Wikipedia:Mwongozo wa Kimataifa wa Mwenendo na Maadili (Universal Code of Conduct)/Community Feedback Report

Kutoka Wikipedia, kamusi elezo huru

Code of Conduct Policy research on Swahili Wikipedia[hariri chanzo]

The research conducted in Swahili Wikipedia shows that there is a Swahili code of conduct that governs different online activities such as how to contribute to Swahili Wikipedia as well as how someone should behave while contributing to it. One challenge observed is that this code of conduct policy is not much known to many of the contributors, very few active contributors (admins specifically) know about this policy. According to an explanation from one of the sw wiki admins the policy was created by some of swwiki community members themselves although its content somehow seems to resemble that of enwiki ( seems some policies was derived from enwiki).This is because of a relatively small number of Swahili Wikipedia contributors/volunteers as well as a small number of Admins (4 active admins) who can facilitate the creation and follow up those policy issues. Concerning the Introduction of UCoC it seemed to be a good idea to many although some of them were curious to know what it would look like and whether it would not go against their already existing policy and cultural aspects. On other hand answering the question on how Swahili admins handle situations when there are actions of harassment in online activities by some of its contributors, the answer was that they used to ban a particular harassers/abusers completely from participating from Swahili Wikipedia. It was expressed that there is a need for more admins to ensure follow up of Code of conduct issues although there is the challenge of poverty (as someone can’t spend a lot of time looking for those issues online while not supported in anyform). Hence Support is needed for admins to do better their work Therefore consultation between Admins and other members should be done so as to have a Code of Conduct that will fit the needs of the community as well to see the point of intersection with the UCoC. Talking of the level of discussion that takes place before forming/amending policy, It seems there is a discussion page which is dedicated for discussion on how to improve Swahili Wikipedia, the only challenge here is that only few active members participate in discussion. Also it was addressed that there are challenges of ‘‘Lack of culture of finding things’’ for many of the Swahili contributors and that of contributors to not know useful platforms for discussion by which they can get involved easily. Research showed that editors don't often use the discussion pages due to several reasons including low awareness level of the existence and the purpose of those discussion pages especially new contributors.

Community Consultation Overview[hariri chanzo]

The community consultation was done from February to April 2020 with the aim of obtaining their feedback on what they think about having a Universal code of Conduct. The methodologies that were used for community consultations includes posting of the overview of the Universal Code Of Conduct in Swahili discussion page, on social media platforms (Wikimedia Tanzania WhatsApp group, Facebook page, Twitter and Google forms),Wikimedia projects user talk pages as well as One-on -One consultation was used to hear people’s opinions. In both methodologies the overview of Universal Code of Conduct was given first, then the community members were asked to provide their opinions based on the overview they have read or heard. To allow flexibility in providing feedback, the entire process was divided into 5 main questions by which community members were asked to respond to either all of it or just some of it as it seemed relevant to them. The 5 survey questions were sent to at least 147 people where at least 49% (72 out of 147) people responded to the survey and the results of their opinions can be seen below.

The Community Feedback per each Question[hariri chanzo]

Qn:01
What are the major challenges that you ever faced with respect to behavioral issues in the projects?[Mambo gani ya unyanyasaji wa kitabia uliwahi kukumbana nayo katika utumiaji au uchangiaji katika miradi ya Wikimedia Foundation ambayo uliyaona kama ni changamoto kwako?]

  • About 91% (67 out of 72) people who responded to this question said they have never experienced or they are not sure whether they have ever experienced any challenge with respect to behavioral issues in the projects while about 9% (6 out of 72) people said they somehow faced some sort of behavioral challenges in contributing to Wikimedia projects.
  • 1person out of the 6 people who said felt some challenges in contributing to Wikimedia projects said he once felt discouraged as he was answered abusively by one of the Wikipedia experienced editors while he was trying to ask something from him during one of the Wikipedia events.
  • The second person said she witnessed her friends being blocked from contributing to Wikimedia projects without constructive reasons and advice from experienced editors.
  • Again the third person said there was a hash language used by enwiki admins as he witnessed one of his new recruited members being told (her/his) article was nonsense and witnessed how the new editor felt discouraged.
  • The fourth person said there is some sort of bias when it comes to African content in enwiki as when he tried to write about notable things from Africa they were often rejected by some reasons such as for the reason that there was no reliable sources despite of him knowing that the sources he used were notable when it comes to his community context. In addition to that he also added there is abusive language sometimes from enwiki admins.
  • The fifth respondent said there is a sense of enwiki being for white people only as he sees African contents being more challenged despite of sometimes having the same notability level to other non African countries. He gave an example that he wrote about a very notable musician in Tanzania but he was challenged by foreign admins like they said they saw nothing worth for the musician to be in Wikipedia.
  • The sixth person said he felt unsafe asking about how he can be a good contributor to Wikimedia projects. At some point he got a discouraging answer from one of the experienced editors hence decided to stand down.

