Template:Answers/Values



Answers@
For information about the Answers@ process

About
For information about the Wikimedia Foundation

Donors
Find out how to donate and information about how your money is spent

Press
If you're a member of the press looking to contact the Wikimedia Foundation

Affiliates
For information about Wikimedia's international network of affiliated organizations


What are the Wikimedia Foundation's major values and beliefs?

The Wikimedia Foundation believes that all people everywhere should be afforded equal access to information. It supports network neutrality and the free culture movement. It believes in the need to conquer the digital divide, which results in the economic or cultural marginalization of individuals with limited access to technology. It respects the rights of human beings to basic privacy and dignity. The Wikimedia Foundation also believes that the environment is important; it strives for sustainable business practices.

The Foundation holds that censorship is incompatible with its mission. In May 2011, when the Board of Trustees passed its resolution on dealing with controversial content, it affirmed that "Wikimedia projects are not censored." Curating knowledge for an international community of all ages will certainly mean the display of materials that some may find offensive or upsetting. The Board supported the principle that users should be able to choose what content to access and encouraged the responsible curating of content so users might reasonably expect what they will encounter when viewing a page or using a feature, but continued in its explicit support of access to information for all.