Community Advocacy / Support and Safety

[Kingsindian]

A thread to track this department.
------------------
I am not clear about many things, so the following post is just to organize my thoughts.

Legal and Community Advocacy was created in February 2012. According to the announcement, it was a spin-off from the team of the Chief Community Officer, Zack Exley (incidently working for the Bernie Sanders campaign now), who apparently proposed this reorganization.

Originally it was headed by Philippe Beaudette, who was the head of something called "Reader Relations", which was part of Exley's team (I think). As to its vision, from the FAQ when it was created:

Do you now officially (legally) represent the community?
No. The Legal and Community Advocacy team will be promoting and advocating community interests consistent with WMF goals and strategy. For legal ethical reasons, the team can only represent the Foundation as its sole client; technically speaking, the team cannot legally represent the community or its members.

Philippe Beaudette resigned in September 2015 due to "health issues" (he joined reddit recently). Community Advocacy was renamed to "Support and Safety" in January 2016. Currently, it has 7 staff and is headed by Maggie Dennis.

According to Andreas here:

Frankly, my feeling has always been that setting up the Legal and Community Advocacy Department was less about being advocates for the community in dealings with the WMF, and much more an expedient designed to enable the Foundation to do political advocacy like the January 2012 SOPA protest in the name of the community.

That's it for now, I'll add more later.

[mendaliv]

It was probably a good idea to roll community advocacy (whatever the hell they do) into legal. The main change seemed to be that Beaudette would from then on be reporting directly to legal. Considering they were fielding a lot of what were at least tangentially issues for legal to decide on, direct supervision by legal of those tasks is probably smart.

I don't think it has much to do with lobbying, though it's clearly within their bailiwick, and certainly any lobbying they do would need legal' okay (i.e. to ensure it doesn't risk any strategic plan objectives). More than anything it's probably about vetting advocacy actions legally. Basically making sure they don't do something unacceptably dumb (cue jokes here). The rolling of safe space enforcement into that is logical as well, considering there are legal implications for a lot of what that entails.

[Kingsindian]

Quarterly reviews of various departments. It looks like Community Advocacy has only been involved in the past year and a half.

[Kumioko]

It was probably a good idea to roll community advocacy (whatever the hell they do) into legal. The main change seemed to be that Beaudette would from then on be reporting directly to legal. Considering they were fielding a lot of what were at least tangentially issues for legal to decide on, direct supervision by legal of those tasks is probably smart.

I don't think it has much to do with lobbying, though it's clearly within their bailiwick, and certainly any lobbying they do would need legal' okay (i.e. to ensure it doesn't risk any strategic plan objectives). More than anything it's probably about vetting advocacy actions legally. Basically making sure they don't do something unacceptably dumb (cue jokes here). The rolling of safe space enforcement into that is logical as well, considering there are legal implications for a lot of what that entails.

The only problem I have is who are they supporting the safety of? It's not the community in any active sense.

Sure they do occasionally ban a couple people a year who might be problematic but is that really enough to justify a staff of 7, plus more time from legal, plus probably comment by others?

These folks should be doing a lot more than they do with a lot less. They should be supporting the community in desysopping some of the bad admins and making the editing environment safer and less toxic by purging some of the most problematic shitheads like HighinBC (T-C-L), Floquenbeam (T-C-L) and RJ0060 (T-C-L) to name a few.

If they can get rid of some of these abusive trolls they have in leadership positions on the site a lot of the other problematic ones will either leave the site or stop acting like assholes.

[tarantino]

There's a new local group on meta, support and safety. The members of the group, who were moved from the staff group, have several global rights.

[Vigilant]

There's a new local group on meta, support and safety. The members of the group, who were moved from the staff group, have several global rights.

Perfect.

Only one of them has any experience in this field and that was as a volunteer.

[Kumioko]

There's a new local group on meta, support and safety. The members of the group, who were moved from the staff group, have several global rights.

Perfect.

Only one of them has any experience in this field and that was as a volunteer.

I just noticed that the WMF Support and Safety group is not listed at either:
User groups
or User access levels#Other global user groups

Anyone think that is a coincidence? Or do you all think the same as me and that this group wasn't added there to prevent push back from others as encroachment of WMF action?

It's important to note that the WMF so far as maintained that they don't unblock people, they just block although if they have the authority to do one then they certainly have the authority even if not the desire, to do the other.

[Anroth]

There's a new local group on meta, support and safety. The members of the group, who were moved from the staff group, have several global rights.

Perfect.

Only one of them has any experience in this field and that was as a volunteer.

Who for? Quite a few volunteer organisations have very good training for their volunteers.

[Vigilant]

There's a new local group on meta, support and safety. The members of the group, who were moved from the staff group, have several global rights.

