Wikimedia Foundation Board noticeboard/Global trends and strengthening Wikipedia’s neutral point of view

This message, "Global trends and strengthening Wikipedia’s neutral point of view", was sent by Nataliia Tymkiv on 27 March 2025.

Global trends and strengthening Wikipedia’s neutral point of view

Dear all,

Maryana and I wanted to draw your attention to this Diff post from the Wikimedia Foundation. It reflects work that has been done – beginning in 2022 – to identify the global trends that the Foundation and our movement as a whole need to address in asking what the world most needs from us now.

To support the Wikimedia communities and reaffirm our commitment to neutrality, the Wikimedia Foundation will convene a working group of active editors, Trustees, researchers, and advisors to explore recommendations for common standards for policies on neutral point of view (NPOV) for the Wikimedia projects that can protect Wikipedia, increase the integrity of all projects, and equip the volunteers trusted to administer these policies with more support.

There is more information below and ways for how to contribute. You can also find this information on Meta.

Global trends

This year, one of the global trends that has generated significant conversation within and beyond the Wikimedia movement relates to neutrality: how trust in information online is declining and a fragmentation of consensus about what information is true. Some believe that the world has become more complex, and people are more divided than ever. As threats to neutrality appear to be on the rise globally, NPOV policy is needed now more than ever. This core principle has served Wikipedia extremely well, and has become even stronger over nearly a quarter century of volunteer contributions.

How this principle of neutrality translates into NPOV policy varies across the Wikimedia projects, highlighting an opportunity for communities to learn from each other; and to explore whether common global standards for neutrality can better protect the projects (and volunteers) in an environment of expanded threats and growing regulation.

Like all policies, NPOV has been refined over 24 years with thousands of inputs across hundreds of languages. Throughout this evolutionary process of community discussion, the neutral point of view principle and its application remains fundamental to our model.

NPOV policies

A cursory review of NPOV policies across different language editions of Wikipedia at a recent community workshop revealed variations, inconsistencies, and many opportunities for the different Wikimedia projects to learn from each other. Users with extended rights, those trusted by their communities with administering NPOV policies, described the challenges they face when these policies are unclear or underdeveloped in some languages or projects.

As public trust in news sources declines, editors face evolving challenges in representing views from reliable sources fairly, proportionately, and without editorial bias. As you know well, Wikipedia’s integrity – especially on evolving and contentious topics – is safeguarded by robust community governance processes, for example, a policy on dispute resolution on English Wikipedia (e.g., discussion protocols, oversight mechanisms, dispute resolution channels) that prioritise a fair and balanced approach. These well-documented standards are specifically designed to prevent undue influence and preserve an independent, nonprofit model that exists nowhere else at this scale. We have seen time and time again that volunteers have a strong track record of successfully managing neutrality on contentious subjects.

Stronger community-led content moderation policies that are enforced primarily by local communities protect Wikimedia projects and Wikimedians alike.

Working group on global common standards

To support these essential self-governance mechanisms, this working group will ask how more common standards for NPOV policies between Wikimedia projects can protect and improve the projects and support volunteers, building on the careful consideration that developed NPOV policies over the past two decades. The intent of the working group will be to facilitate knowledge sharing about community-led policies that have made Wikipedia a highly trusted resource around the world. This will incorporate feedback from work already underway to establish policies and that reflects values shared by the global Wikimedia community.

An initial set of recommendations, focused first on Wikipedia language editions, will be presented to the Wikimedia Foundation’s Board of Trustees at the upcoming June 2025 meeting, alongside approval of the Foundation’s plan and budget.

This needs all of us together

The world’s reliance on Wikipedia (and Wikimedia as a whole) continues to grow – from AI chatbots to search engines to voice assistants to content reusers across the internet. At a time when we are used (and needed!) more than ever, we must reinforce our core principles and sustain our shared values. Strengthening Wikipedia’s neutrality will make it even more trusted to deliver the content that billions of people rely on around the world.

Contributions are welcomed by all who care about these topics within and beyond the Wikimedia movement, on this dedicated Meta page or as part of the Foundation’s annual planning conversations.

Thank you all, Nat Tymkiv, Board Chair

Maryana Iskander, CEO

Links:

Best regards, antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees