Author: Wikimedia Foundation

8 September 2021 — Today, the Wikimedia Foundation, the global nonprofit organization that supports Wikipedia and other free knowledge projects, announced six inaugural grants as part of the newly launched Knowledge Equity Fund, an effort to close knowledge gaps and address racial inequities in its projects. The first round of grants will be given to….

In an alternate, COVID-19-free universe, hundreds of Wikimedians — the community of volunteers who make Wikipedia and other free knowledge projects possible — would have gathered in Bangkok, Thailand, in August 2020 for the sixteenth annual Wikimania conference. They would have met in person, no social distancing to worry about, exploring sites like the Grand Palace, snacking….

February 4, 2021. Katherine Maher, the Chief Executive Officer of the Wikimedia Foundation, the global nonprofit that operates Wikipedia, will be leaving the organization in April. Under her leadership, Wikipedia attained its highest public trust in the institution’s history. Since becoming CEO in 2016, Katherine defined an expansive strategic direction for Wikimedia’s next decade, significantly….

February 2, 2021. The Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that administers Wikipedia, launched a first-of-its-kind Universal Code of Conduct that expands on the project’s existing policies to create a global set of community standards for addressing negative behavior on the site. More than 50% of the global population has access to the internet, an increase that….

14 January 2021 — Wikipedia, the world’s largest free online encyclopedia, turns 20 years old on 15 January. This birthday commemorates two decades of global efforts to support free knowledge, open collaboration, and trust on the internet. In a time when disinformation and polarization challenge our trust in information and institutions, Wikipedia is more relevant….

Update: Thanks to the generosity of Wikipedia donors, we were able to meet our goal of planting 400,000 trees! If you have not yet given to Wikipedia and are able to, we are grateful for your support. Visit donate.wikimedia.org to make a contribution. Timed with our 2020 end-of-year fundraising campaign on English Wikipedia, the Wikimedia….

Geneva, Switzerland, 22 October 2020 — The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that administers Wikipedia, announced today a collaboration to expand the public’s access to the latest and most reliable information about COVID-19. The collaboration will make trusted, public health information available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license at a….

For the third year in a row, Amazon has renewed its commitment to the Wikimedia Endowment, a permanent fund dedicated to ensuring the long-term future of Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia free knowledge projects. With this gift, Amazon reinforces the importance of ensuring people everywhere can create and share free knowledge.   With millions of students….

China yesterday blocked the Wikimedia Foundation’s application for observer status at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the United Nations (UN) organization that develops international treaties on copyright, IP, trademarks, patents and related issues. As a result of the block, the Foundation’s application for observer status has been suspended and will be reconsidered at a….

The Wikimedia Foundation is extremely concerned about the national security law recently passed in China and implemented in Hong Kong that prohibits a broad range of speech and grants wide-ranging surveillance powers to authorities. This law may have serious implications for protection of the privacy of users on Wikipedia and other projects operated by the….