Most of them are from the Chinese mainland, with others from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the island of Taiwan, who are all 'not anti-Beijing.'Īfter the exclusion of these users, there will be hardly any administrators or bureaucrats who can give a verdict when there is a disagreement within the user community on Chinese language Wikipedia that is willing to 'take on' those 'anti-China' editors, said the insider. The insider pointed out what is left unmentioned in the foundation's notice - the vast majority of Wikipedia editors affected in the action are pro-Beijing or 'okay-with-Beijing' and often side with the mainland community. The Wikimedia Foundation said in a notice Monday that it had banned seven users and removed the administrative rights of 12 others for 'infiltration concerns' after 'long and deep investigations' into activities surrounding some members of the group. The WMC will release a second open letter soon to further elaborate the impact the action has made to the whole Chinese Wikipedia community and how the foundation's 'well-calculated suppression' of mainland editors had been nurtured by anti-China forces, following the first letter issued on Wednesday, said the insider. The Wikimedians of Mainland China (WMC), a Wikipedia-editing enthusiast group from the Chinese mainland, hit back against the Wikimedia Foundation after a number of the group's leading members were banned or deprived of administrative rights by the foundation.Īn insider of the volunteer-led group, who requested to be anonymous, told the Global Times on Thursday that the 'office action' of the foundation has 'significantly changed' the 'political landscape' of Chinese language Wikipedia, and 'hugely impaired' the neutrality of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that is edited by volunteers and hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation.

Wmc guide 2020