The Global Digital Compact is a unique and pivotal opportunity to shape our digital world in a manner that advances the public interest and supports sustainable development for everyone, everywhere.
We, the signatories of this open letter, call on UN Member States to embrace a positive vision for the internet’s future that supports and empowers diverse communities everywhere to build and operate free and open knowledge projects. The Wikimedia projects, including Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, provide the world with the largest free and open, multilingual, intercultural, universally accessible repository of educational materials ever created. The volunteer-run Wikimedia projects have formed a community-led ecosystem that champions information integrity. They serve as digital public infrastructure for openly licensed, neutral, encyclopedic content in over 300 languages.
Wikipedia’s experience of over two decades has taught us that the internet needs to be open, global, interoperable, and inclusive in order to serve all of humanity. To that end, three essential commitments should be included in the text of the Global Digital Compact:
For more than two decades, volunteer communities contributing in the public interest to free and open knowledge projects such as Wikipedia, which is supported by the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation, have developed systems of self-governance for content curation and moderation. The purpose of these systems is to ensure that the information created and shared on the projects is reliable and well-sourced.
The current regulatory discussions often focus on challenges posed by for-profit, top-down models of digital governance, and do not sufficiently address the positive impact of public interest communities establishing participatory and collaborative models of self-governance. Community-governed online spaces empower contributors to improve the reliability of content in the public interest by designing context-appropriate policies and practices that emphasize values such as safety and inclusivity.
We believe that the Wikimedia projects are examples of such online spaces. Global free and open knowledge projects such as Wikipedia should not be rare: The international community should support, through public policy, funding, and other resources, a world where diverse online communities can build and govern their own public interest projects, designing them to be equitable and contributing to a healthier online information ecosystem.
As regulations for online environments evolve, we need to ensure these frameworks foster an internet where public interest projects thrive, and new spaces of cultural and educational exchange that are responsible, ethical, and inclusive can be born.
Wikipedia and other public interest projects that provide access to knowledge are a digital public good built on a robust digital commons. These projects support people’s access to verified and reliable information and expertise, thereby serving the public interest.
Digital public goods such as Wikipedia depend on a thriving public domain and online information ecosystem featuring free and openly licensed content.
Publicly funded information and knowledge should be made publicly available under a free and open license for everyone to use and reuse. The public domain should further be protected in the digital age by ensuring, for instance, that no new exclusive rights will be awarded for the digitization of existing works.
Platforms developing digital public goods like Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects also support multilingual and intercultural online spaces, which are key to developing inclusive online spaces and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
We believe that AI and ML tools can advance many of the SDGs when they enable people to access and verify knowledge. In fact, the Wikipedia community of volunteers has built and deployed ML systems for many years to assist the curation and moderation of reliable information. To serve the public interest, the risks that these tools can also bring must be balanced by developing them in accordance with international human rights standards. Participation in the development of these tools should be managed through transparent and open processes controlled by the communities that the tools are meant to assist. Ultimately, AI and ML systems can only be reliable if they are trained on well-sourced knowledge, created and moderated by humans who receive appropriate attribution for their contributions.
The full potential of the internet—enabling collaboration, broadening access to knowledge, and advancing social progress—depends on a united effort from governments, policymakers, and civil society to protect public interest spaces online.
The Global Digital Compact must safeguard the best of what the internet already offers: online communities working collaboratively, spaces that are protective of human rights, and platforms led by volunteers making digital public goods—including diverse, verifiable knowledge—accessible to everyone, everywhere.
Signatures
- Creative Commons
- Open Knowledge Foundation
- The Wikimedia Foundation
- Wiki Movimento Brasil
- Wikimedia Armenia
- Wikimedia Australia
- Wikimedia Chile
- Wikimedia Colombia
- Wikimedia Community User Group Uganda
- Wikimedia Czech Republic
- Wikimedia Deutschland
- Wikimedia España
- Wikimedia Europe
- Wikimedia Georgia
- Wikimedia Ghana User Group
- Wikimedia Italia
- Wikimedia México
- Wikimedia Netherlands
- Wikimedia Österreich
- Wikimedia Sverige
- Wikimedia UK
- Wikimedia User Group Nigeria
- Wikimedians of the Caribbean User Group
- Wikimedistas de Uruguay
*To sign the letter in your individual capacity, please complete this Google Form. For organizations wishing to sign, please get in touch with us at csciubbacaniglia@wikimedia.org. For details on how the information you share in this form will be handled, see this privacy statement.
