etc which occur outside of any Wikimedia project or event, and which aren't making any reference to any Wikimedia event, be excluded? I think, statements and actions which occur outside of the context of any Wikimedia project or event, and which don't make any reference to any Wikimedia project or event, should be out of scope for any "Code of Conduct". Mr248 ( talk) 00:31, 6 April 2021 (UTC) portion copied from #Mr248's feedback
i) vulnerable people; ii) serious harassment; or iii) threats of violenceare taking place, absolute privacy and safety should be guaranteed to reporters. IMO all you can do is make sure those investigating these incidents are competent, diligent and empathetic people and ideally put in place some sort of clear review mechanism - perhaps some kind of committee composed of community members and trained WMF staffers - so there's a sense of accountability. Making some kind of global WMF committee seems difficult though ( just look at the Ombuds), and this mechanism only works if you can recruit competent and active community members to volunteer their time to do smoke-filled work. ProcrastinatingReader ( talk) 14:24, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
Any "global dispute resolution body" will likely do more harm than good if it tries to interact with the English Wikipedia. Enwiki internal governance isn't perfect, but the memory of WP:FRAM is still fresh in the minds of too many editors, and WMF's interaction with the enwiki community in that fiasco was, put simply, atrocious. feminist (talk) 16:45, 8 April 2021 (UTC)
You already have an answer to this question, and it can be summarised as "Framgate". OFFICE-invoked one-year ban from en-wiki only for harassment, OFFICE not taking any action against Fram on other WMF wikis when he gave his side of events (thereby royally damaging the WMF's arguments), stonewalling from the WMF even on matters that could (and should) have been disclosed without revealing the identity of anyone who was harassed, evidence that (once the Arbitration Committee finally got to see an expurgated version of it) was deemed too flimsy to justify the action taken, and an RfC on partial blocks that turned instead into a referendum on WMF's interference with a community's self governance. Those who will not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it. — A little blue Bori v^_^v Jéské Couriano 23:33, 10 April 2021 (UTC)
I endorse the above comments completely. The only way I could see this working would be if the improper actions in scope were across several wikis and it was a global issue. -- Rs chen 7754 18:48, 11 April 2021 (UTC)
It is hard to see how a global dispute resolution body can work with established larger projects such as enwiki, dewiki etc. Framgate and superprotect are cautionary lessons as to the fact that volunteer communities are not looking to be ruled from above. Such a body should limit itself to handling: (a) global permanent bans arising from the most severe misconduct and (b) potentially working with stewards and global sysops on smaller projects without established processes. WJBscribe (talk) 18:11, 12 April 2021 (UTC)
Anyone have any thoughts on whether something like that would work (primarily asking writers to draw from their experience at smaller projects here)? Xeno (WMF) ( talk) 00:19, 20 April 2021 (UTC) (Just a thought: if confidence in the fairness and efficacy of the Inter-ArbCom were strong, a local committee lacking quorum from recusals could refer to a stand-up committee including non-recused members of the local committee and such an IAC.)
The following links may be useful for background: (copied from meta:Universal Code of Conduct/Discussions)
- English Wikipedia
- June 2019 discussion, strong opposition to WMF-imposed UCoC
- 2020 English Wikipedia Arbitration Committee Elections: Each candidate provided feedback on the UCoC in their answers to questions.
- May 2020 English Wikipedia discussion held after the Board of Trustees community health statement
- 2020 English Wikipedia Anti-harassment request for comment
- on the relationship with T&S:
- Editors strongly feel that en-wiki issues should be handled "in-house", and only matters that affect the real world (Q2, Q3) should be passed to T&S. A better/improved dialogue between ArbCom and the WMF is also desired, with the Foundation and T&S passing along en-wiki-specific information to ArbCom to handle.
- There was a desire from some editors, expressed in this section as well in previous sections, for the WMF to hire/find/create resources and training for mediation and dispute resolution, which would hopefully mitigate some of the most prevalent civility/harassment issues present on Wikipedia.
- September 2020 English Wikipedia discussion
(Note by Jonesey95:) The links above are copied here for convenience so that applicable excerpts of those discussions can be inserted here without having to rehash those discussions. – Jonesey95 ( talk) 00:23, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
Sorry if I have put this in the wrong place I am confused about where it goes. If I have put it in the wrong place please move it. I don't have a problem with a "Code of Conduct" per se but I have some concerns about the text of this specific code of conduct:
People who identify with a certain sexual orientation or gender identity using distinct names or pronouns
I have trouble remembering what pronoun to use for people and so often try to avoid using pronouns. I'm concerned that a policy might be interpreted as saying you have to use for people the pronouns they prefer, as opposed to choosing to avoid using pronouns entirely, and hence my action of avoiding using pronouns might violate the policy. Sometimes I also call people "they", by which I mean "I don't remember what pronoun to use for you so I am just using 'they' as a default". (I think it is quite standard English to use "they" as a default pronoun when you aren't sure what pronoun to use.) I am concerned some people might make a big issue of that ("they is not my pronoun!") which would be a distraction, and honestly would make me feel unwelcome.
Note: The Wikimedia movement does not endorse "race" and "ethnicity" as meaningful distinctions among people. Their inclusion here is to mark that they are prohibited in use against others as the basis for personal attacks
I think that is problematic because some people identify with their race or ethnicity, and this could be read as saying officially that their choice of personal identification is invalid. For example, if a person of Italian descent identifies their ethnicity as "Italian" (or "Italian-American" or whatever), this seems to be saying their choice to consider that an important part of their own identity is invalid. Or similarly, if an African-American person identifies as "Black", this could be read as saying that their Black identity is not "meaningful", which they may well find offensive.
Hate speech in any form
I am concerned that is too vague. Some people understand "hate speech" as meaning stuff like using slurs, negative stereotypes/generalisations, etc, and I don't have a problem with prohibiting that. But other people interpret it much more expansively–for example, if a person has conservative religious views on sexual morality, some people would interpret the mere expression of those views as "hate speech"–and I'm concerned about those more expansive definitions. Of course, if a person has such views, they shouldn't be using Wikipedia as a soapbox for expressing them, but they may nonetheless be revealed somehow.