Perfect.

Only one of them has any experience in this field and that was as a volunteer.

Who for? Quite a few volunteer organisations have very good training for their volunteers.

Couchsurfing.com
How many well trained volunteers have landed at the WMF?

[Anroth]

A number approaching zero. But there can always be a first.

[Kingsindian]

There's a new local group on meta, support and safety. The members of the group, who were moved from the staff group, have several global rights.

Perfect.

Only one of them has any experience in this field and that was as a volunteer.

Who for? Quite a few volunteer organisations have very good training for their volunteers.

Couchsurfing.com
How many well trained volunteers have landed at the WMF?

I find this rather cryptic, but I assume you all are talking about Kalliope Tsouroupidou, who was earlier at Couchsurfing.com. She was a volunteer there?

[tarantino]

I find this rather cryptic, but I assume you all are talking about Kalliope Tsouroupidou, who was earlier at Couchsurfing.com. She was a volunteer there?

Both Kalliope and Rachel diCerbo were volunteers on the safety team at Couchsurfing, before it turned for-profit. After that they were employees. diCerbo was also on the board while it was non-profit.

There is much criticism of the safety team, and a few mentions of DiCerbo and Kalliope, at opencouchsurfing.org

[Kingsindian]

Perhaps the focus should be a bit broader: SuSa is part of the "Community Engagement" (CE) group, also headed by Maggie Dennis (interim).

Here is the grants spending on "Community Resources", which is another part of the CE team. I haven't analyzed it too much. Just noting that most of the money is under "Annual Plan Grants" (75-80%) - I am not sure what that is exactly. Gender Gap related stuff ranges from 1% to 10%: the latter was when a lot of Inspire Grants were made in April 2015.

[Vigilant]

I find this rather cryptic, but I assume you all are talking about Kalliope Tsouroupidou, who was earlier at Couchsurfing.com. She was a volunteer there?

Both Kalliope and Rachel diCerbo were volunteers on the safety team at Couchsurfing, before it turned for-profit. After that they were employees. diCerbo was also on the board while it was non-profit.

There is much criticism of the safety team, and a few mentions of DiCerbo and Kalliope, at opencouchsurfing.org

Hmmm ....
1 year ago.
The safety team are a joke.

I was sexually assaulted by another couchsurfer at a couchsurfing party when he crept into the bed in which I was sleeping. When I was woken up by his fingers inside me, I pushed him off and went straight to a member of the “safety” team whom I had spoken to earlier that night. She and another Couchsurfing ambassador then spent an hour and a half screaming at me, and telling me I should not report what happened, as the man was a respected longterm couchsurfer and nobody would believe me. I was still in shock, so I did not say anything which I still really regret. Later on, people told me that the safety team member was good friends with the man who assaulted me. I later met another couchsurfer who told me that she and her friends had been seriously harassed many times by a different couchsurfer at Couchsurfing events, and when they tried to tell the same safety team member about it, she abused them and said they were just imagining it. The harasser was also good friends with the safety team member. The safety team are only interested in protecting their friends, and don’t really care about safety at all.

Hmmm ....
6 months, 3 weeks ago.
Shortly after Couchsurfing became a for-profit organisation, it was announced that all but two of the “Safety” Team were being sacked (using the euphemism “having their duties reduced”).

I guess the investors running Couchsurfing realised exactly how much of a legal nightmare it would be if it became public knowledge that the “Safety’ Team openly protected their friends from negative references and ignored complaints of rapes for months, while taking the time to delete Couchsurfers their friends disliked.

Unfortunately, it appears the two people who presided and abetted this unprofessionalism, Rachel DiCerbo and Kalliope Tsouroupidou, will still be involved in the Safety Team. Hopefully the investors will realise the need to have people leading the team with better qualifications then “failed actor and office temp” or “failed interior decorator”.

Sounds like a perfect fit for the WMF...
Another couple of Oliver Keyes/Ryan Kaldari level hires.

Well done.

[thekohser]

If things don't work out with the WMF, then it sounds like the Catholic Church might have room for these two.

[Kumioko]

If things don't work out with the WMF, then it sounds like the Catholic Church might have room for these two.

Considering they are both women, if the statements are true, that's a pretty horrible failure to maintain a safe environment. I wonder if this came up in discussions when they were hired at the WMF for these positions or if they were hired based on their "experience" at another non-profit.

[Vigilant]

If things don't work out with the WMF, then it sounds like the Catholic Church might have room for these two.

Considering they are both women, if the statements are true, that's a pretty horrible failure to maintain a safe environment. I wonder if this came up in discussions when they were hired at the WMF for these positions or if they were hired based on their "experience" at another non-profit.

You think that WMF HR does due diligence?

