Community health initiative/User reporting system/Wikimania 2018 notes

Notes from the Wikimania 2018 roundtable "Building a Better Harassment Reporting System" held on July 20, 2018.

Worksheet #1

Wiki	Situation: A user has contacted you to say they have been harassed. Name the common ways that they reach you. (email? on wiki? IRC? other?) What are the steps that you would do or tell them to do?
en	1. IRC, email (to functionaries team or oversight) 2. Work with them to ascertain the issue and work out if I can be useful with technical tools. Then, go to a noticeboard if public is OK. Then, refer them to WMF trust & safety if appropriate (or afterward if not)
es	The most common way would be on wiki, the second (but not used often would be email.) Steps: Always tell them to report the case in The admin noticeboard of The Spanish Wiki, Then a conversation would begin between admins to validate two things (1) Its harassment? (2) Degree of the harassment. After this they would be resolution by a Third party admin (not involved in the previous discussion) to dismiss the case or ban/block the user/s reported Note => idea scenario, not always achieveable
de + others	I have two hats: staff and volunteer (admin, steward, etc.) - as staff we get phone calls or mails before/after events that people feel uncomfortable with a person they interacted with who might show up, in one case we recommended that event organizers to make it clear on wiki that they should stay away - as a volunteer (but also sometimes mixed) I get messages mostly on IRC and WhatsApp less so they the (after/) that something happened, however some long time contributors use wikimail to reach out to me; usually I help them directly with my functionary accounts I only rarely send them to other people, WMDE, ally-like page on dewiki, etc. (nowadays I only rarely do OTRS work, and was here active in anti-harassment there) (if it's serious (suicide, threats, etc.), I send them to emergency@wikimedia.oirg, the police, or else) (our Arbcom is not functioning, they rarely deal with cases, it takes long --> we usually don't approach them.)
en	* Email, IRC, OTRS 1. Check how recent the harassment is, to determine immediacy (does this need intervention *now* and sorted later?) 2. Is the person comfortable reporting publicly? 3. Does this harassment appear personal, or content related? - If content related, steer toward noticeboards & public reporting - If personal, try to keep the situation and handling "private"—refer to ArbCom—handle it myself—find another individual
es	Telegram, Face to face } Trust, confidential safe spaces Comfort, guide, decide, report
n/a	Why assume that people contact? --> silence Focus on this first.
n/a	- Email / wikimail - instant message/social media (Facebook / WhatsApp) contact --> WMF SuSa (rarely) --> my local chapter (rarely) --> trusted admins (mostly) what else to do --> go offline / sleep / call a friend
de	- private email - discussion page 2 - get in touch with the user in a kind way - <u>take your time!</u> grab a coffee and keep calm. --> Afterwards, discuss the problem with a fresh mind
n/a	--> telegram
n/a	- telegram - we talked about why he/she felt harassed and try to find a way to talk with the both parts
de	email, talk page, OTRS, irc --> no big issue --> talk and mediate confidential / WP:ANOW --> OTRS or maybe direct admin action boring/no time/not me --> noticeboard obvious --> direct admin action
n/a	On wiki, talk page, ANI Email IRC ---- investigate / diffs consult peers on IRC (if case is complex) issue warnings if allegations are true / Try to mediate if its a mild case issue blocks if necessary advise harassed user to block emails advise to contact law enforcement in case there are credible issues to physical safety
Muppet Wiki	--> Reporting on user talk page. I'm an admin and I would ask them some questions about the incident, and look at the diffs. Then I would talk to the disruptive individual. If the person seems well-meaning but misguided I'll explain the policies and culture of the wiki. If they're not salvageable I'll block the offender
ko	Email, IRC, I guess — ANI too. actually, i think we are doing nothing. I'd say conduct SuSa. admins don't want to deal with that. stewards are not global arbcom - and shouldn't be [global arbcom] <-- language barriers, contexts
nl	Reach: email, emaillint, IRC, personal if person knows me, talk page I would do: talk with person and accused person/people. give harassed person space and time to talk and find out is harassment in true or only perceived as such (mis-communication) ask the accusor to tell the accused how he or she feels in case that hasn't happened if harassment is problem try to mediate
n/a	Channels: live meetings, mail (inwiki & other), telephone, via-via tB Steps: 1) Listen to both parties, help verbalize the core of the problem 2) Find common ground 3) call in admins or other hierarchical people on the platform 4) set guidelines for further communication
multiple / NL / BE	email, IRC, telegram - talk with the person, letting him/jher express the situation in what that person was in & the feelings, how it was perceived by this person, ??? identifying what has been experiences, making sure the person feels safe to tell their story - if clear enough explaining the possible origins of a perceived harassment - making clear what possible steps will follow + what will come next - talking to person who the complaint was about - depending on what happened --> 1) mentoring 2) or dialog
en	Private email to me — often through another person who refers them to me. Also through mailing lists — arbcom, functionaries, plus the IRC channels & trust & safety As a T&S person would follow internal workflows As a volunteer I would check to see if admin or oversight needed & do those if appropriate. Would refer to information pages that explain how to manage issue like wikihounding & option of on wiki report
de	email: check the incident, try to calm down, block the harassing user and/or get support by fellow admins, put pages on my watch list and lots of other things. admin notice board: same as above IRC: I don't idle on IRC that often, so... other social media: same as above in person
nl	1) Talk page, mail, by arbcom address 2) Hear their story, View what happened Put at ease // cool down, advise for the one harassed If needed: help
ro	1) I've been reached on email for serious cases and on the admin's noticeboard for common cases 2) Our default advice for critical cases at least is for the harassed user to take a break of 12h or 24h. Most of the cases the harasser is blocked for 1 week. The harmful edits have to be hidden.
uk, meta	Ways: Talk page, email, telegram, Facebook, Skype, wiki meet up Steps: contact the harasser directly, report to admins, report to stewards, contact support and safety (ca@wikimedia.org) problem: (indecipherable Ukrainian notes) <-- they will probably not understand this
en	Ways people reach me: My user talk page, email Steps I would suggest: For blatant harassment, post to ANI. For tricky or controversial cases: find an admin on WP:Admins willing to make difficult blocks who has been recently active, and email them.
en	I sometimes receive emails of users who have been harassed, I send a chat message to Sydney Poore and ask her what to do. UIsually she tells me to ignnore it because ANI has already dealt with it (or not dealt with it.)
en	Use a trusted reporter first (contact someone I know)
n/a	Usually I get this in email. I usually look at the history they oint me to and then decide where to go from there. Based on my experience because every situation is different.
uk	1. Calm down and express that the complainer should trust me 2. To figure out all details 3. To consider where this situation requires publicity or privacy 4. To consider whether this situation should be closed down as minor, be resolved between the involved parties, needs mediation, or finally the report should be submitted. 5. The report should be informative, accurate, short and emotion-less
n/a	email contact a partner who is more involved in wiki processes to let us know what the best way to approach Use search box "report harassment" ---- Easier way to find human who can help for newbie (there is a harassment of newbie culture)
n/a	Talk Page, Facebook, email, in person Usually people who already know the admin "Admin's willing to make a difficult block" Block the harasser, ask the harrasee to take a break. Usually helps with revenge. Want to keep the group that is involved as small as possible Being able to contact the harasser Prevent the users from interacting Being able to take constructive criticism from the community so everyone can benefit Blocking should stay quick for vandalls.