A general concern – it doesn't make clear about whether it applies to non-Wikimedia actions. For example, suppose someone has a Twitter or personal blog or website, and they make a post which has nothing to do with any Wikimedia project. Could such a post be punished under this code of conduct? Or should actions/statements/etc which occur outside of any Wikimedia project or event, and which aren't making any reference to any Wikimedia event, be excluded? I think, statements and actions which occur outside of the context of any Wikimedia project or event, and which don't make any reference to any Wikimedia project or event, should be out of scope for any "Code of Conduct". Mr248 ( talk) 00:31, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
From UCoC 3.1 – Harassment: "Harassment ... may include contacting workplaces or friends and family members in an effort to intimidate or embarrass.
" The "in an effort" clause makes the sentence pointless because a perpetrator can say their contacting an editor's workplace was in an effort to reach out and help the person develop (in fact, any such unsolicited contact should be forbidden). Harassment is defined as several items almost all of which would earn the perpetrator an immediate and permanent block at enwiki—no UCoC is needed. Does anyone in the WMF imagine that sexual harassment and threats etc. are tolerated? The problematic items are insults (how do I tell someone that their English is not adequate or that their edits show they don't understand the topic or Wikipedia's role?) and hounding (it's hard to know whether use of Special:Contributions is done to protect the encyclopedia or merely to upset/discourage a contributor—in fact, good editors have to upset and discourage ungood editors every day).
Johnuniq (
talk) 01:51, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
I sometimes wonder if what I'm about to say is out of scope for what the WMF is thinking, but I think it's relevant so I'll say it anway. It addresses several of the questions posed, and none at the same time. I think it might be the elephant in the room.
I deal with an enormous amount of harassment - to me, other users, article subjects, as well as others - death threats, graphic threats of violence, threats to family members, persistent libel, doxxing, pestering, racial, sexual, you name it. The next steps are usually relatively straightforward and swiftly done in my experience - block, ban, disable email and TPA, range blocks, edit filters, and protection where we can (other lesser methods are available). In some cases we'll see a WMF ban get put in place. It just continues however, and it's usually from a relatively small group of the same people. The way I see it, a WMF global ban is not even an end goal, but usually just the start. We don't need guidelines of unacceptable behaviour to stop harassment, that is easy, we need the WMF to act in the real world, to work with ISPs, legal, PR, tech, the ordinary admins who witness it, and really anyone else they need to, in order get the crazies effectively legally and technically kicked off the site. -- zzuuzz (talk) 05:19, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
block, ban, disable email and TPA, range blocks, edit filters, and protection where we can), but I'm not sure it's the most severe or difficult to deal with. It'd be nice if UCOC enforcement dealt with the problem of unblockables, and also with the problem of new editors subject to problems (esp offwiki) who are not familiar with norms and reporting mechanisms available to them (indeed, Wikipedia:Contact us has no mention of mechanisms existing, such as ArbCom's contact info). ProcrastinatingReader ( talk) 18:10, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
I agree entirely with zzuzz's comments above - in my opinion the English Wikipedia handles most cases of harrassment as well as it can, by blocking offenders and the tools they use (e.g. open proxies, VPN endpoints, etc.), and requesting global locks if required in cases of cross-wiki abuse. However, this is ultimately a game of whack-a-mole. We have multiple LTAs that get hold of new proxies of various types incredibly easily and start up their lunacy once again. We need concerted action from the WMF in the following areas: (a) a system to proactively globally block open proxies & VPN endpoints, (b) a framework to request "Office contact" with ISPs whose subscribers commit serious, on-going, intractable abuse on Wikimedia projects, and most importantly (c) a formal way for admins, stewards, and functionaries on the various projects to work with the WMF to address the issues of long-term, serious abuse. Without these, the UCoC is going to achieve very, very little I fear. ƒirefly ( t · c ) 14:32, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
At the moment, the community deals with vandals by RBI. The draft text of this universal code of conduct, at section 3.3, requires us to engage with them: it clearly and specifically rules out our current process of reverting vandals' edits and denying them the oxygen of attention. Where is the correct place to discuss fixes to the draft UCoC text?— S Marshall T/ C 23:39, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
I am working my way through the questions above. In the meantime I wanted to raise a concern about the language of the UCoC as drafted. It includes the following:
The note is problematic for a number of reasons:
The note requires urgent attention. I am seriously troubled that the Board appears to have endorsed this language. WJBscribe (talk) 10:42, 7 April 2021 (UTC)
I concur with S Marshall, Firefly, and zzuuzz. This appears to be a great deal of effort being discharged in dealing with the wrong problem. Vandals (interpreted widely) don't care about rules and codes of conduct. Making more rules won't deter them. Stifle ( talk) 11:03, 7 April 2021 (UTC)
One must keep in mind that there are local differences in the prevailing standards of human rights. Despite their universal nature, international human rights treaties are always implemented on a contextual basis, taking into account local differences as to economic development, culture, social norms and politics. This applies equally to the WMF Universal Code of Conduct as well. Application of the UCoC to local wikis must – and I repeat, must – take into account the prevailing cultural and economic background of the average editor of that wiki. For example, depending on the context, some may consider use of the term Latinx to be necessary for gender neutrality, while others may consider use of the term to be culturally imperialist. How would the WMF handle local differences in enforcing the UCoC? Will the WMF potentially add fire to the conflict via enforcement, or will it seek to encourage mutual acceptance of different approaches?
I also concur fully with WJBscribe. These are material concerns with the way the UCoC is drafted. The UCoC should be amended to address these concerns before it is enforced.
Finally, the justifications for the UCoC (under the Why we have a Universal Code of Conduct section) are not terribly convincing. A set of justifications focusing on ensuring Wikimedia covers content from diverse perspectives and maximizing social benefit for editors and readers would be much more convincing than the current text which simply involves the WMF Board of Trustees professing blind faith towards a set of ideals. feminist (talk) 05:37, 8 April 2021 (UTC)
the act of systematic and/or continued unwanted and annoying actions of one party or a group. The policy on Harassment gives a definition: "Harassment is a pattern of repeated offensive behavior". When one editor "attacks" another editor it violates more than one policy on the first instance. This should be reflected as attacks and harassment.
