Jimbo shares a $1,000,000 award with Berners-Lee

[HRIP7]

"Past connection to the Kazakh dictatorship" - total and utter and complete bullshit. I have no past connection of any kind to the Kazakh dictatorship.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 10:13, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

What I'm going to announce right now is unknown to anybody except a few people who looked at my slides before I put them up. I'm announcing today an annual award – probably annual, if I remember next year – and, ah, the title of the award is 'Global Wikipedian of the Year'. [applause] Given by me personally and my opinion, and later of course like everything that started out 'me personally and my opinion' will find a process in the future to have this be community organised. And this year, the winner is Rauan of Kazakh Wikipedia. So Rauan, if you can come down. Maybe it's too hard to come down – maybe he'll just stay there! So – I've been following the story of Kazakh Wikipedia, er, since, er Ting went to Kazakhstan, and he came back and he reported on something amazing that was happening there. And I started to get in touch with them, and I also I've been getting in touch with the government there. I've been talking to the Prime Minister there. [ …] I'm going in December and I'm going to give the award in the presence of the Prime Minister to Rauan, pending scheduling. Prime ministers are always hard to nail down, but they've agreed to the meeting, er, and I think that if we think about the things that they're doing, think about the things that I've talked about, I think that if we really try hard on this, instead of having sad puppies and sad kittens, we'll have happy puppies and kittens. Link

Thanks, Peter. Someone should post that quote and link on his talk page.

[HRIP7]

Along with this Daily Dot article: http://www.dailydot.com/politics/wikipe ... tatorship/

Kazakhstan has been under the firm grip of Nazarbayev—a frequent target of criticism from human rights groups—since 1989, when the country was still a part of the U.S.S.R.

While the state constitution officially permits free speech, it also prohibits criticizing the government, and the state is known for crackdowns on any news organizations that fail to toe the government line. It's hard to believe WikiBilim—with powerful state backers—would be any different.

Indeed, there's clear irony in the fact that Wales, a die-hard free speech advocate, would name a former state media head as Wikipedian of the Year, something that wasn't lost on Wales himself.

[Peter Damian]

Thanks, Peter. Someone should post that quote and link on his talk page.

Sadly I am banned from editing Wikipedia at all, and you are banned from Jimmy's talk page.

[lilburne]

Thanks, Peter. Someone should post that quote and link on his talk page.

Sadly I am banned from editing Wikipedia at all, and you are banned from Jimmy's talk page.

I'm not.

[The Adversary]

Thanks, Peter. Someone should post that quote and link on his talk page.

Sadly I am banned from editing Wikipedia at all, and you are banned from Jimmy's talk page.

I'm not.

Neither am I, but I had an edit-conflict with this guy

[Peter Damian]

Thanks, Peter. Someone should post that quote and link on his talk page.

Sadly I am banned from editing Wikipedia at all, and you are banned from Jimmy's talk page.

I'm not.

Neither am I, but I had an edit-conflict with this guy

Canvassing.

[lilburne]

Thanks, Peter. Someone should post that quote and link on his talk page.

Sadly I am banned from editing Wikipedia at all, and you are banned from Jimmy's talk page.

I'm not.

Neither am I, but I had an edit-conflict with this guy

Canvassing.

Wikipedia is just one big tent.

[Peter Damian]

Dear Mr. Wales,
I am a graduate of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain, and have a BA in Mass Communications (i.e. journalism). Your acceptance of the $500,000 in Dubai is the subject of discussion among Emiratis who are not in agreeance with the current state of affairs in the UAE as it relates to human rights and freedom of speech.

The Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Award which came with the $500,000 prize is named after Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the "ruler" of Dubai and Vice President of the UAE. From the positions he holds in the UAE, he is partly responsible for the current state of human rights in my country. I see that posters above are bringing to your attention the abysmal human rights record in this country. They, and you, are likely well versed in the state of labor rights in the UAE. They have not, however, brought up the situation in the UAE on freedom of speech, and therefore the ability of those in the UAE to freely disseminate knowledge, and this goes to the core in showing how absurd the award is.

Mr. Wales, please consider the following cases:
In 2012, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation was forced to close its office in Abu Dhabi. Their mission is the promotion of “promotion of freedom and liberty, peace, and justice”. The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs also had its Dubai office closed by the authorities. No legitimate reason was given for the closure. See: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/06/world/meast/uae-organizations/

In 2012, Assistant Professor of Communication Matt J. Duffy had his contract at Zayed University cancelled and he was deported from the country. Mr. Duffy helped to found a campus chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and attempted to teach students journalistic ethics and standards. Mr. Duffy wrote about this at http://mattjduffy.com/2012/08/ive-been-kicked-out-of-the-united-arab-emirates/. Mr. Duffy also offers reasons for the termination of his employment and deportation at http://mattjduffy.com/2012/08/top-18-things-that-may-have-gotten-me-booted-from-the-uae/.