Statistics

• 9 Wikimedia wikis were represented: English, Spanish, German, Korean, Dutch, Romanian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian Wikipedias + Meta Wiki
• 10 unique reporting channels were mentioned:
  • 19 - email
  • 11 - talk page (incl. user talk)
  • 8 - IRC
  • 6 - social media
  • 5 - in person
  • 4 - email to listserv
  • 4 - noticeboard
  • 4 - telegram
  • 2 - telephone
  • 2 - OTRS
• Most roundtable participants listed multiple ways to handle a report, depending on the severity. Responses included:
  • 11 - Handle the incident themselves
  • 9 - Refer to another admin or trusted user
  • 6 - Refer to the WMF
  • 5 - Refer to a public noticeboard
  • 1 - Refer to a policy or guideline page
  • 1 - Refer to ArbCom
  • 1 - Refer to local affiliate
  • 1 - Refer to law enforcement
• Responses for handling a reported case of harassment included:
  • 13 - Talking to the involved parties
  • 9 - Act as a mediator
  • 6 - Set a sanction (block or something socially enforced)
  • 4 - Help define the problem
  • 3 - Provide moral support
  • 2 - Determine if the report should be handled in public or in private

Worksheet #2

What aspects about the way harassment is reported that you would like to keep? What would you like to change?

Things to keep...	Things to change...
1. Report to T&S	1. Report button visible! 2. Involve community, experts, digital rights & feminists NGOs 3. Train the trainers 4. Train people wth the power to block aggressors about online harassment
1. Assume good faith 2. Local projects authorities 2b. Reporting/discussing in native language	1. Apply new tools for people to come forward 2. Clarity of documentation about harassment 3. Use of precedent from years ago on some cases 4. Usable chat system connected to Wikipedia account (easier to use) 5. Boomerang 6. Global dispute resolution 7. Quicker responses
1. Oversight - bees (?) 2. ANI — because it's quick, central, and effective	1. Offer alternatives to public on-wiki reporting channels 2. Avoids raising the bar gradually for what is considered harassment over time 3. Don't let productivity on the projects be a justification for bad behavior 4. Make it easier to collect the facts (gather diffs) - maybe mark them internally?
1. Training mentors/admins 2. Keep some communicating private --> making known 3. Public rulings	1. Central place who to contact and make this common knowledge 2. FORM for reporting 3. Making ruling of ArbCom common knowledge 4. Language barriers 5. More psychology guidance / support
1. Scalability - number of people who can act 2. Variety of different actions to perform to deal with the situations 3. Ability to reach out to a specific admins	1. Discoverable — How do I report? 2. Prevent Trolls from responding to complaints 3. More private options - but more than 1 person should know about it 4. Report harassment that you see but not are involved in 5. Multiple users respond to harasser - it's harder to harass an admin if there are multiple admins/users responding
1. TRUST - people to assess situations 2. Private vs. Public options	1. New Users need more information, e.g. pop-up info for the new user after a few edits 2) Ensure we are assuming good faith 3. Help with finding mediation 4. Better documentation of process 5. Fix ArbComs! 6. Prominent button! as a part of User_talk: page 7. Way to request people to "watch" a user page or article