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Open letter of support for Les sans pagEs/ast

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As representatives of affiliates and organisations across the Wikimedia Movement, we were united in joy to see the project and affiliate Les sans pagEs able to secure funding to professionalise their work and hire Natacha Rault (Nattes à chat, Natacha LSP) as directrice exécutive (executive director) to continue their own, longstanding and notable work on countering systemic bias professionally on Wikipedia and beyond.

Since that announcement, however, we have watched on with concern to see the reaction from some editors on the French Wikipedia, where Natacha and Les sans pagEs have been subject to continual bad-faith argument on the project’s talk page, on the administrators’ bulletin and on Le Bistro and a formal RFC — including calls for the disestablishment of the project on the basis of concerns around Conflicts of interest and Paid editing.

We are also concerned that some of these arguments appear to be made by editors who do not see the value in making the French Wikipedia more representative of the world, rather than just the accomplishments of a minority of its citizens, and who do not recognise that Les sans pagEs, like all affiliates working to create content, do so in line with guidelines on Notability and Reliable sources.

Nobody should be expected to have their very existence debated and attacked like this when starting a new job, especially when neither paid administrators nor Wikimedians in Residence are new concepts to the Movement. It is simply untrue to suggest that Natacha will be performing “paid editing”; as Les sans pagEs described in their announcement, “their role will be to continue and amplify the project, to structure the movement and continue training and raising awareness”.

We note that the Universal Code of Conduct states that:

In line with the Wikimedia mission, all who participate in Wikimedia projects and spaces will:

  • Help create a world in which everyone can freely share in the sum of all knowledge
  • Be part of a global community that will avoid bias and prejudice, and
  • Strive towards accuracy and verifiability in all its work

And reminds us all that we strive towards

Civility, collegiality, mutual support and good citizenship.

On several Wikipedia editions we recognise that minoritised communities are under-represented in our contents — and in mainstream sources in general, as the Art+Feminism project Unreliable guidelines has shown. The work that Les sans pagEs does to ensure that the French Wikipedia moves towards better representing human history and humanity’s accomplishments is so clearly important that it is one of similar projects across 32 language instances.

Together, as representatives of other Affiliates and organisations we would like to make this formal statement:

  1. Congratulating Les sans pagEs — and everyone involved in the project — on professionalising and being able to hire full-time support;
  2. Congratulating Natacha personally and wishing them good luck in their new role as directrice exécutive, as well as offering our support from across the Wikimedia Movement; and
  3. Condemning the hostile reception this announcement has seen, including the harassment that Natacha and Les sans pagEs have seen from some editors.

We look forward to Natacha and Les sans pagEs being able to concentrate on their important work to create a better, more complete French-language encyclopædia, more representative of different perspectives and lived experiences, instead of having to defend their work against baseless accusations of malpractice.

Signed,

  1. Owen Blacker, para el Grupo de usuarios Wikimedia LGBT+
  2. Mermoze Adodo, cofundadora del Grupo de usuarios Wikimedistas de Benín
  3. Carmen Alcázar, fundadora de Editatona
  4. Liliana Alviárez, miembra del Grupo de usuarios Wikiesfera
  5. Anja, administradora en la Wikipedia francohablante
  6. Sherry Antoine, AfroCROWD
  7. Roger Bamkin, cofundador de Women in Red
  8. Mathis Benguigui
  9. Amber Berson, Art+Feminism y coautora Directrices poco fiables
  10. René Bile, entrenador, Grupo de usuarios Wikimedistas de Camerún
  11. Z. Blace, Grupo de usuarios Wikimedia CEE Spring
  12. Ana Bragança, cofundadora de Wiki Editoras Lx
  13. Camelia Boban, Grupo de usuarios WikiDonne
  14. Ester Bonet, coordinadora de ViquidonesUPF
  15. Ciell, administradora en la Wikipedia neerlandohablante y cofundadora del WikiProyecto Dutch Gendergap WikiProject
  16. Contaminadas, cofundadora de Wiki Editoras Lx
  17. Miguel Alan Córdova Silva (MiguelAlanCS), miembre de Wikimedia España y el Grupo de usuarios Wikimedia LGBT+
  18. Rute Correia, miembra de Wiki Editoras Lx
  19. Lucy Crompton-Reid, Wikimedia UK
  20. Florence Devouard, Wiki en África
  21. Anthony Diaz, cofundador of Wiki Advocates Filipinas
  22. Flavia Doria, Wiki Editoras Lx y Grupo de Trabajo de Desarrollo de Liderazgo
  23. Rhonda D’Vine, comunidad de código abierto
  24. Jenny Ebermann, Wikimedia CH
  25. Freddy eduardo, miembro de Wikimedistas de Ecuador
  26. Aurore Evain, realizadora y historiadora del teatro
  27. Eliane, miembra de Wikifranca
  28. Pete Forsyth, fundador de Wiki Strategies, antiguo redactor jefe, The Signpost
  29. Laureline Gaudens, Noircir Wikipédia
  30. Ivonne Gonzalez, Noircir Wikipédia
  31. Matej Grochal, en representación de Wikipedistas de Eslovaquia
  32. Celia Hernández, miembra del Grupo de usuarios Wikiesfera
  33. Patricia Horrillo, fundadora del Grupo de usuarios Wikiesfera
  34. Elena Ibáñez, miembra del Grupo de usuarios Wikiesfera
  35. Andrea Patricia Kleiman, presidenta de Muj(lh)eres latinoamericanas en Wikimedia
  36. Dominique Labar, Wikimedia Bélgica
  37. Lucas Lévêque, administrador en el Wikcionario francohablante y miembro de Wikimedia Francia
  38. Gaëlle Matata
  39. Flor Méchain, Wikimedia CH
  40. Quetzally Medina, miembra de Editatona
  41. Michael David Miller (@BiblioQC), bibliotecario académico y miembro del consejo de administración Wikimedia Canadá y WikiFranca
  42. Lucy Moore, Wikimedista británica del año 2022
  43. Jonathan Mouton, en representación del consejo de administración de Wikimedia Francia
  44. Eliza Myrie, Black Lunch Table Wikimedians
  45. Marina Nistal, miembra del Grupo de usuarios Wikiesfera
  46. Ayokanmi Oyeyemi, tuto en Wiki para Derechos Humanos Nigeria
  47. Olga Paredes
  48. Ian Pigott, miembro activo de Women in Red
  49. Lane Rasberry, Red de intercambio de Wikipedistas en residencia
  50. Carole Renard, miembro del consejo de administración de Wikimedia Francia
  51. Roberte la Rousse
  52. John Samuel
  53. María Sefidari
  54. Anasuya Sengupta, para Whose Knowledge?
  55. Mar Sevillano, miembra del Grupo de usuarios Wikiesfera
  56. Vic Sfriso, programa de Comunidad en Wikimedia Argentina
  57. Skimel, contributador a la Wikipedia francohablante
  58. Slowking4, miembro Wikimedia DC
  59. Tania Solá, Editatona
  60. Melissa Tamani, co-organizadora principal de Art+Feminism
  61. Cédric Tarbouriech, administrador en el Wikcionario francohablante y miembro del consejo de administración de Wikimedia Francia
  62. Geert Van Pamel, Wikimedia Bélgica
  63. María Fernanda Veloz Castillo, Editatona
  64. Paulina Villalobos Torres, miembra de Editatona
  65. Kira Wisniewski, Art+Feminism
  66. Yug, LinguaLibre
  67. Isabel Zapico, miembra del Grupo de usuarios Wikiesfera