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FAQ

The Wikimedia Movement (“the movement”) is focused on the collaborative creation, curation, and expansion of the global availability of free knowledge. The movement consists of: editors, participants, projects, affiliates, hubs, technical spaces, the Wikimedia Foundation, and other current and future entities.

The Wikimedia Movement Charter (“the charter”) exists to define the Wikimedia Movement, its fundamental values, and its principles. It is a formal agreement explaining the relationships between all stakeholders in the movement, and their rights and responsibilities. This applies equally to both existing entities and others created in the future.

The Charter was prepared by community members from many countries, coming from various Wikimedia projects. Community consensus for the Charter is obtained in a formal ratification process. It applies across the movement. The Movement Charter applies to all participants, entities and technical spaces within the Wikimedia Movement. It also applies to off-wiki spaces officially associated with movement entities.

Within the movement are a wide range of openly editable informational websites (“the projects”) in multiple languages with different focuses. The projects are largely self-governed, with respect to content creation, content management, and community conduct. Some aspects are not handled under self-governance, but are handled by different bodies where clearly unworkable at a local level. These bodies include, but are not limited to: projects as a whole; the movement; the Wikimedia Foundation; and the Global Council. Each body should operate at the level closest to the participants, when possible. The movement also includes both formal and informal groups focused on specific topics or geographic regions. The role of these groups is to support the projects directly and indirectly.

Supplementing the projects and groups is a comprehensive infrastructure with several roles, including but not limited to:

• Supporting the technical needs of the movement and the readers of its content, provided by:
  • The Wikimedia Foundation
  • Interested affiliates
  • Grantees and contractors who work on specific technical projects
  • Volunteer developers, who work on MediaWiki extensions, scripts for local projects, support for global projects
  • Specialized technical support software (e.g., Phabricator)
  • External providers (e.g., GitHub)

• Providing financial and other resources for ongoing development and retention of knowledge, including:
  • Fundraising by the WMF, the Wikimedia Endowment, Wikimedia Enterprise, and affiliates. This also includes seeking, receiving, and managing grants and contracts from third parties
  • Support for skills development and capacity building, provided by the Wikimedia Foundation, affiliates, informal groups, and volunteers within projects
  • Policies, procedures and guidelines that apply to individual affiliates, managed by the affiliates, their staff and their volunteers (including Board members, if applicable)

• Furthering of a safe and productive environment in which knowledge can be shared and consumed, where it is not feasible for a local project to do so itself, including:
  • Policies, procedures and guidelines that apply globally, managed by the global community and the Wikimedia Foundation
  • Policies, procedures and guidelines that apply to individual projects, managed by the projects and their volunteers
  • Processes that support user and participant safety, through technical and human resources
  • Legal support for individual users, and liaison with local affiliates
  • Advocating for legal and regulatory changes that provide greater and safer access to free knowledge

The infrastructure support is restricted by limitations external to the movement. Simultaneously, the support must align with the internal values and resources of the movement.