Qn:02
What thought do you have concerning the implementation of UCoC which is intended to help all people feel free to contribuite to Wikimedia Foundation Projects? (Una maoni gani juu ya kuanzishwa kwa Mwongozo wa Kinataifa wa Mwenendo na Nidhamu/ Universal Code of Conduct [UCoC] utakaosaidia watu wote kujisikia huru katika kuchangia katika miradi ya Wikimedia Foundation?)

  • About 81% (58 out of 72) of respondents said having a UCoC was a good idea . However, 44.8% (26 out of 58) who positively expressed their opinion in favor of the UCoC idea had a condition by which this UCoC should be implemented.

Their General Comments[hariri chanzo]

  1. Some of them said they think it is something that will be helpful as it will help Wikimedians to be aware of what is globally considered acceptable and what's not by following the behavioral boundaries/ guidelines that will be drawn by the UCoC.Also others responded that it's a good thing wherever there is a community to have a set of guidelines so that everyone can know how he/she should be behaving without causing emotional or physical damage to others.
  2. They added that it will help to increase people’s freedom and confidence on how they behave as they will have no fear of violating rules unknowingly.
  3. Others expressed that it will help volunteers to contribute to Wikimedia projects while feeling needed and valued.
  4. Another opinion was that it will help people to choose what to say as per the guidelines that will be given hence will reduce unnecessary conflicts between Wikimedians.
  5. Some said although they never faced any kind of harassment in Swahili related Wiki platforms, they are concerned about what happens in other parts of the world as it can face them too any time. So having a guideline will help to solve the issue.
  6. One of the respondents said It will shape Wikimedians in behavioural context.
  7. One of the feedback portrayed that it will be something that will make all voice count and will give equal opportunity for all.
  8. Some said it will help to even Remove irritating admins that abuse their Wiki admin rights to harass others.[more insights will be explained at the ‘‘Quoted statements'’ section later]
  • On the other hand about 19% (14 out of 72) of respondents shown not to support the idea.

Their General Comments[hariri chanzo]

  1. Most them (8 out of 14) said they don’t see any reason for implementing this idea as already there is a local code of conduct that they already follow and that they are comfortable with that, rather the only problem they see is that the local code of conduct policy isn’t much known to the volunteers which can be improved.
  2. On other hand at least 4 of the 14 said it was totally a new thing them and they will need sometime to pass through the available resources to ensure they dig deep before they provide their feedback, and 1out of the 14 said it will be better if community members just continue with their local (swahili) community code of conduct policies.
  3. One of them said he was not sure whether this is a necessary thing to implement while another person one said he still not get it how will UCoC come up with the master key rules to guide all people and the last person said it's hard to comment for something that isn’t on the table yet.

Quoted statements from community members (support statements)[hariri chanzo]

  1. ‘‘It may be good in one in one side but extra care should be taken into consideration as UCoC can both attract more contributors to contribute to Wikimedia projects or to totally chase them away if it will be inconvenient to our community’’
  2. ‘‘It is a good Idea but it should be flexible to let people continue to believe what is right according to our community especially when it comes to culture diversity’’
  3. ‘‘ I agree with the Idea but I think the UCoC should allow individual local code of conduct to continue being applicable’’
  4. ‘‘ It is a good thing I think it will help people to feel free’’
  5. ‘‘ will be helpful especially if it will allow freedom of expression especially when there is difference in points of view’’
  6. ‘‘Will be helpful if it will provide freedom of people to express their ideas’’
  7. ‘‘It will be good as it will shape us on how we should be behaving’’
  8. ‘‘It's important, we will need it’’
  9. ‘‘It has got meaning to be there coz it will reduce fear for people to participate in wikiprojects due to clarity on what’s acceptable and what's not’’
  10. ‘‘ yes it should be there , it will help people to behave friendly’’
  11. ‘‘Will help people to be more open to say their thoughts’’
  12. ‘‘Will be useful and it should provide events formalities’’
  13. ‘‘ I think its cool thing’’
  14. ‘‘Good idea but it should be as neutral as possible not force all people in the world believe in one thing which ideally they differ in belief’’
  15. ‘‘Yes it should be there but should not try make people violate their religious beliefs’’
  16. ‘‘I agree with the idea’’