Why isn't "use common sense" an official policy? It doesn't need to be; as a fundamental principle, it is above any policy.The policy on "No personal attacks" includes harassment under the subsection Recurring attacks:
Recurring, non-disruptive personal attacks that do not stop after reasoned requests to cease can be resolved through dispute resolution. In most circumstances, problems with personal attacks can be resolved if editors work together and focus on content, and immediate administrator action is not required.If I am the only one that sees a problem with this entire paragraph all of this is in vain.
Bullying is not permitted on Wikipedia, and any violators will be blocked from editing.WP:BOOMERANG should not be a consideration if a legitimate report is given.
No one should ever fear coming forward to make the community aware of a bullying concern.
There are several problems / pitfalls with a "Universal Code of Conduct". The primary concern is the systemic bias in a bunch of white people from America drawing up a document that regulated the behavior of people all over the globe. I say this as a white person from America, btw. There has seemingly been a concerted effort by the Foundation to force a set of civility rules on enwp that are too harsh. No one wants harassment or abuse of any editor, and most of the time, admin are able to deal with this. When we can't (privacy, off-wiki involvement, etc), the Foundation has already taken control and forced solutions upon us, usually justified but often in a hamfisted way, overshooting the mark. Any code of conduct that tries to overregulate "civility" is going to be more problem than solution and will end up pushing people away. Wikipedia is a collaborative environment, this means sometimes you have heated arguments and ruffle a few feathers. If we start blocking people for this, then what we will have left is not the best talent, only the most hypersensitive. THAT is my biggest concern, and why I'm not really in favor of the Foundation's attempt to take control of enwp, with their stealth attack of using a Universal Code of Conduct, and very hesitant of us creating one, UNLESS... the Code derives it's authority from existing policy, and the Code itself is NOT a new policy that simply muddies the waters and creates a conflict on which to enforce: the Code, or existing policy. If the Code overrides existing policy, then it is likely that I will loudly refuse to enforce it. Dennis Brown - 2¢ 10:32, 28 April 2021 (UTC)
If a mechanism is provide for editors to report violations of the Universal Code of Conduct, the staff (or volunteers) reading and acting on the reports should be aware that the large majority of reports of hounding or other harassment from the English Wikipedia will be mistaken in mostly good faith. At present, misguided reports of hounding and other harassment are not uncommon, by editors who are not familiar with electronic workplaces, and who view criticism, correction of their edits, and reversion of their edits as harassment. These reports are neither valid nor malicious. They are not real reports of harassment, but they are not deliberate false reports. They are made by new editors who are not familiar with electronic interaction. It will be necessary for many of these reports to be ignored. Robert McClenon ( talk) 15:42, 5 May 2021 (UTC)
As we know there are still countries living under authoritarian regimes. Russia in one of them and I as a Russian will dwell on ruwiki.
It is widely known that Kremlin thrives to control all media in Russian and these include Wikipedia. There are lots of gimmicks to do this but most effective is the simplest – bans on editors who step out of Kremlin discourse boundaries. This pressure is especialy strong at times of political turmoils. For example at the time of Russian-Ukrainian war in Donbas (in which Russia officially didn’t take part) all articles on the topic was governed by special Cheka group of admins (I do not recall its actual name). This group deleted all information which breached limits of official Russian discourse not withstanding sources and other basic rules such as NPV. All editors, who kept protesting were banned forever. That is not the only example.
I consider the UCoC discussion as very good and timely pretext to pay attention to situation in Russian Wikipedia and others with the same problems. IMHO it will be appropriate to establish a permanent group for discussion cases of breaching basic rules in individual projects.
Best regards. 213.24.132.53 ( talk) 14:58, 5 May 2021 (UTC)
Hi all! The Community Resilience & Sustainability team at the Wikimedia Foundation is hosting an office hour led by its Vice President Maggie Dennis. Topics within scope for this call include Movement Strategy coordination (recently transferred to CR&S), Trust and Safety (and the Universal Code of Conduct), Community Development, and Human Rights. Come with your questions or feedback, and let’s talk! You can also send us your questions in advance.
The meeting will be on April 17 at 15:00 UTC check your local time.
You can check all the details on Meta. Hope to see you there!
Best, JKoerner (WMF) ( talk) 20:37, 8 April 2021 (UTC)
Users may be interested in reviewing the summary report and 15 individual summaries from the early 2021 local consultations, available at m:Special:MyLanguage/Universal Code of Conduct/2021 consultations/Enforcement. Xeno (WMF) ( talk) 12:46, 26 April 2021 (UTC)
@ David Fuchs, Beeblebrox, Bradv, BDD, Barkeep49, Maxim, Primefac, L235, Worm That Turned, SoWhy, Casliber, KrakatoaKatie, Newyorkbrad, and CaptainEek:: Thank you for signing meta:Open Letter from Arbcoms to the Board of Trustees. Please note the drafting committee has been selected.
Additional responses provided to the questions above will be helpful to the drafting committee's work. Please encourage interested parties to provide input as soon as possible. Thank you, Xeno (WMF) ( talk) 15:57, 1 May 2021 (UTC)
The Universal Code of Conduct project facilitation team will be hosting round-table discussions for Wikimedians to talk together about how to enforce the Universal Code of Conduct on 15 and 29 May 2021 at 15:00 UTC.
The calls will last between 60 and 90 minutes, and will include a 5-10 minute introduction about the purpose of the call, followed by structured discussions using the key enforcement questions. The ideas shared during the calls will be shared with the committee working to draft an enforcement policy. Please sign up ahead of time to join. In addition to these calls, input can still be provided on the key questions at local discussions or on Meta in any language.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the Universal Code of Conduct 2021 consultations so far. Xeno (WMF) ( talk) 19:13, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
Just going to dump in some random notes I've made when reading this policy:
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on reply) 13:25, 6 May 2021 (UTC){{
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on reply) 17:16, 6 May 2021 (UTC){{
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on reply) 17:16, 6 May 2021 (UTC)I hope that input on this is still welcome?
A couple of thoughts about "Expected behavior":
So my first thought was to ask: Is this a list of best practices, or a list of block-able offences? If this isn't made very clear, it is really open to abuse in all-too-many ways. Do we require empathy or that someone is AGF? And if we require it, who decides? Application of this can be (is) very subjective. And I really doubt we want any admin blocking someone because they weren't showing "enough" empathy in a discussion. Well-meaning, but it makes me think of w:Thought Police and other such things. And probably not the intended tone of "inclusive environment" which this proposal seems to wish to engender.