In 2014, Yasin Kakande was fired from The National and deported from the country for writing the autobiographical book The Ambitious Struggle: An African Journalist's Journey of Hope and Identity in a Land of Migrants (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ambitious-Struggle-Journalists-Identity-Migrants/dp/189035743X/ref=la_B00GU54WOO_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418300730&sr=1-1). Mr. Wales, please take the time to read this book, which is banned in the UAE (http://www.migrant-rights.org/research/uae-censors-author-of-book-criticizing-migrant-race-issues/).

There is another case you may not be familiar with. The UAE 94 is a group of 94 lawyers, judges, human rights activists and others, who have spoken out in favour of democracy in my country. The dissidents are members of Al Islah, a non-violent political group, and do have an affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood. I do not agree with the politics of this group, I am myself an atheist (a capital offense in my country). However, I do agree with their non-violent stance, and I do believe in their rights to call for democracy in this country. This group has been subjected to arbitrary detention, torture and trials which have been deemed to be unfair by the international community (http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/19106). On March 17, Osama Najjar was arrested (http://twitmail.com/email/533078805/901/533078805) because he spoke out on Twitter (https://twitter.com/O_Hussain_) about these abuses. One week prior to your visit to the UAE, Osama was imprisoned for 3 years and fined 500,000 dirhams for speaking out. (http://en.rsf.org/emirats-arabes-unis-online-activist-gets-three-years-02-12-2014,47327.html)

There is no freedom in the UAE Mr. Wales.

I appreciate greatly that you have committed yourself to ensuring that the $500,000 which was awarded to you in the name of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum will go toward advancing human rights in the Arab world. I also appreciate that you have committed part of your cause to include open data access, but sincerely Mr. Wales, what good is pushing for open data in this region, when the region is not open in terms of freedom of the press and human rights. There are many groups which are fighting for basic human rights in the UAE and some of them, as noted above, do have some links to some unsavoury groups. My suggestion to you Mr. Wales is to make contact with Mr. Duffy and Mr. Kakande and ask for their advice and guidance.

I do have one simple request for you Mr. Wales. When you donate the $500,000 please do so openly by putting out press releases on these donations. There is no stronger message that you can send to the regime in my country, and others in Arab world, than publicly declaring that you stand with the people who do not enjoy basic human rights. This will send a strong message to governments that they can not place a price on human rights and for the silence of the West.

We, the people, of the United Arab Emirates, thank you Mr. Wales for your commitment to helping us gain basic human rights and we trust the organisations you will donate the $500,000 to will put the money to good use.
Thank you for your time. M.al-A.UAE (talk) 04:19, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

[Peter Damian]

Telecommunications_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates (T-H-L) has some interesting facts about how the UAE telecommunications authority blocks Wikipedia pages. What a bizarre situation. They block parts of Jimmy's project, then they give him $500k for being co-founder.

[HRIP7]

Telecommunications_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates (T-H-L) has some interesting facts about how the UAE telecommunications authority blocks Wikipedia pages. What a bizarre situation. They block parts of Jimmy's project, then they give him $500k for being co-founder.

One is for internal consumption, the other for external consumption.

Archive copies of Talk:Jimbo Wales and Wikimania 2011 on Youtube: https://archive.today/VMxNx https://archive.today/RkClt

[lilburne]

Telecommunications_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates (T-H-L) has some interesting facts about how the UAE telecommunications authority blocks Wikipedia pages. What a bizarre situation. They block parts of Jimmy's project, then they give him $500k for being co-founder.

One is for internal consumption, the other for external consumption.

Archive copies of Talk:Jimbo Wales and Wikimania 2011 on Youtube: https://archive.today/VMxNx https://archive.today/RkClt

A bit like Goose and Goose fat.

[The Adversary]

Archive copies of Talk:Jimbo Wales and Wikimania 2011 on Youtube: https://archive.today/VMxNx https://archive.today/RkClt

That 2nd link does not keep the youtube-video.
Hint: keepvid.com

[HRIP7]

Wales replies:

Thanks for posting that, but I'm not sure what the point is. I have met with, and will in the future meet with, leaders and bureaucrats and politicians from many countries with terrible records on human rights, in order to encourage, educate, and pressure them to change. I trust that your transcription is correct and so I must correct one error in what I said. I have never spoken to the Prime Minister there, but I was in communication with the Prime Minister's office. (In the next little bit, I got it right when I say "they've agreed to the meeting" - meaning his office.) That meeting never happened because, ultimately, when I met with a representative of his in Davos, a discussion of the necessary conditions for the meeting would have made it impossible for them to agree. I was ultimately told that if I want to come and visit Ruaun (which I still plan to do) they would allow the visa, but would not allow for any press coverage, etc.