Co-signatories
Number | Signature | Country | Organization |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Diego Hättenschwiler | Switzerland | |
2 | Matt Andrews | United States | |
3 | Vanj Padilla | Philippines | Shared Knowledge Asia Pacific |
4 | Rachmat Wahidi | Indonesia | Wikimedia Indonesia |
5 | Tila Cappelletto | Brazil | Wikimedia Foundation and Wiki Editoras Lx |
6 | Joydeep Sengupta | Germany | |
7 | Kyle Vu | United States | |
8 | Bernardo Oliveira | Portugal | |
9 | Nurul Rifqah Fahira | Indonesia | |
10 | Kanyadibya Prasetyo | Indonesia | Wikimedia Indonesia |
11 | Nadia Hanessian | Switzerland | |
12 | Dr. Ziko van Dijk | Netherlands | Klexikon |
13 | Tim Sandgren | Sweden | |
14 | Nikolai | ||
15 | Fachria Marasabessy | Indonesia | Universitas Terbuka |
16 | Bita Babolian | Iran | |
17 | Stefan Cibian | Romania | Fagaras Research Institute |
18 | Mukul Pandya | United States | |
19 | John Gorrell | ||
20 | Andrea Guzman | Switzerland | Public Health – Johns Hopkins |
21 | Erika Martinez | Colombia | |
22 | Laura Abril | Colombia | |
23 | RonRitchie | United States | |
24 | Marissa Strniste | ||
25 | Nicolás Bautista Duarte | Canada | |
26 | Janice Dean | ||
27 | Ángela Duarte | Canada | |
28 | Nate Angell | United States | Nudgital |
29 | Jorge Pulecio | Colombia | Fundación Amazonia y Vida |
30 | Sam Tagg | United States | Writer |
31 | Daniel Guzman | United States | |
32 | José Ignacio Jiménez | United States | |
33 | Gonzalo Sánchez-Gómez | Colombia | |
34 | Emelie Rivard-Boudreau | Canada | Wikiclub Croissant boréal |
35 | Joshua Levens | United States | |
36 | Ignacio guillen | Colombia | |
37 | Henrique Neiva | Brazil | Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte – UFRN |
38 | Juliana Gordillo | Colombia | |
39 | Richard Nevell | United Kingdom | Wikimedia UK and the University of Exeter |
40 | Elizabeth Spica | United States | Open Counsel, LLC |
41 | Nelly Duarte | ||
42 | Silvia Gutiérrez | Mexico | Wikimedia Foundation |
43 | Valério Melo | Brazil | Wiki Movimento Brasil |
44 | Martha Duarte | ||
45 | Anamaria Nieto | Colombia | |
46 | Maria Eduarda Rodrigues | ||
47 | Juan Dimey | ||
48 | Andreas Mitchell | ||
49 | AM Trépanier | Canada | Cinémathèque québécoise |
50 | Dianne Skelton | New Zealand | Wikimedia Aotearoa New Zealand |
51 | Adriana Rosell | Colombia | |
52 | Marcus Vinícius Pereira da Silva | Brazil | Fundação Oswaldo Cruz |
53 | Anna Tumadóttir | United States | Creative Commons |
54 | Divine Nanteza | Uganda | Wikimedia Community Usergroup Uganda |
55 | Maria Duarte | United States | University of California, San Francisco |
56 | Isaac Looremeta | Kenya | Carnegie Mellon University |
57 | Francisco Barreto | Colombia | De acuerdo |
58 | Shuhada Rosdi | ||
59 | Ismael Olea | Spain | |
60 | Adriana Sandoval | Spain | |
61 | Claudia Arroyave O’Brien | United States | |
62 | Luz Esperanza Duarte Ortega | Colombia | |
63 | Juan Duarte | ||
64 | Monica Bonilla | Colombia | Wikimedia Colombia |
65 | Juanita Vargas | Colombia | |
66 | Osvaldo Larancuent | Dominican Republic | ISOC Chapter Dominican Republic |
67 | Juan Camilo Sandoval | Colombia | |