So I think that section should be re-factored a bit. For one thing, splitting out "best practices" from "blockable offences". We "can" block for flagrant incivility, for example (though we tend to give editors' a chance to mend their ways), but there's a difference between reminding someone to agf as it is an ingredient of collegiality, and blocking them for perceived violations of AGF. I don't think anyone would want this well-intended CoC to turn into a fear-inspiring " board of education" (see link).
Also, those things that are blockable (inappropriate behaviour) should show reciprocality in an "examples of appropriate behaviour" section. I understand that the obvious concepts should be obvious, but we really should lean towards clarity (even while keeping things adaptive enough for action over inaction). If it helps, view this in terms of something like w:Goofus and Gallant.
So with all that in mind, I think rather than splitting the subsections as they are, maybe something more like: "Appropriate behaviour" / "Inappropriate behaviour" / "Unacceptable behaviour". So as to make clear the difference between behaviours/attitudes which we prefer or frown upon ("Here, let me help educate/inform you on our view of what collegiality is") and that which is just simply not acceptable on the project. ("Just don't do this, or you will be sanctioned.")
If someone would like help with a refactor, please let me know, I'd be happy to help. This being a foundation thing, I'm hesitant about Being Bold : ) - jc37 01:07, 10 May 2021 (UTC)
I want to thank everyone for taking the time to provide such valuable and constructive input in this consultation.
The process of organizing the comments for the drafting committee to consider has been ongoing, and they are commencing the collaborative process.
A comprehensive community review of the draft enforcement guidelines is expected for 2021 July to September.
We continue to collect input and will be holding round-table discussions this Saturday 15 May at 15:00 UTC and all are welcome to join. Another session is scheduled for 29 May at 15:00 UTC.
Additional comments are still being invited to Meta:Talk:UCOC2021 and this page will be monitored as well.
If desired, an impartial summary of the community thoughts and positions may be posted here by a trusted local user, and cross-posted to Meta:Talk:UCOC2021#English Wikipedia.
The upcoming report about this round of enforcement consultations will also draw heavily on the input provided here. I will advise once available.
Discussion about the Universal Code of Conduct continues at Meta:Talk:Universal Code of Conduct and Meta:Talk:Universal Code of Conduct/Policy text.
I enjoyed facilitating this discussion, and welcome any input on the process and how to foster local engagement.
Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions or additional thoughts. Xeno (WMF) ( talk) 01:22, 11 May 2021 (UTC)
The summary report for the 2021 consultations is available here. The input from this community was quite valuable in highlighting several major themes of inquiry that were shared among projects.
The project team continues to seek thoughts and ideas from the communities in the context of open round-table discussions and other ongoing outreach. The next round-table is scheduled for 12 June 2021 at 05:00 UTC.
We're quite thankful for all the valuable time users have contributed to these discussions. Feel free to leave any comments or questions here, or the talk page of the report on Meta. Xeno (WMF) ( talk) 02:05, 2 June 2021 (UTC)
What's wrong with the Etiquette? Will it be replaced with the Universal Code of Conduct or will both be enforced at the same time? Wouldn't it be better to discuss and vote separately adding/ removing/ modifying particular Etiquette's principles? Grillofrances ( talk) 16:46, 19 March 2022 (UTC)
This page in a nutshell: The Wikimedia Foundation is seeking input about the application of the Universal Code of Conduct. This page hosts the discussion related to English Wikipedia. Discussions are happening on many projects and are listed at the 2021 consultations page. |
The Wikimedia Foundation is seeking input about the application of the Universal Code of Conduct.
The goal of this consultation is to help outline clear enforcement pathways for a drafting committee to design proposals for a comprehensive community review later this year. The proposals may integrate with existing processes or additional pathways that may be suggested. For more information about the UCoC project, see Universal Code of Conduct overview.
Discussions are happening on many projects and are listed at the 2021 consultations page.
Please discuss in the subsections below and let me know if you have any questions. Xeno (WMF) ( talk) 22:32, 5 April 2021 (UTC)
There are five topics with several questions to help start conversations. Feedback provided will have a significant impact on the draft for enforcement guidelines that will be prepared following the comment period.
Derogatory comments about other editors may be removed by any editor. I would like to see that expanded to cover more forms of harassment than personal attacks. Removing awful content is not "whitewashing" how truly awful some of the discussions on Wikipedia are, it's making them less awful. Vexations ( talk) 12:32, 13 April 2021 (UTC)
would you feel better having that silently deleted, or having them come back, strike the comment, and apologise for their intemperance?But I see a lot of personal attacks (only a tiny minority directed at me) and very few that people strike and exceedingly few that people apologise for, including when someone correctly points out "this is a personal attack". So I think the question to ask is "would you feel better having that deleted or having it remain?" I'd rather it be replaced with {{ redacted}} so that people can see something was written but don't read what unless they're going looking for it. It's interesting because the comments you make all apply exactly as written to WP:BLP enforcement, and this we do see as non-negotiable (at least, when it comes to article subjects—sometimes BLP overlaps with anti-harassment in interesting ways). So clearly lines can be established and these patterns of striking comments could become accepted by the community. It's just about whether it helps de-escalate conflict, or will only provide more fuel. A few months ago a user correctly struck a comment I made that fell afoul of BLP, in an interaction I behaved improperly in throughout. I'm glad they did because the result is that I had to take the situation seriously and learned something about BLP that I might not have if they had just commented "I think you shouldn't have said that". Even though I was very hostile at the time. Though it doesn't excuse my actions, hopefully I can redeem myself by behaving better in future. — Bilorv ( talk) 00:28, 14 April 2021 (UTC)
block, ban, disable email and TPA, range blocks, edit filters, and protection where we can), but I'm not sure it's the most severe or difficult to deal with. It'd be nice if UCOC enforcement dealt with the problem of unblockables, and also with the problem of new editors subject to problems (esp offwiki) who are not familiar with norms and reporting mechanisms available to them (indeed, Wikipedia:Contact us has no mention of mechanisms existing, such as ArbCom's contact info). ProcrastinatingReader ( talk) 18:10, 6 April 2021 (UTC) (copied from #Comments from zzuuzz)
At the moment, the community deals with vandals by RBI. The draft text of this universal code of conduct, at section 3.3, requires us to engage with them: it clearly and specifically rules out our current process of reverting vandals' edits and denying them the oxygen of attention. Where is the correct place to discuss fixes to the draft UCoC text?— S Marshall T/ C 23:39, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
What types of approaches and structures can work here? What would help volunteers to be successful in performing the mediation work crucial to the collaborative process? Xeno (WMF) ( talk) 16:35, 25 April 2021 (UTC)
I sometimes wonder if what I'm about to say is out of scope for what the WMF is thinking, but I think it's relevant so I'll say it anway. It addresses several of the questions posed, and none at the same time. I think it might be the elephant in the room.
