ItWikiCon/2023/Programma/Temi/Rischi per i volontari/Report/en

This is a summary of what was discussed during the session. It includes general thoughts and potential actions.

Anonymity

Anonymity and usernames.

Users find anonymity necessary to protect themselves from external threats that could potentially influence them.
Unfortunately, it might enable improper behaviours, which are however sanctioned by internal guidelines
Allows to protect the encyclopedia: if your name and surname are not known, it is not possible to leverage personal information to influence users
Basic rule: one account = one person
Secondary users (licit sockpuppets) are allowed but strictly regulated
The MediaWiki infrastructure is designed to protect anonymity - the weak link are the people

Legal threats and charges - especially for legitimate edits
Personal appeals from the outside - from "could you explain me why my article was deleted?" to more serious interventions
Consequences on personal life
Letters and phone calls from lawyers and similar
Harassment by vandals - not necessarily only online
Doxxing
Attempts of hostile takeover from pressure groups
Impact on the working life - loss of customers or jobs, damaged reputation, censorship and suspension from professional orders
Psychological pressures on administrators

Try to reduce the exposure, choosing more quiet topics or projects if you don't feel up to it
Wikipedia internal policies are adequate, there is no need to change them
More support is needed from Wikimedia Foundation (and Trust & Safety in particular)
The legislative framework is also highly inadequate (but there isn't much we can do about it)
Certainty to have the free legal support from the Foundation
Minimize data collection - more anonymity is needed
Discussions as public and participatory as possible
Insurance for volunteers
- WMI could provide that, but at the price of losing the anonymity
- discounted rates are also needed, if possible
- the choice would only be personal and not mandatory
Raise awareness on the large public on the big cases (people who sue us for 500k or 20m euros)
Keeping at hand a legitimate secondary user that can provide more anonymity than the main one
Greater awareness for new administrators, guidelines and warnings from the veterans
Paid staff to support VRT?
A special reporting address, which gives the impression that we recognize the urgency of the communication
Greater sense of community among us; the support among volunteers is essential when something bad happens so we don't feel alone
- Maybe more channels and/or events between us to meet and strengthen the community