People love to pull this bonkers Telegraph story up because of the wild insinuation that I in some way compromised my principles (perhaps by taking money? perhaps by Tony Blair doing things that I wouldn't, and... I know him... so... whatever) in the case of Kazakhstan. But the simple truth is that I have had no "connection" with the Kazakh dictatorship except one of lobbying them for change.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 22:02, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

... and praising the Kazakh government, and creating an all-new, high-profile Wikipedian-of-the-Year award bestowed on the government-funded effort to replace the content of the Kazakh Wikipedia, such as it was, with government-published material, using gift incentives and paid work (why would anyone praise that?) ... an award that the Kazakh government was happy to tout in the state press and on the websites of its embassies.


http://inform.kz/eng/article/2417900

This result was named the best achievement of the year among language sections of the encyclopedia at the Wikimania annual conference in Haifa, Israel. Kazakhstan's Wikibilim Foundation was named the Global Wikipedian-2011 and won a grant of Jimmy Wales, a co-founder of Wikipedia.

Jimmy Wales praised what he called the impressive achievements of the Kazakh-language Wikipedia in a short period of time. Wales also offered to hold a special conference in Kazakhstan with the aim of sharing the country's experience with other Central Asian nations. He expressed his personal desire to visit Kazakhstan.

http://netprophet.tol.org/2012/07/23/ka ... velopment/

Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, was impressed by the achievement, thanked the Kazakh government for contributing and supporting the project and accepted the Kazakh Ambassador to the US’s invitation to visit the country.

https://web.archive.org/web/20130114222 ... 72669.html

Being impressed by the achievements of Kazakhstan in the development of Wikipedia its founder Jimmy Wales announced his intention to visit our country. The Kazakhstan Ambassador to the US Yerlan Idrissov has already handed over an official invitation to Mr. Wales. Having accepted the invitation, Jimmy Wales thanked the Kazakh government for creating conditions for significant achievements in the development of the Kazakh language Wikipedia.

http://registan.net/2012/12/27/on-kazak ... mentality/

I’m willing to assume good faith with the guy – I don’t know him, and I’m going to venture to guess that like Sting, Depardieu, and, if our sources are correct, J.Lo, Wales doesn’t know Central Asia. But, he should have known to hedge his praise for the Kazakh Wikipedia project and its implementers at Wikibilim, which its CEO says is funded by Open Society Foundations, the Samruk Kaznya State Investment Fund, and the Wikimedia Foundation.

https://freedomhouse.org/report/nations ... tan#_edn31

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales was criticized in 2012 for “cheerleading” when he described Wikibilim.kz as “not politicized.”

(Not politicized ... every page on that organisation's website features a smiling picture of the President's Chief of Staff [and former Prime Minister], Karim Massimov.)


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia ... _the_media

The controversy began when the background behind Wales' first "Wikipedian of the Year", Rauan Kenzhekhanuly (see Signpost coverage) was publicized. Before becoming the head of a non-profit organization, Wikibilim, he served in Kazakhstan's Russian embassy and as the Moscow Bureau chief for the National TV Agency, which is viewed as a Kazakh government propaganda outlet. Additionally, his organization is backed by Kazakhstan's sovereign oil wealth fund, which is run by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev's son-in-law.

Wales has vocally supported both Kenzhekhanuly and Wikibilim, and the WMF gave the latter a US$16,600 grant to hold a Wikimedia conference in Kazakhstan in April 2012.

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/66343

“As far as I know, the Wikibilim organization is not politicized,” replied Wales. He maintained his belief that there are “no particularly difficult issues” with neutrality in the Kazakh-language Wikipedia, and promised to stress press freedom and openness during a visit to Kazakhstan in 2013. [...] Whatever the intentions of Kenzhekhanuly’s organization, or of Jimmy Wales’ cheerleading, the reality is that an authoritarian system, particularly one as well financed as oil-rich Kazakhstan’s, has thus far choked the idealist dreams of the crowd-sourced openness revolution.