I deal with an enormous amount of harassment - to me, other users, article subjects, as well as others - death threats, graphic threats of violence, threats to family members, persistent libel, doxxing, pestering, racial, sexual, you name it. The next steps are usually relatively straightforward and swiftly done in my experience - block, ban, disable email and TPA, range blocks, edit filters, and protection where we can (other lesser methods are available). In some cases we'll see a WMF ban get put in place. It just continues however, and it's usually from a relatively small group of the same people. The way I see it, a WMF global ban is not even an end goal, but usually just the start. We don't need guidelines of unacceptable behaviour to stop harassment, that is easy, we need the WMF to act in the real world, to work with ISPs, legal, PR, tech, the ordinary admins who witness it, and really anyone else they need to, in order get the crazies effectively legally and technically kicked off the site. -- zzuuzz (talk) 05:19, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
I agree entirely with zzuzz's comments above - in my opinion the English Wikipedia handles most cases of harrassment as well as it can, by blocking offenders and the tools they use (e.g. open proxies, VPN endpoints, etc.), and requesting global locks if required in cases of cross-wiki abuse. However, this is ultimately a game of whack-a-mole. We have multiple LTAs that get hold of new proxies of various types incredibly easily and start up their lunacy once again. We need concerted action from the WMF in the following areas: (a) a system to proactively globally block open proxies & VPN endpoints, (b) a framework to request "Office contact" with ISPs whose subscribers commit serious, on-going, intractable abuse on Wikimedia projects, and most importantly (c) a formal way for admins, stewards, and functionaries on the various projects to work with the WMF to address the issues of long-term, serious abuse. Without these, the UCoC is going to achieve very, very little I fear. ƒirefly ( t · c ) 14:32, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
A general concern – it doesn't make clear about whether it applies to non-Wikimedia actions. For example, suppose someone has a Twitter or personal blog or website, and they make a post which has nothing to do with any Wikimedia project. Could such a post be punished under this code of conduct? Or should actions/statements/etc which occur outside of any Wikimedia project or event, and which aren't making any reference to any Wikimedia event, be excluded? I think, statements and actions which occur outside of the context of any Wikimedia project or event, and which don't make any reference to any Wikimedia project or event, should be out of scope for any "Code of Conduct". Mr248 ( talk) 00:31, 6 April 2021 (UTC) portion copied from #Mr248's feedback
i) vulnerable people; ii) serious harassment; or iii) threats of violenceare taking place, absolute privacy and safety should be guaranteed to reporters. IMO all you can do is make sure those investigating these incidents are competent, diligent and empathetic people and ideally put in place some sort of clear review mechanism - perhaps some kind of committee composed of community members and trained WMF staffers - so there's a sense of accountability. Making some kind of global WMF committee seems difficult though ( just look at the Ombuds), and this mechanism only works if you can recruit competent and active community members to volunteer their time to do smoke-filled work. ProcrastinatingReader ( talk) 14:24, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
Any "global dispute resolution body" will likely do more harm than good if it tries to interact with the English Wikipedia. Enwiki internal governance isn't perfect, but the memory of WP:FRAM is still fresh in the minds of too many editors, and WMF's interaction with the enwiki community in that fiasco was, put simply, atrocious. feminist (talk) 16:45, 8 April 2021 (UTC)
You already have an answer to this question, and it can be summarised as "Framgate". OFFICE-invoked one-year ban from en-wiki only for harassment, OFFICE not taking any action against Fram on other WMF wikis when he gave his side of events (thereby royally damaging the WMF's arguments), stonewalling from the WMF even on matters that could (and should) have been disclosed without revealing the identity of anyone who was harassed, evidence that (once the Arbitration Committee finally got to see an expurgated version of it) was deemed too flimsy to justify the action taken, and an RfC on partial blocks that turned instead into a referendum on WMF's interference with a community's self governance. Those who will not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it. — A little blue Bori v^_^v Jéské Couriano 23:33, 10 April 2021 (UTC)
I endorse the above comments completely. The only way I could see this working would be if the improper actions in scope were across several wikis and it was a global issue. -- Rs chen 7754 18:48, 11 April 2021 (UTC)
It is hard to see how a global dispute resolution body can work with established larger projects such as enwiki, dewiki etc. Framgate and superprotect are cautionary lessons as to the fact that volunteer communities are not looking to be ruled from above. Such a body should limit itself to handling: (a) global permanent bans arising from the most severe misconduct and (b) potentially working with stewards and global sysops on smaller projects without established processes. WJBscribe (talk) 18:11, 12 April 2021 (UTC)
Anyone have any thoughts on whether something like that would work (primarily asking writers to draw from their experience at smaller projects here)? Xeno (WMF) ( talk) 00:19, 20 April 2021 (UTC) (Just a thought: if confidence in the fairness and efficacy of the Inter-ArbCom were strong, a local committee lacking quorum from recusals could refer to a stand-up committee including non-recused members of the local committee and such an IAC.)
The following links may be useful for background: (copied from meta:Universal Code of Conduct/Discussions)
- English Wikipedia
- June 2019 discussion, strong opposition to WMF-imposed UCoC
- 2020 English Wikipedia Arbitration Committee Elections: Each candidate provided feedback on the UCoC in their answers to questions.