Quoted statements from community members (Do not support)[hariri chanzo]

  1. ‘’I don’t see any need for We swwiki. And the question here is who will answer for any questions which the UCoC will not address. We are different community language wise.Each community should decide on its own.’’
  2. ‘‘No reason to have that, I think our swwiki guidelines are enough’’
  3. ‘‘It's like two things will be doing same job, no need for that’’
  4. ‘‘Will be difficulty following more than guidelines, what if they will differ in at some points?’’
  5. ‘‘Will only get people confused on what to follow’’
  6. ‘‘I think lets just improve what we already have’’
  7. ‘‘I don’t see the advantage of this idea to have one guideline for all Wikipedias. Each community should be able to decide which do they term to be acceptable and which they think isn’t acceptable.’’


Qn:03
What are the things that you want to see in a Universal Code of Conduct [UCoC]? [Wewe binafsi unadhani vitu gani ungependa VIWEMO kwenye huo Mwongozo?]


The following are the things that community members said would like to see in UCoC.

  1. It should explicitly respect and contain a balance of cultural diversity and religion
  2. It should go inline with country laws,rules and regulations
  3. It should contain Wiki events code of conduct guidelines
  4. Should contain important Wikiprojects resources such as online learning tools to help contributors not to violate the set guidelines unknowingly.
  5. It should have some sort of DO’s and DON’Ts with satisfactory explanations on why it is considered acceptable and why not.
  6. It should declare clearly that everyone has freedom of expression and some one’s ideas should be respected irrespective of difference in point of view.
  7. Should clearly specify/ mention as to where do particular things which aren't common to all people are applicable.
  8. It should consider and respect the culture of the particular community meaning it should be considerate to some things that aren’t acceptable to some of the communities.
  9. The age factor should be taken into account especially when it comes to events, the language used should consider the age factor of the audience.
  10. It should forbid the use of harsh/abusive words
  11. It should have its UCoC committee/team for each community that will be specific for resolving Wiki harassment issues.
  12. It should make sure there is either a pop -up or any form of reminder of the UCoC on every Wiki main page to keep all people all time aware of UCoC.
  13. One of them said It should have a filter that categorizes the type of people such as there should be a category for all harassers so we can be aware of them, as well there can be a category of good heart people.
  14. It should state explicitly that it's not acceptable for one person to crush another person’s Idea without giving a chance for a particular person to explain his/her opinion on why he/she said that particular thing.
  15. It should encourage experienced editors to act kindly and with good faith especially to newbie Wikimedians when they make some mistakes when they try their best to contribute to Wikimedia projects rather than harshly criticizing them without pinpointing the specific mistake and moreover showing intention to help resolving the situations.
  16. One of them said it should have heavy restrictions on any practice that will make other editors feel uncomfortable contributing to wiki projects or attending physical wiki events.
  17. Should urge people to think twice before they comment anything both in written orally forms of communication among Wikimedians.
  18. It should specifically consider to warmly welcome protect Wiki project newbies from being harshly attacked/criticized before they gain enough skills to contribute well in Wiki projects.
  19. It should have ability to demote abusive admins who violate rules and regulations and where possible ban them permanently.
  20. UCoC should clearly Educate people and define what do ‘‘Harassment real means especially in Wiki platforms contest’’ .When asked to elaborate more, the respondent said it obvious that people have a very little understanding of what harassment means and what are the things when done to somebody are considered harassment. She added that some people may have been harassed before and they have no Idea of what to do and perhaps they even don’t know that it was harassment.
  21. There should be a means of communication (phone number, email e.t.c) to a very specialized person/team that handles harassment related issues. According to the feedback provider, this will help people to directly report any abuse/harassment actions in a very convenient and fast way.
  22. There should be some form of FAQs (UCoC frequently asked questions with its answers ) to this UCoC to provide quick answers to common questions people might be in need of quick answers.
  23. There should be some sort of restrictions to people with abusive languages.When asked what kind of restrictions, the responder elaborated that people with abusive behaviour should be given contributing sanctions, such as no direct publish to their content until someone (trustful) approves their contributions.
  24. There should be a board that reviews regularly harassment related matters and provides resolutions in a timely manner.This is because if someone reports about harassment/abuse in 2020 and get answered about his/her case in 2021, definitely UCoC will be of no help as people will continue to fade away from contributing to WMF projects.
  25. UCoC should contain things that keeps the global volunteers community together
  26. Should be short and clear, should use simple language for people to clearly understand it (where possible translation to local languages should be done).
  27. UCoC in cooperation with local wikis should make sure it designs, improves and innovates new easy ways of raising awareness on accessibility of educational resources on how to properly contribute to Wikiprojects.
  28. There should be openness on What will happen to people who will happen to be seen committing harassment activities in Wikiprojects.


