Movement Charter/Introduction
| This was a historical draft of the Wikimedia Movement Charter. The latest version of the Charter that is up for a global ratification vote from June 25 to July 9, 2024 is available in the main Meta page. We thank the stakeholders of the Wikimedia movement for their feedback and insights in producing this draft. |
The Wikimedia Movement is an international, sociocultural movement, whose mission is to bring free knowledge to the whole world. The Wikimedia Movement Charter (“the Charter”) states the values, rights, relationships, and mutual responsibilities of all participants in the shared mission of this movement. The Charter applies to all individual and institutional participants, movement entities, projects, and online and offline spaces officially associated with the Wikimedia Movement.
By defining the Wikimedia Movement and its values, the Charter aims to make it easier for movement stakeholders to collaborate with each other. This will help:
- provide a sense of belonging,
- produce shared strategy for growth, expansion, and future possibilities to secure continued creation and availability of free knowledge,
- safeguard donor rights, and financial interests of the movement,
- guide decision-making, and
- reduce conflict between movement stakeholders.
The Charter may be amended if needed, according to the Amendment section.
Values
The Wikimedia Movement embraces a factual, verifiable, open, and inclusive approach to knowledge. It is guided by shared values that guide all our actions. All decision-making needs to reflect these shared values. As a practice, it is important for the movement to balance the values in order to fulfill the fundamental mission and empower Wikimedia participants globally.
The values include the ones already present at our origin and extend to those that are necessary to develop for our future. These values recognize sharing of knowledge as a deeply collaborative endeavor.
Free knowledge
The Wikimedia Movement uses open licensing to share all content it produces, all its software, and access to all its platforms. Some external content is also included under varied licenses. It commits to deepening its mission by expanding the realms of free knowledge and by integrating new and evolving forms of capturing and sharing knowledge as well as a growing diversity of content.
Autonomy
The Wikimedia Movement strives to operate independently, guided by its free knowledge mission, and not obstructed by bias or favoritism. The movement refuses to compromise its mission in response to commercial, political, other monetary, or promotional influences.
Subsidiarity and self-organization
The Wikimedia Movement entrusts decisions to the most immediate or the lowest possible level of participation, starting with its base of volunteers. Online and offline communities across the world should generally make decisions for themselves, through the principle of subsidiarity. Supporting self-governance and the capability to be autonomous are crucial aspects of the global movement values.
Equity
The Wikimedia Movement recognizes the diverse challenges to knowledge equity that many free knowledge communities face and strives to empower them to overcome historical, social, political, and other forms of inequality and misrepresentation. The movement takes active measures to promote and achieve equity in knowledge, and establishes provisions to allocate resources through decentralized governance and community empowerment.
Inclusivity
The Wikimedia projects are developed in many languages, reflecting many regions and cultures. Mutual respect for the diversity of the movement participants forms the basis of all activities, and is enforced through measures to support safety and inclusion. The Wikimedia Movement is committed to provide a diverse common space, where everyone who shares in the mission and values can participate and co-create with others under a people-centered vision. This inclusive space promotes accessibility through assistive technology for diverse special needs.
Safety
The Wikimedia Movement prioritizes the well-being, security, and privacy of its participants. It ensures a safe environment that fosters diversity, inclusion, equity, and partnerships, which are necessary for participation in free knowledge in the online information ecosystem. It is a priority to ensure safety in both online and offline spaces. This priority is advanced through the implementation and enforcement of comprehensive codes of conduct, and the investment of resources necessary to support these activities.
Accountability
The Wikimedia Movement holds itself accountable through community leadership as represented within Wikimedia projects and Movement Bodies. This is implemented through transparent decision-making, dialogue, public notice, reporting of activities, and upholding a Care Responsibility.
Resilience
The Wikimedia Movement thrives through innovation and experimentation, and constantly renews its vision of what a free knowledge platform can be. The movement pursues effective strategies and practices, and uses meaningful metrics-based evidence to support and drive them where possible.