- May 2020 English Wikipedia discussion held after the Board of Trustees community health statement
- 2020 English Wikipedia Anti-harassment request for comment
- on the relationship with T&S:
- Editors strongly feel that en-wiki issues should be handled "in-house", and only matters that affect the real world (Q2, Q3) should be passed to T&S. A better/improved dialogue between ArbCom and the WMF is also desired, with the Foundation and T&S passing along en-wiki-specific information to ArbCom to handle.
- There was a desire from some editors, expressed in this section as well in previous sections, for the WMF to hire/find/create resources and training for mediation and dispute resolution, which would hopefully mitigate some of the most prevalent civility/harassment issues present on Wikipedia.
- September 2020 English Wikipedia discussion
(Note by Jonesey95:) The links above are copied here for convenience so that applicable excerpts of those discussions can be inserted here without having to rehash those discussions. – Jonesey95 ( talk) 00:23, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
Sorry if I have put this in the wrong place I am confused about where it goes. If I have put it in the wrong place please move it. I don't have a problem with a "Code of Conduct" per se but I have some concerns about the text of this specific code of conduct:
People who identify with a certain sexual orientation or gender identity using distinct names or pronouns
I have trouble remembering what pronoun to use for people and so often try to avoid using pronouns. I'm concerned that a policy might be interpreted as saying you have to use for people the pronouns they prefer, as opposed to choosing to avoid using pronouns entirely, and hence my action of avoiding using pronouns might violate the policy. Sometimes I also call people "they", by which I mean "I don't remember what pronoun to use for you so I am just using 'they' as a default". (I think it is quite standard English to use "they" as a default pronoun when you aren't sure what pronoun to use.) I am concerned some people might make a big issue of that ("they is not my pronoun!") which would be a distraction, and honestly would make me feel unwelcome.
Note: The Wikimedia movement does not endorse "race" and "ethnicity" as meaningful distinctions among people. Their inclusion here is to mark that they are prohibited in use against others as the basis for personal attacks
I think that is problematic because some people identify with their race or ethnicity, and this could be read as saying officially that their choice of personal identification is invalid. For example, if a person of Italian descent identifies their ethnicity as "Italian" (or "Italian-American" or whatever), this seems to be saying their choice to consider that an important part of their own identity is invalid. Or similarly, if an African-American person identifies as "Black", this could be read as saying that their Black identity is not "meaningful", which they may well find offensive.
Hate speech in any form
I am concerned that is too vague. Some people understand "hate speech" as meaning stuff like using slurs, negative stereotypes/generalisations, etc, and I don't have a problem with prohibiting that. But other people interpret it much more expansively–for example, if a person has conservative religious views on sexual morality, some people would interpret the mere expression of those views as "hate speech"–and I'm concerned about those more expansive definitions. Of course, if a person has such views, they shouldn't be using Wikipedia as a soapbox for expressing them, but they may nonetheless be revealed somehow.
A general concern – it doesn't make clear about whether it applies to non-Wikimedia actions. For example, suppose someone has a Twitter or personal blog or website, and they make a post which has nothing to do with any Wikimedia project. Could such a post be punished under this code of conduct? Or should actions/statements/etc which occur outside of any Wikimedia project or event, and which aren't making any reference to any Wikimedia event, be excluded? I think, statements and actions which occur outside of the context of any Wikimedia project or event, and which don't make any reference to any Wikimedia project or event, should be out of scope for any "Code of Conduct". Mr248 ( talk) 00:31, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
From UCoC 3.1 – Harassment: "Harassment ... may include contacting workplaces or friends and family members in an effort to intimidate or embarrass.
" The "in an effort" clause makes the sentence pointless because a perpetrator can say their contacting an editor's workplace was in an effort to reach out and help the person develop (in fact, any such unsolicited contact should be forbidden). Harassment is defined as several items almost all of which would earn the perpetrator an immediate and permanent block at enwiki—no UCoC is needed. Does anyone in the WMF imagine that sexual harassment and threats etc. are tolerated? The problematic items are insults (how do I tell someone that their English is not adequate or that their edits show they don't understand the topic or Wikipedia's role?) and hounding (it's hard to know whether use of Special:Contributions is done to protect the encyclopedia or merely to upset/discourage a contributor—in fact, good editors have to upset and discourage ungood editors every day).
Johnuniq (
talk) 01:51, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
I sometimes wonder if what I'm about to say is out of scope for what the WMF is thinking, but I think it's relevant so I'll say it anway. It addresses several of the questions posed, and none at the same time. I think it might be the elephant in the room.
