User:The Land/Movement Charter Input

Preamble

This is not a draft of the Movement Charter. The actual Charter will be developed by a group of people through a process that has not yet been defined, and which will doubtless include a vast amount of consultation. and it's not for any one individual to propose a text for it.

This is, however, the best way I can find of organising my thoughts about what the Charter (or parts of it) should contain. The intention is to share with whoever ends up drafting the Movement Charter, to draw from or ignore as they wish. Your thoughts are very welcome on the talk page, but once again, this is not 'official' part of the process.

Principles

Content principles

Here to fulfill the Wikimedia vision. Content on Wikimedia projects exists to further the Wikimedia vision of free knowledge for all. Content must be not be unduly biased towards one viewpoint. Content must be based on reliable published sources, except where a project specifically waives this requirement in pursuit of the overall Wikimedia vision^[1] Content which is pure opinion, or exists to promote political or commercial interests, is forbidden.
Openly licenced. Content on Wikimedia sites is intended to be available for free use and re-use to the greatest possible extent. Generally this means that Wikimedia has open content which (where not in the public domain) is licensed by either the CC-0, CC-BY, CC-BY-SA or equivalent licenses, which explicitly permit extensive re-use and remixing (including for commercial purposes). Limited exceptions may be made to this where non-open content may be included if doing so furthers the Wikimedia vision in a way that is incompatible with open licencing. ^[2]

Behaviour Principles

Mutual respect, civility, and collegiality. All good-faith contributors to the Wikimedia movement are entitled to equal respect and esteem, and are expected to behave in a civil and friendly way as set out in the Universal Code of Conduct.
Inclusivity and Equity. All are welcome to contribute, without distinction based on age, mental or physical disabilities, physical appearance, national, religious, ethnic and cultural background, caste, social class, language fluency, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex or career field. As a movement, we will work to build knowledge equity.
Collaboration. Wikimedia is a collaborative project, and people and organisations must work collaboratively together to solve shared problems, listening to and respecting others' viewpoints.
Accountability. People and organisations who are in positions of power in the Wikimedia movement are accountable to the communities they serve (including, but not limited to, Wikimedia project communities).
Empowerment. People and organisations who are in positions of power in the Wikimedia movement must so far as is practical use that power in way that empowers others, rather than concentrating power in their own hands.

Wikimedia Organisation Principles ^[3]

Service of mission Wikimedia organisations exist solely to further the Wikimedia vision, and must reflect this within their governing documents to the greatest extent compatible with law. Because of this shared vision, Wikimedia organisations are bound together in ways that go beyond conventional grantmaking or partnership relationships. They undertake to work collaboratively with Wikimedia movement organisations, with Wikimedia project communities, with communites not yet involved with Wikimedia projects, and with partner organisations to further the vision.
Transparency and accountability To ensure continued trust in Wikimedia organisations, they must demonstrate high levels of transparency and accountability, going well beyond the minimums established by national laws and regulations. They must follow the Wikimedia Foundation's statement of organisational best practices

Funds and Funding principles

All funds raised using Wikimedia trademarks or projects should be regarded first and foremost as the common funds of the Wikimedia movement, to be spent to fulfill the Wikimedia mission, according to a funding framework to be decided by the Global Council
Any participant (individual or organisation) in the Wikimedia movement is eligible in principle to access such funds for purposes that will develop the impact of the Wikimedia mission, through a framework that will be created by the Global Council.
Funds shall be allocated based on impact, bearing in mind the need to further knowledge equity (+add link to recommendation)

Rights and responsibilities

Individuals

Rights

To recognition for their contributions in the form of a permanent log of their contributions, so long as those contributions are made while logged in
To contribute anonymously or pseudonymously if they so wish, unless they hold positions of responsibility that require their identities to be disclosed either in public or in private.
To participate, if they wish, in discussions relating to Movement governance, including the governance of movement organisations whose scope overlaps with their own participation (note that this right extends to staff as well as to volunteers)

Responsibilities

To follow the Universal Code of Conduct
To follow project policies and processes, and to give regard to project guidelines where appropriate.

Volunteers

Rights

To contribute to whatever project and in whatever manner is of greatest interest and reward to themselves
To respect from others for the time and effort they spend on developing the Wikimedia projects, including appreciation that any given initiative or proposal may not be of interest to any given volunteer.

Responsibilities

Functionaries

^[4]

Rights

To consultation before changes are made to policies, processes or technical functions that apply to their positions.

Responsibilities

To fulfill their function, respecting local policies and process which apply to their positions
To comply with global policies (e.g. Use of Non-public Data) where required
To hold themselves to high standards regarding civility and mutual respect, setting an example for all users

Staff members

Rights

To respect from others for their time and effort, including appreciation that staff members' time is necessarily limited, and that any individual staff member may be unable to meet every demand or expectation made of them

Responsibilities

To refrain from situations that could cause a conflict of interest between their staff roles and other financial interests they might hold
Where a staff member also contributes as a volunteer, to be clear as to which statements or actions are taken in their official capacity and which in their volunteer capacity

Board members

^[5]

Rights

Responsibilities

To apply their own independent judgement to further the best interests of the Wikimedia movement and of the organisation they represent. Board and committee members are appointed as individuals and may never be bound by the decisions of other organisations or groups, nor by decisions of Wikimedia project communities.
To follow conflict-of-interest policies as set out by their organisations, declaring other interests and recusing from decisions where required.