Wales went out of his way to praise the Kazakh Wikipedia in public, and thank (!) the Kazakh government, according to those reports. When he did so, he never breathed a word about the nature of the country's government, even though that government was paying for that expansion. Does anyone recall a single critical word Wales volunteered in public about the Kazakh government, in any article or interview where he or the Wikimedia Foundation lauded the state take-over of the Kazakh Wikipedia?

I guess he was trying to kill them with kindness, praise and flattery.

But of course it's alright if he kisses their feet in public – honi soit qui mal y pense – because in private, he is very, very stern with them.

[HRIP7]

I don't think that's being picky. Those are two different statements. Both are true. The original poster was trying to insinuate that I have had some kind of improper dealings or connection to them,which is frankly ridiculous. I haven't ever and I never will. What I have done, and which I will continue to do, is seek to use my influence as best I can to encourage positive change. That's sometimes going to mean meeting with people to tell them what I think.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 09:19, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

Like, by going over there and publicly, "ceremonially", congratulating the Prime Minister and his wiki organization on what a great job they're doing with the Kazakh Wikipedia. And perhaps doing a few highly paid speeches on the side. That's bound to make a dent, isn't it?

https://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2013/kazakhstan

A law that took effect in January 2012 required owners of internet cafés to obtain users’ names and monitor and record their activity, and to share their information with the security services if requested.

I guess those must be the "conditions for significant achievements in the development of the Kazakh language Wikipedia" Wales meant.

[thekohser]

We are all well aware of Jimmy Wales' ability to speak in condemning tones about the horrors of the "right to be forgotten" and the burden it presents to poor Google.

We are aware of his ability to chastise the governments of the UK or the United States, for their inefficiencies or their spying on citizenry.

He has even called out as "criminal" those large banks that run themselves into the ground, then pay out hefty bonuses with public relief money.

However, I challenge Mr. Wales to hold up for our view even one public pronouncement where he criticized the government of Nigeria, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, United Arab Emirates, or Oman for the human rights abuses they perpetrate. He has accepted payments to appear in each of those countries, save Kazakhstan (in which case, he paid a government worker as a thank you for copying a state encyclopedia over to Wikipedia). If, as he says, he has "always been outspoken on these issues" of human rights abuse, it shouldn't be difficult for him to find one example of where he spoke out about these countries.

[Writegeist]

Wales writes:

"Past connection to the Kazakh dictatorship" - total and utter and complete bullshit. I have no past connection of any kind to the Kazakh dictatorship.

John lilburn responds with Wales's self-congratulatory Wikimania 2011 closing speech which includes:

" . . . I've been getting in touch with the government there. I've been talking to the Prime Minister there. . . "

Wales replies:

Thanks for posting that, but I'm not sure what the point is. […] I have never spoken to the Prime Minister there, but I was in communication with the Prime Minister's office . . .

John lilburne:

Oh the point is . . . that "I have no past connection of any kind to the Kazakh dictatorship" is not quite the same as "I have never spoken to the Prime Minister there".

Wales:

Those are two different statements. Both are true.

Oh absolutely, both are true to the extent that the first—Jimboid tautology alert!—is total and utter and complete bullshit and the second might not be.

[thekohser]

People love to pull this bonkers Telegraph story up because of the wild insinuation that I in some way compromised my principles (perhaps by taking money? perhaps by Tony Blair doing things that I wouldn't, and... I know him... so... whatever) in the case of Kazakhstan. --[[User:Jimbo Wales|Jimbo Wales]] ([[User talk:Jimbo Wales#top|talk]]) 22:02, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

[Peter Damian]

I don't think that's being picky. Those are two different statements. Both are true. The original poster was trying to insinuate that I have had some kind of improper dealings or connection to them,which is frankly ridiculous. I haven't ever and I never will. What I have done, and which I will continue to do, is seek to use my influence as best I can to encourage positive change. That's sometimes going to mean meeting with people to tell them what I think.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 09:19, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

Like, by going over there and publicly, "ceremonially", congratulating the Prime Minister and his wiki organization on what a great job they're doing with the Kazakh Wikipedia. And perhaps doing a few highly paid speeches on the side. That's bound to make a dent, isn't it?

https://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2013/kazakhstan

A law that took effect in January 2012 required owners of internet cafés to obtain users’ names and monitor and record their activity, and to share their information with the security services if requested.

I guess those must be the "conditions for significant achievements in the development of the Kazakh language Wikipedia" Wales meant.

The Kazakh language Wikipedia is part of a long term strategy of ‘Kazakhisation’. From the book:

After Nazarbayev came to power in 1991, he pursued a policy of ‘Kazakhisation’, aimed at defining the identity of the country as ethnically, culturally and linguistically Kazakh, and at achieving ‘a total correspondence between language, state and territory’ which would end the dominance of Russian culture and identity in the country.