I deal with an enormous amount of harassment - to me, other users, article subjects, as well as others - death threats, graphic threats of violence, threats to family members, persistent libel, doxxing, pestering, racial, sexual, you name it. The next steps are usually relatively straightforward and swiftly done in my experience - block, ban, disable email and TPA, range blocks, edit filters, and protection where we can (other lesser methods are available). In some cases we'll see a WMF ban get put in place. It just continues however, and it's usually from a relatively small group of the same people. The way I see it, a WMF global ban is not even an end goal, but usually just the start. We don't need guidelines of unacceptable behaviour to stop harassment, that is easy, we need the WMF to act in the real world, to work with ISPs, legal, PR, tech, the ordinary admins who witness it, and really anyone else they need to, in order get the crazies effectively legally and technically kicked off the site. -- zzuuzz (talk) 05:19, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
block, ban, disable email and TPA, range blocks, edit filters, and protection where we can), but I'm not sure it's the most severe or difficult to deal with. It'd be nice if UCOC enforcement dealt with the problem of unblockables, and also with the problem of new editors subject to problems (esp offwiki) who are not familiar with norms and reporting mechanisms available to them (indeed, Wikipedia:Contact us has no mention of mechanisms existing, such as ArbCom's contact info). ProcrastinatingReader ( talk) 18:10, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
I agree entirely with zzuzz's comments above - in my opinion the English Wikipedia handles most cases of harrassment as well as it can, by blocking offenders and the tools they use (e.g. open proxies, VPN endpoints, etc.), and requesting global locks if required in cases of cross-wiki abuse. However, this is ultimately a game of whack-a-mole. We have multiple LTAs that get hold of new proxies of various types incredibly easily and start up their lunacy once again. We need concerted action from the WMF in the following areas: (a) a system to proactively globally block open proxies & VPN endpoints, (b) a framework to request "Office contact" with ISPs whose subscribers commit serious, on-going, intractable abuse on Wikimedia projects, and most importantly (c) a formal way for admins, stewards, and functionaries on the various projects to work with the WMF to address the issues of long-term, serious abuse. Without these, the UCoC is going to achieve very, very little I fear. ƒirefly ( t · c ) 14:32, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
At the moment, the community deals with vandals by RBI. The draft text of this universal code of conduct, at section 3.3, requires us to engage with them: it clearly and specifically rules out our current process of reverting vandals' edits and denying them the oxygen of attention. Where is the correct place to discuss fixes to the draft UCoC text?— S Marshall T/ C 23:39, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
I am working my way through the questions above. In the meantime I wanted to raise a concern about the language of the UCoC as drafted. It includes the following:
The note is problematic for a number of reasons:
The note requires urgent attention. I am seriously troubled that the Board appears to have endorsed this language. WJBscribe (talk) 10:42, 7 April 2021 (UTC)
I concur with S Marshall, Firefly, and zzuuzz. This appears to be a great deal of effort being discharged in dealing with the wrong problem. Vandals (interpreted widely) don't care about rules and codes of conduct. Making more rules won't deter them. Stifle ( talk) 11:03, 7 April 2021 (UTC)
One must keep in mind that there are local differences in the prevailing standards of human rights. Despite their universal nature, international human rights treaties are always implemented on a contextual basis, taking into account local differences as to economic development, culture, social norms and politics. This applies equally to the WMF Universal Code of Conduct as well. Application of the UCoC to local wikis must – and I repeat, must – take into account the prevailing cultural and economic background of the average editor of that wiki. For example, depending on the context, some may consider use of the term Latinx to be necessary for gender neutrality, while others may consider use of the term to be culturally imperialist. How would the WMF handle local differences in enforcing the UCoC? Will the WMF potentially add fire to the conflict via enforcement, or will it seek to encourage mutual acceptance of different approaches?
I also concur fully with WJBscribe. These are material concerns with the way the UCoC is drafted. The UCoC should be amended to address these concerns before it is enforced.
Finally, the justifications for the UCoC (under the Why we have a Universal Code of Conduct section) are not terribly convincing. A set of justifications focusing on ensuring Wikimedia covers content from diverse perspectives and maximizing social benefit for editors and readers would be much more convincing than the current text which simply involves the WMF Board of Trustees professing blind faith towards a set of ideals. feminist (talk) 05:37, 8 April 2021 (UTC)
the act of systematic and/or continued unwanted and annoying actions of one party or a group. The policy on Harassment gives a definition: "Harassment is a pattern of repeated offensive behavior". When one editor "attacks" another editor it violates more than one policy on the first instance. This should be reflected as attacks and harassment.
Why isn't "use common sense" an official policy? It doesn't need to be; as a fundamental principle, it is above any policy.The policy on "No personal attacks" includes harassment under the subsection Recurring attacks:
Recurring, non-disruptive personal attacks that do not stop after reasoned requests to cease can be resolved through dispute resolution. In most circumstances, problems with personal attacks can be resolved if editors work together and focus on content, and immediate administrator action is not required.If I am the only one that sees a problem with this entire paragraph all of this is in vain.
Bullying is not permitted on Wikipedia, and any violators will be blocked from editing.WP:BOOMERANG should not be a consideration if a legitimate report is given.
No one should ever fear coming forward to make the community aware of a bullying concern.
There are several problems / pitfalls with a "Universal Code of Conduct". The primary concern is the systemic bias in a bunch of white people from America drawing up a document that regulated the behavior of people all over the globe. I say this as a white person from America, btw. There has seemingly been a concerted effort by the Foundation to force a set of civility rules on enwp that are too harsh. No one wants harassment or abuse of any editor, and most of the time, admin are able to deal with this. When we can't (privacy, off-wiki involvement, etc), the Foundation has already taken control and forced solutions upon us, usually justified but often in a hamfisted way, overshooting the mark. Any code of conduct that tries to overregulate "civility" is going to be more problem than solution and will end up pushing people away. Wikipedia is a collaborative environment, this means sometimes you have heated arguments and ruffle a few feathers. If we start blocking people for this, then what we will have left is not the best talent, only the most hypersensitive. THAT is my biggest concern, and why I'm not really in favor of the Foundation's attempt to take control of enwp, with their stealth attack of using a Universal Code of Conduct, and very hesitant of us creating one, UNLESS... the Code derives it's authority from existing policy, and the Code itself is NOT a new policy that simply muddies the waters and creates a conflict on which to enforce: the Code, or existing policy. If the Code overrides existing policy, then it is likely that I will loudly refuse to enforce it. Dennis Brown - 2¢ 10:32, 28 April 2021 (UTC)
If a mechanism is provide for editors to report violations of the Universal Code of Conduct, the staff (or volunteers) reading and acting on the reports should be aware that the large majority of reports of hounding or other harassment from the English Wikipedia will be mistaken in mostly good faith. At present, misguided reports of hounding and other harassment are not uncommon, by editors who are not familiar with electronic workplaces, and who view criticism, correction of their edits, and reversion of their edits as harassment. These reports are neither valid nor malicious. They are not real reports of harassment, but they are not deliberate false reports. They are made by new editors who are not familiar with electronic interaction. It will be necessary for many of these reports to be ignored. Robert McClenon ( talk) 15:42, 5 May 2021 (UTC)
As we know there are still countries living under authoritarian regimes. Russia in one of them and I as a Russian will dwell on ruwiki.
It is widely known that Kremlin thrives to control all media in Russian and these include Wikipedia. There are lots of gimmicks to do this but most effective is the simplest – bans on editors who step out of Kremlin discourse boundaries. This pressure is especialy strong at times of political turmoils. For example at the time of Russian-Ukrainian war in Donbas (in which Russia officially didn’t take part) all articles on the topic was governed by special Cheka group of admins (I do not recall its actual name). This group deleted all information which breached limits of official Russian discourse not withstanding sources and other basic rules such as NPV. All editors, who kept protesting were banned forever. That is not the only example.
I consider the UCoC discussion as very good and timely pretext to pay attention to situation in Russian Wikipedia and others with the same problems. IMHO it will be appropriate to establish a permanent group for discussion cases of breaching basic rules in individual projects.