Qn:04 Which things you do not want to see in a UCoC.?[Vitu gani ambavyo kwa maoni yako unadhani VISIWEKWE kwenye huo Mwongozo?]


Below are things mentioned by the community members that they think should not be into UCoC.

  1. Any form of general policy that will cause cultural bias/ enforcement that makes interference with existing cultural belief to the particular community.
  2. UCoC should not expose people's personal identitiesshould not contain racism elements
  3. Any form of insult to all communities
  4. Should not have too much restriction to the extent that Wikimedians will see now its not possible to engage in contributing to Wiki projects.
  5. Should not have generalized social,cultural, religious conducts without taking proper reference and respect to the respective country/community moral values.
  6. It should not expose personal information on WHO did WHICH mistake. Even if someone commits a mistake, the specific committee should resolve it to give pardon room for the alleged person to correct him herself.
  7. It should not forbid people to give their constructive criticism for important topics which may seem to be misleading. Criticism should be looked carefully whether it's for good faith and for its for the benefit of improvement of wiki projects.
  8. No heavy robotic rules and regulations (not too much strict rules and regulation) for Wikimedians


 Qn:05 Do you have any general concern over UCoC and its implementation?
[Je, una swali, pendekezo, wazo, dukuduku, ushauri n.k kuhususiana na uanzishwaji wa Mwongozo huo ukizingatia ukizingatia hali ya mwenendo na maadili baina ya wachangiaji wa miradi ya Wikimedia Foundation? Jisikie huru kusema chochote.]


Here was a chance for people to express anything not limited to UCoC only but anything that has to do with WMF. Below are a few comments ‘‘quotes’’ from at least 4 people and the general comments the community gave generally concerning the WMF in relation to UCoC and its general process of implementation.

  1. ‘‘I really appreciate you calling me as some time I tend to be very busy and no time to read what is posted in social media groups’’
  2. ‘‘I didn’t expect someone to call me and ask my inputs about Wikipedia projects, Yes, I am a volunteer but didn’t think I can be personally consulted with anything concerning Wikipedia’’
  3. ‘‘Calling me made feel better, valued and recognized within the group’’
  4. ‘‘ I am in a group, but I am always shy to comment to things as I normally feel perhaps I can comment something that is irrelevant due to my little knowledge on Wikipedia things’’
  5. ‘‘I advise that there should be a regular checkup of community members as you did today because some people may have some queries or opinions but aren’t that open to comment things publicly
  6. WMF foundation should prepare a sample (demo) of UCoC so that community members can see in reality how it will be looking like along with its content.
  7. It is important to be there
  8. Congratulations to WMF to come up with this Idea
  9. WMF should have its general guidelines that govern its affiliate Organizational entities and it should not isolate itself with its affiliate but rather increase its support to these entities.
  10. WMF should come up with ways that motivates and recognizes Volunteers contribution to its projects
  11. WMF should widen the range of activities not only editing and adding contents to its projects, but it should as well support other indirect activities that bring Wikimedians together.
  12. 1 Person responded to this saying let's keep up editing Wiki projects and the rest 10 didn’t have anything to comment on this

Some of the General Quotes from the Community Members[hariri chanzo]

  1. ‘‘No, I never experienced any harassment in Wiki platforms’’
  2. ‘‘Yes, One guy answered me so harshly when I asked for some help about one of the Wiki related thing’’
  3. ‘‘I think it is a good thing but it should only not go against our standing, systems and our community beliefs’’
  4. ‘‘It will be helpful’’
  5. ‘‘Will help beginners to feel they are welcomed’’
  6. ‘‘I am not sure yet of what is this exactly’’
  7. ‘‘Will help us know the boundaries on how we should behave to our friends’’
  8. ‘‘I think it will reduce fear of people being dilemma whether they are doing a right thing or not’’
  9. ‘‘Should not limit people’’
  10. ‘‘Should have a filter to separate good and bad people’’
  11. ‘‘It link and reminder should be posted to every wiki project to remind people’’
  12. ‘‘Well, I think it will increase Swahili Contributors’’
  13. ‘‘‘Admins should not abruptly block people rather they should kindly advice people’’
  14. ‘‘No emotional bias’’
  15. ‘‘Should not be the source to discourage people from contributing’’
  16. ‘‘Will increase openness to contributors’’
  17. ‘‘No criticizing’’
  18. ‘‘Everywhere regulations are important’’