68 | Irvin Sto. Tomas | Philippines | Bikol Wikipedia Community |
69 | Nora Rodriguez | Colombia | |
70 | Maffeth Opiana-Sto.Tomas | Philippines | PhilWiki Community |
71 | Cesario Errico | United States | |
72 | Margot Albin | United States | |
73 | Francesco Roveto | ||
74 | Luis Jimenez | ||
75 | Laura Ines Oliveros | Colombia | |
76 | Sara Hilarión Díaz | Colombia | |
77 | Soha Eshraghi | United States | Citi |
78 | Tara Das | United States | |
79 | Everett Palet | United States | |
80 | Laura Rodríguez | Colombia | |
81 | César Mendoza | Mexico | |
82 | Max Goldman | United States | |
83 | Taufik Rosman | Malaysia | Wikimedia Community User Group Malaysia |
84 | Baluku Brian | Uganda | Wikimedia Community User Group Uganda |
85 | Jurina Jonimin | Malaysia | WMCUG |
86 | Idd Ninga | Tanzania | Dunia Salama Foundation |
87 | Macholi Chris Benard | Uganda | Wikimedia Community User Group Uganda |
88 | Muhammad Rifqi Saifudin | Indonesia | |
89 | Arthur Picerna | France | |
90 | Ahmad Wafiq Aqil Bin Kamarul | Malaysia | Wikimedia Community User Group Malaysia |
91 | Laura James | United Kingdom | |
92 | Libby Cummings | United States | |
93 | Eliana Quiroz | Bolivia | |
94 | Maria Paulina Jaramillo | Colombia | |
95 | Jake Orlowitz | United States | WikiBlueprint |
96 | Victoria Kure-Wu | Germany | |
97 | Erwin Sentausa | France | Wikimedia Indonesia |
98 | Peter Suber | United States | Senior Advisor on Open Access, Harvard Library |
99 | Wilfredo Rafael Rodriguez Hernandez | Canada | Wikimedia Canada |
100 | Barbara Miller | United States | |
101 | Kamila Součková | Switzerland | |
102 | Pablo Corredor | Colombia | |
103 | Arshak Shahenyan | Armenia | Wikimedia Armenia |
104 | Martin Adalberto Tena Espinoza de los Monteros | Mexico | Universidad de Guadalajara |
105 | Isaac Lopez | ||
106 | Deoband Community Wikimedia | India | |
107 | Christine Plote | Germany | |
108 | Stephen Dakyi | Ghana | Wiki Green Initiatives |
109 | Vladimir Cortés | Mexico | |
110 | Adhmi Fauzan | Indonesia | |
111 | Éder Porto | Brazil | Wiki Movimento Brasil |
112 | Maria Rojas | Colombia | |
113 | Huaira Foundation | Ecuador | Huaira Foundation |
114 | Siggi Weide | Germany | webgrrls Deutschland e. V. |
115 | Jenny Ebermann (Wikimedia CH CEO) | Switzerland | Wikimedia CH |
116 | Ulrich Lantermann | Switzerland | Wikimedia CH |
117 | Michael Granitzer | Germany | |
118 | Isla Haddow-Flood | South Africa | Wiki In Africa |
119 | Florence Devouard (representing Wiki In Africa) | South Africa | Wiki In Africa |
120 | Wikimedia Colombia | Colombia | Wikimedia Colombia |
121 | Correl Moris | Malaysia | Kent Wiki Club |
122 | Jilorisa John | Malaysia | Kent Wiki Club |
123 | Pilar de la Prieta | Spain | Wikimedia España |
124 | Michael West | United Kingdom | |
125 | Andy Mabbett, FRSA | United Kingdom | Wikimedian |
126 | Jane Daniels | United Kingdom | Amgueddfa Torfaen Museum |
127 | Patrick Snyder | ||
128 | Bernardo García Quiroga | Colombia | |
129 | Maria Clara Ortiz Karam | Colombia | |
130 | Hardiansyah | Indonesia | |
131 | Olga Spingou | Greece | |
132 | Martin Poulter | United Kingdom | Wikimedian |