Best regards. 213.24.132.53 ( talk) 14:58, 5 May 2021 (UTC)
Hi all! The Community Resilience & Sustainability team at the Wikimedia Foundation is hosting an office hour led by its Vice President Maggie Dennis. Topics within scope for this call include Movement Strategy coordination (recently transferred to CR&S), Trust and Safety (and the Universal Code of Conduct), Community Development, and Human Rights. Come with your questions or feedback, and let’s talk! You can also send us your questions in advance.
The meeting will be on April 17 at 15:00 UTC check your local time.
You can check all the details on Meta. Hope to see you there!
Best, JKoerner (WMF) ( talk) 20:37, 8 April 2021 (UTC)
Users may be interested in reviewing the summary report and 15 individual summaries from the early 2021 local consultations, available at m:Special:MyLanguage/Universal Code of Conduct/2021 consultations/Enforcement. Xeno (WMF) ( talk) 12:46, 26 April 2021 (UTC)
@ David Fuchs, Beeblebrox, Bradv, BDD, Barkeep49, Maxim, Primefac, L235, Worm That Turned, SoWhy, Casliber, KrakatoaKatie, Newyorkbrad, and CaptainEek:: Thank you for signing meta:Open Letter from Arbcoms to the Board of Trustees. Please note the drafting committee has been selected.
Additional responses provided to the questions above will be helpful to the drafting committee's work. Please encourage interested parties to provide input as soon as possible. Thank you, Xeno (WMF) ( talk) 15:57, 1 May 2021 (UTC)
The Universal Code of Conduct project facilitation team will be hosting round-table discussions for Wikimedians to talk together about how to enforce the Universal Code of Conduct on 15 and 29 May 2021 at 15:00 UTC.
The calls will last between 60 and 90 minutes, and will include a 5-10 minute introduction about the purpose of the call, followed by structured discussions using the key enforcement questions. The ideas shared during the calls will be shared with the committee working to draft an enforcement policy. Please sign up ahead of time to join. In addition to these calls, input can still be provided on the key questions at local discussions or on Meta in any language.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the Universal Code of Conduct 2021 consultations so far. Xeno (WMF) ( talk) 19:13, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
Just going to dump in some random notes I've made when reading this policy:
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on reply) 13:25, 6 May 2021 (UTC){{
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on reply) 17:16, 6 May 2021 (UTC){{
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on reply) 17:16, 6 May 2021 (UTC)I hope that input on this is still welcome?
A couple of thoughts about "Expected behavior":
So my first thought was to ask: Is this a list of best practices, or a list of block-able offences? If this isn't made very clear, it is really open to abuse in all-too-many ways. Do we require empathy or that someone is AGF? And if we require it, who decides? Application of this can be (is) very subjective. And I really doubt we want any admin blocking someone because they weren't showing "enough" empathy in a discussion. Well-meaning, but it makes me think of w:Thought Police and other such things. And probably not the intended tone of "inclusive environment" which this proposal seems to wish to engender.
So I think that section should be re-factored a bit. For one thing, splitting out "best practices" from "blockable offences". We "can" block for flagrant incivility, for example (though we tend to give editors' a chance to mend their ways), but there's a difference between reminding someone to agf as it is an ingredient of collegiality, and blocking them for perceived violations of AGF. I don't think anyone would want this well-intended CoC to turn into a fear-inspiring " board of education" (see link).
Also, those things that are blockable (inappropriate behaviour) should show reciprocality in an "examples of appropriate behaviour" section. I understand that the obvious concepts should be obvious, but we really should lean towards clarity (even while keeping things adaptive enough for action over inaction). If it helps, view this in terms of something like w:Goofus and Gallant.
So with all that in mind, I think rather than splitting the subsections as they are, maybe something more like: "Appropriate behaviour" / "Inappropriate behaviour" / "Unacceptable behaviour". So as to make clear the difference between behaviours/attitudes which we prefer or frown upon ("Here, let me help educate/inform you on our view of what collegiality is") and that which is just simply not acceptable on the project. ("Just don't do this, or you will be sanctioned.")
If someone would like help with a refactor, please let me know, I'd be happy to help. This being a foundation thing, I'm hesitant about Being Bold : ) - jc37 01:07, 10 May 2021 (UTC)
I want to thank everyone for taking the time to provide such valuable and constructive input in this consultation.
The process of organizing the comments for the drafting committee to consider has been ongoing, and they are commencing the collaborative process.
A comprehensive community review of the draft enforcement guidelines is expected for 2021 July to September.
We continue to collect input and will be holding round-table discussions this Saturday 15 May at 15:00 UTC and all are welcome to join. Another session is scheduled for 29 May at 15:00 UTC.
Additional comments are still being invited to Meta:Talk:UCOC2021 and this page will be monitored as well.
If desired, an impartial summary of the community thoughts and positions may be posted here by a trusted local user, and cross-posted to Meta:Talk:UCOC2021#English Wikipedia.
The upcoming report about this round of enforcement consultations will also draw heavily on the input provided here. I will advise once available.
Discussion about the Universal Code of Conduct continues at Meta:Talk:Universal Code of Conduct and Meta:Talk:Universal Code of Conduct/Policy text.
I enjoyed facilitating this discussion, and welcome any input on the process and how to foster local engagement.
Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions or additional thoughts. Xeno (WMF) ( talk) 01:22, 11 May 2021 (UTC)
The summary report for the 2021 consultations is available here. The input from this community was quite valuable in highlighting several major themes of inquiry that were shared among projects.
The project team continues to seek thoughts and ideas from the communities in the context of open round-table discussions and other ongoing outreach. The next round-table is scheduled for 12 June 2021 at 05:00 UTC.
We're quite thankful for all the valuable time users have contributed to these discussions. Feel free to leave any comments or questions here, or the talk page of the report on Meta. Xeno (WMF) ( talk) 02:05, 2 June 2021 (UTC)
What's wrong with the Etiquette? Will it be replaced with the Universal Code of Conduct or will both be enforced at the same time? Wouldn't it be better to discuss and vote separately adding/ removing/ modifying particular Etiquette's principles? Grillofrances ( talk) 16:46, 19 March 2022 (UTC)