[Kelly Martin]

If things don't work out with the WMF, then it sounds like the Catholic Church might have room for these two.

Considering they are both women, if the statements are true, that's a pretty horrible failure to maintain a safe environment. I wonder if this came up in discussions when they were hired at the WMF for these positions or if they were hired based on their "experience" at another non-profit.

You do realize that, at the WMF, "due diligence" consists of asking the candidate: "Do you believe that Wikipedia is the greatest thing ever invented in the history of mankind?"

[Kumioko]

If things don't work out with the WMF, then it sounds like the Catholic Church might have room for these two.

Considering they are both women, if the statements are true, that's a pretty horrible failure to maintain a safe environment. I wonder if this came up in discussions when they were hired at the WMF for these positions or if they were hired based on their "experience" at another non-profit.

You do realize that, at the WMF, "due diligence" consists of asking the candidate: "Do you believe that Wikipedia is the greatest thing ever invented in the history of mankind?"

Sadly I can imagine that conversation actually occurring.

I would hope that they at least did a Google search and a criminal background check but I also wouldn't doubt if they didn't. Not to say that I wouldn't hire the person necessarily if they had something on their record, but I would certainly at least look it up.

On a separate note, relating to due diligence, I wonder if they actually validate potential employees went to the Universities they say they got degrees from or if they just assume they are telling the truth. It's easy to get a certificate to say you got a degree from any University.

[Vigilant]

From Carolyn Doran to Erik Mo:eller to Oliver Keyes to Arnonn Geshuri to these two morons, there should be a thread or blog post that details the neverending fuckups centered around the WMF HR department's utter inability to perform even basic Due Diligance on prospective employees.

It's truly mind numbing how bad they are at this.

[Anroth]

To be fair to ole throatpuncher, he was not remotely in the same league as Doran etc. Even a comprehensive check on him would have been unlikely to throw up anything dodgy.

[Vigilant]

To be fair to ole throatpuncher, he was not remotely in the same league as Doran etc. Even a comprehensive check on him would have been unlikely to throw up anything dodgy.

I disagree.
He had no experience in the field.
He had a ton of snarky shit online even prior to working for the WMF.
He was a sleazy prick on IRC prior to his WMF contracting.
He failed his first six RfAs. Many of the oppose votes are illuminating and predictive.

More to the point, a competent hiring manager would have disqualified him from any customer facing responsibilities with even a cursory interview.

[Kelly Martin]

I would hope that they at least did a Google search and a criminal background check but I also wouldn't doubt if they didn't. Not to say that I wouldn't hire the person necessarily if they had something on their record, but I would certainly at least look it up.

You do realize that WMF once hired a known check-kiter to act as their chief financial officer, right?

[Kumioko]

I would hope that they at least did a Google search and a criminal background check but I also wouldn't doubt if they didn't. Not to say that I wouldn't hire the person necessarily if they had something on their record, but I would certainly at least look it up.

You do realize that WMF once hired a known check-kiter to act as their chief financial officer, right?

Yep, sure do.

[The Garbage Scow]

Are there any examples of people who have quit the WMF and left that experience off their LinkedIn/CV?

[Vigilant]

Are there any examples of people who have quit the WMF and left that experience off their LinkedIn/CV?

I bet Lila wishes she could.

[thekohser]

Are there any examples of people who have quit the WMF and left that experience off their LinkedIn/CV?

That would be a substantial amount of work to deduce. What would you do with such information, were it found?

[Quincy]

Are there any examples of people who have quit the WMF and left that experience off their LinkedIn/CV?

I bet Lila wishes she could.

Seems she has: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lilatretikov

[Vigilant]

Are there any examples of people who have quit the WMF and left that experience off their LinkedIn/CV?

I bet Lila wishes she could.

Seems she has: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lilatretikov

That's a bit different.
She doesn't mention SugarCRM either.

[The Garbage Scow]

Are there any examples of people who have quit the WMF and left that experience off their LinkedIn/CV?

That would be a substantial amount of work to deduce. What would you do with such information, were it found?

Nothing in particular, I was just curious. With the WMF's various scandals over the years, I'm curious if people (especially programmers) would be loath to mention it on their resume for fear it could be harmful to future job prospects rather than beneficial. I'm thinking more of regular people who left and just don't want to be associated with the WMF's reputation, not people trying to conceal their own misdeeds or poor record.

[The Garbage Scow]

Are there any examples of people who have quit the WMF and left that experience off their LinkedIn/CV?

I bet Lila wishes she could.

Seems she has: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lilatretikov

That's a bit different.
She doesn't mention SugarCRM either.

Maybe she reads WO? I see both WMF and SugarCRM there...

[Kumioko]

Are there any examples of people who have quit the WMF and left that experience off their LinkedIn/CV?