133 | Sandra Aceng | Uganda | Wikimedia Community Usergroup Uganda |
134 | Dr Anita Hall | United Kingdom | |
135 | Jeni Merino | United States | |
136 | Teresa MacKinnon | United Kingdom | Honorary Life Member of Association for Learning Technology |
137 | Andi Inácio | Brazil | WikiMulheres+ | Wiki Movimento Brasil |
138 | MJ Deery | United States | |
139 | Nikolas Becker | Germany | |
140 | Pedro Moreno Chaves | Colombia | |
141 | Kyung Sin Park | South Korea | Korea University | Open Net Korea |
142 | Geoffrey Kateregga | Uganda | Wikimedia Community User Group Uganda |
143 | Leanne Ritchie | United States | |
144 | Fraser Morgan | United Kingdom | |
145 | Luciana Brito | Brazil | Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro |
146 | Aviv Sapire | Israel | |
147 | Alek Tarkowski | Poland | Open Future Foundation |
148 | Daniela Branson | ||
149 | Donatien K. Koffi | Ivory Coast | Wikimedia Community User Group Côte d’Ivoire |
150 | Diana Betzler | ||
151 | Emily Bandeira | Brazil | Boca Language Justice |
152 | Lorna M. Campbell | United Kingdom | |
153 | Bernhard René Wallisch | Austria | |
154 | Maria Fernanda De Brasdefer | Mexico | IFLA |
155 | Filippo Catania | Italy | |
156 | Curt Newton | United States | MIT OpenCourseWare |
157 | Dimitar Dinev | Bulgaria | |
158 | Mukesh Baniya | India | |
159 | Samer Afhad | Portugal | |
160 | Anthony B Dixon | American Samoa | |
161 | Tracy Clay | United States | |
162 | Wendy Arenas | Colombia | |
163 | Tanakorn Sensunon | Thailand | |
164 | Nasri Nasir | Malaysia | Wikimedia Community User Group Malaysia |
165 | Sherry Antoine | United States | Wikimedians of the Caribbean and AfroCROWD |
166 | Lu Klunder | Mexico | |
167 | Robin Hicks | United States | |
168 | Ezequiel Lopez | Argentina | |
169 | Laura Arosa | Colombia | Universidad Nacional de Colombia |
170 | Dwayne Perrault | Canada | Administrator |
171 | Ahaan Chaudhuri | India | |
172 | Odoh Cosmas | Nigeria | |
173 | Andrea Merrill | United States | |
174 | José Gama | Portugal | |
175 | Katherine Townsend | United States | World Wide Web Foundation |
176 | Alfred Hendrix | United States | |
177 | Marco Chemello | Italy | |
178 | Juan Dimey | ||
179 | Filip Kramec | Czech Republic | Brno University of Technology |
180 | Cooper White | New Zealand | |
181 | Sinan Baytar | Turkey | |
182 | Nico Mathuse | Austria | |
183 | Rasmus Giesel | Germany | MOR Design |
184 | Jan Soons | Belgium | |
185 | Noël Hardenne | Belgium | |
186 | César Alcántara | ||
187 | Eric De Groote | Belgium | |
188 | Jean Higgins | Ireland | |
189 | Carmen Johnson | Benin | |
190 | Kao Her | Albania | |
191 | Rajneesh Kumar | India | |
192 | Tom Hutcherson | United States | |
193 | Jiří Špaček | Czech Republic | |
194 | David Phoenix | United States | |
195 | Archie Miles | United States | |
196 | Vanthuy Gwynn | United States | Retiree |
197 | Jill Godmilow | United States | Filmmaker, retired professor at University of Notre Dame |
198 | Samaya Anjum | Bangladesh | Global Network Initiative |
199 | Jaime Sparr | United States | |
200 | Felipe Pacheco de Lima Oliveira | Brazil | |
201 | Takeshi Koyama | Japan |