Project Communities

Rights

To be self-governing, defining their own policies and processes, within the scope of the Principles in this document
To representation on the Global Council and on the boards of Wikimedia organisations that relate to the relevant community ^[6]
To consultation before significant changes are made affecting the technical infrastructure of the project community (while understanding that perspectives not represented among project communities may have a significant influence on eventual decisions)

Responsibilities

To define, maintain and enforce project policies that reflect the Principles in the charter
Possibly: a responsibility about collaboration with other projects / organisations?

Organisations

Rights

To use the Wikimedia trademarks with the minimal necessary limitations (and this right shall be exclusive to Wikimedia organisations)
To representation on the Global Council
To consultation before significant changes are made affecting them
To access Movement funds, in line with the framework set out by the Global Council - including the possibility for organisations of sufficient scope and organisational maturity to receive unrestricted funds (this possibility to receive Wikimedia movement funds as unrestricted funds shall be exclusive to Wikimedia organisations)
To conduct fundraising appropriate to the organisation's scale, scope and locale using the Wikimedia trademarks

Responsibilities

To meet and go beyond the standards of transparency set out in the Wikimedia Foundation's statement on organisational best practices
Where the organisation has a governing body, to have an open method of appointment and/or election that ensures adequate representation of the communities with which they work, and diversity of board members to reflect the diversity of the communities they serve
Where the organisation has a significant budget and staff, to take steps to ensure that the organisation's governing board has members with appropriate management and professional skills to effectively oversee this work, alongside representation of relevant communities
To work in partnership with Wikimedia project communities, other Wikimedia movement organisations, other communities, and partner organisations; including consulting those partners and communities where necessary before acting
To reflect the Principle regarding open licencing of content as far as is possible in the organisation's own output.
To use, maintain and develop free, libre and open source software in preference to closed commercial software, where this software is suitable to the organisation's business needs
To contribute towards the global development of the Wikimedia movement in a manner appropriate to the scale, scope and locale of the organisation - by generously sharing experiences, skills and funds with the rest of the movement as appropriate
Where the organisation conducts fundraising activity:
- to do so in an ethical and transparent manner, in compliance with any Wikimedia movement standards and also with any relevant laws and regulations
- to minimise legal or regulatory barriers to the transfer of funds to other Wikimedia movement organisations
- to work in partnership with other Wikimedia organisations conducting fundraising to the same territory or audience
To minimise the environmental impact of their activities, as far as is consistent with the effective delivery of the Wikimedia mission

Footnotes

↑ Examples of material not based from reliable published sources might include: Wikivoyage articles, which are written to a journalistic tone incompatible with thorough sources; original media works contributed to Wikimedia Commons, which are not by their nature compatible with 'sourcing'; projects set up to record oral histories or intangible heritage, where the purpose of the project to document otherwise unsourced material.
↑ Examples of non-open content might include: Wikipedias carrying 'fair use' images unsuitable for commercial reuse, which are necessary to illustrate article; a hypothetical future project to record indigenous peoples' histories, which uses a No Derivatives licence in order to protect the integrity of the material.
↑ For the avoidance of doubt, "Wikimedia Organisations" includes at present the Wikimedia Foundation, Chapters, User Groups and Thematic Organisations
↑ The term 'functionaries' applies to administrators, stewards, checkusers, bureaucrats, Arbitration Committee members, and others with advanced permissions and/or positions of responsibility on Wikimedia projects. Board members of Wikimedia organisations, governance committees, and/or of the Global Council, are treated separately
↑ The term 'board members' applies to trustees, directors and other board members of Wikimedia organisations. The rights and responsibilities of other individuals serving on governance committees e.g. the Global Council are substantially similar
↑ Representation footnote: 'Representation' is used flexibly. Depending on the circumstances, representation might be achieved by direct election, by indirect election, by appointment or by invitation

[1] Examples of material not based from reliable published sources might include: Wikivoyage articles, which are written to a journalistic tone incompatible with thorough sources; original media works contributed to Wikimedia Commons, which are not by their nature compatible with 'sourcing'; projects set up to record oral histories or intangible heritage, where the purpose of the project to document otherwise unsourced material.

[2] Examples of non-open content might include: Wikipedias carrying 'fair use' images unsuitable for commercial reuse, which are necessary to illustrate article; a hypothetical future project to record indigenous peoples' histories, which uses a No Derivatives licence in order to protect the integrity of the material.

[3] For the avoidance of doubt, "Wikimedia Organisations" includes at present the Wikimedia Foundation, Chapters, User Groups and Thematic Organisations

[4] The term 'functionaries' applies to administrators, stewards, checkusers, bureaucrats, Arbitration Committee members, and others with advanced permissions and/or positions of responsibility on Wikimedia projects. Board members of Wikimedia organisations, governance committees, and/or of the Global Council, are treated separately

[5] The term 'board members' applies to trustees, directors and other board members of Wikimedia organisations. The rights and responsibilities of other individuals serving on governance committees e.g. the Global Council are substantially similar

[6] Representation footnote: 'Representation' is used flexibly. Depending on the circumstances, representation might be achieved by direct election, by indirect election, by appointment or by invitation

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