That would be a substantial amount of work to deduce. What would you do with such information, were it found?

Nothing in particular, I was just curious. With the WMF's various scandals over the years, I'm curious if people (especially programmers) would be loath to mention it on their resume for fear it could be harmful to future job prospects rather than beneficial. I'm thinking more of regular people who left and just don't want to be associated with the WMF's reputation, not people trying to conceal their own misdeeds or poor record.

I wonder the same thing. Do the skillsets earned at the WMF relate to anywhere else? How many people out there are designing large scale wiki's besides the WMF and Wikia? Does the WMF have a positive reputation in the field of programming or is it thought of as a joke?

[Kingsindian]

Community Engagement department is undergoing some reorganization.

[The Garbage Scow]

[thekohser]

Today I learned of the SuSa effort to "introduce new, translatable, online training modules to help functionaries and affiliates better manage issues".

This is what I had to say about it:

Judging by the dearth of comments here, and by the fact that only 2 non-WMF volunteers have offered to help (in nearly 60 days' time), does the Wikimedia Foundation feel comfortable in the fact that it has "checked the box" on the matter of "Preparatory consultation period begins: solicit feedback from community members, academic experts, and industry professionals (collectively our "consultants") about potential module content and delivery mechanisms". I didn't become aware of this page (published since late July 2016) until today's Wikimedia blog post was published, Interaction principles for online collaboration. I wouldn't want to accuse the Wikimedia Foundation of deliberately "hiding" this sensitive issue from the Wikimedia community, but I'm afraid that is how it is beginning to appear. - Thekohser 13:05, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

[Moral Hazard]

I think that the WMF had claimed to have asked for feedback from professionals about its child-safety policies and practices, more than a year ago.

Risker and others were going to serve as liaisons to the WMF on the child safety issues, and I've not heard anything.

[Moral Hazard]

Tarantino's research continues to enrich current discussions.

I find this rather cryptic, but I assume you all are talking about Kalliope Tsouroupidou, who was earlier at Couchsurfing.com. She was a volunteer there?

Both Kalliope and Rachel diCerbo were volunteers on the safety team at Couchsurfing, before it turned for-profit. After that they were employees. diCerbo was also on the board while it was non-profit.

There is much criticism of the safety team, and a few mentions of DiCerbo and Kalliope, at opencouchsurfing.org

[Moral Hazard]

Again topical.

I find this rather cryptic, but I assume you all are talking about Kalliope Tsouroupidou, who was earlier at Couchsurfing.com. She was a volunteer there?

Both Kalliope and Rachel diCerbo were volunteers on the safety team at Couchsurfing, before it turned for-profit. After that they were employees. diCerbo was also on the board while it was non-profit.

There is much criticism of the safety team, and a few mentions of DiCerbo and Kalliope, at opencouchsurfing.org

Hmmm ....
1 year ago.
The safety team are a joke.

I was sexually assaulted by another couchsurfer at a couchsurfing party when he crept into the bed in which I was sleeping. When I was woken up by his fingers inside me, I pushed him off and went straight to a member of the “safety” team whom I had spoken to earlier that night. She and another Couchsurfing ambassador then spent an hour and a half screaming at me, and telling me I should not report what happened, as the man was a respected longterm couchsurfer and nobody would believe me. I was still in shock, so I did not say anything which I still really regret. Later on, people told me that the safety team member was good friends with the man who assaulted me. I later met another couchsurfer who told me that she and her friends had been seriously harassed many times by a different couchsurfer at Couchsurfing events, and when they tried to tell the same safety team member about it, she abused them and said they were just imagining it. The harasser was also good friends with the safety team member. The safety team are only interested in protecting their friends, and don’t really care about safety at all.

Hmmm ....
6 months, 3 weeks ago.
Shortly after Couchsurfing became a for-profit organisation, it was announced that all but two of the “Safety” Team were being sacked (using the euphemism “having their duties reduced”).

I guess the investors running Couchsurfing realised exactly how much of a legal nightmare it would be if it became public knowledge that the “Safety’ Team openly protected their friends from negative references and ignored complaints of rapes for months, while taking the time to delete Couchsurfers their friends disliked.

Unfortunately, it appears the two people who presided and abetted this unprofessionalism, Rachel DiCerbo and Kalliope Tsouroupidou, will still be involved in the Safety Team. Hopefully the investors will realise the need to have people leading the team with better qualifications then “failed actor and office temp” or “failed interior decorator”.

Sounds like a perfect fit for the WMF...
Another couple of Oliver Keyes/Ryan Kaldari level hires.

Well done.

[Kumioko]

It's pretty typical for the WMF to hire failures and castoffs. I find nothing in these statements surprising or shocking