As Erlan Karin and Andrei Chebotarev point out , Kazakhisation is not recognised on an official level, indeed it is denied. It is realised under the guise of reviving the Kazakh people’s language, culture and traditions, and of building a multinational and multiethnic state. “Its defining characteristic is preserving the superiority of basic values and resources over those phenomena of the republic’s nonindigenous population”. President Nursultan Nazarbayev, himself ethnically Kazakh, promotes himself as ‘the main ideologue of the active Kazakhisation of civic consciousness’.

The program is implemented through various ‘cultural’ state-sponsored events celebrating the anniversaries of prominent Kazak figures on a national scale. There is no corresponding support for events connected with ethnic issues of Kazakhstan’s other peoples. The department of education has excluded many Russian classics from its instructional program, and there has been a deliberate imposition of Kazakh culture, including Nazarbayev’s brainchild, the six volume national encyclopedia, Kazakhstan, which began publication in 1999, of which more below. Raucous state-sponsored celebrations are aimed primarily at honouring the Kazakh heroes of the past.

[Peter Damian]

I just re-read some of the book chapter on Kazakhstan, which I wrote before I had read Morozov’s brilliant The Net Delusion. Morozov argues that authoritarian regimes have learned how to co-opt the Internet and the values it encodes to promote a new brand of authoritarianism. The Kazakh Wikipedia was a brilliant example of how they played Jimmy and the WMF. The UAE award is simply more of the same.

The growth in editor numbers was entirely fabricated. The biggest influx was in June 2011, many of these on 13 June, three days before Ting [Chen]’s arrival. They were attracted by the offer of a free laptop, and nearly all left after completing the assignment. Of those who joined in June, practically all had left by July, followed by a more gradual decline, until by 2013 only a handful were left. The Kazakh encyclopedia was moribund once more, but it had served its purpose.

It was hyped by the Kazakhstan state media both as signifying intellectual acceptance by the West, and as progress in the regime’s goal of a single state language. Interviewed by Kazpravda, Abenov emphasised the goal of developing the State Language through technology, saying that “the development of language and culture to a large extent depends on the evolution of information transfer technology”.

The future of the Kazakh language is largely dependent on how seamless will be its merging into the modern information environment, how smooth will be its transition from a “book culture” to “screen culture”. The project should contribute to the “digital viability” of the language.

A letter from the Chairman of the Board of Samruk-Kazyna Timur Kulibayev to the head of the World Wikipedia [sic] Ting Chen said “We believe that the Kazakh Wikipedia complements existing government programs to support the Kazakh language and culture”. There was almost constant upbeat press coverage of Wikibilim through 2011 and 2012. Kulibayev said that Wikipedia was ‘an effective informatization [sic] tool’. In November, Rauan announced that Kazaksha Wikipedia was now under the patronage of the Republic of Kazakhstan’s government ‘and personally Prime Minister Karim Masimov’. The Wikimedia logo was prominently displayed on the WikiBilim home page, underneath the picture of Prime Minister Massimov and the Samruk-Kazyna logo. Creative Commons, on whose board Jimbo served, described WikiBilim as an organisation that operates as the Wikimedia representative in Kazakhstan . In May 2012 the culture and information minister Darkhan Mynbay, quoting Balzac as saying ‘Art is national clothes’, reported that “Work is continuing to fill Wikipedia with materials in the Kazakh language.”

[DanMurphy]

It has been two-years since Mr. Wales' celebration of the Kazakh government's takeover of the Wikimedia Foundation's Kazakh Wikipedia. This is the long thread from the time. The sunlight that was directed on the takeover of the website, I'm convinced, is why he never went to Kazakhstan (though I don't think he ever gave a reason in public, or addressed the matter at all other than to call people who pointed it out "dicks," "bonkers," etc...)

I wrote that Wales was brand-sweetening for dictators then, and that's what he's done just now for the UAE.

As the application for the Kazakh Wikipedia hosted on a Wikimedia Foundation website says, the "National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan – provides content and quality review process" for the Kazakh Wikipedia.

Wales wrote on Dec. 21 2012:

The Wikimedia Foundation has zero collaboration with the government of Kazakhstan. Wikibilim is a totally independent organization. And it is absolutely wrong to say that I am "helping the Kazakh regime whitewash its image". I am a firm and strong critic. At the same time, I'm excited by the work of volunteers, and I believe - very strongly - that an open and independent Wikipedia will be the death knell for tyranny in places like Kazakhstan. Perhaps I'm wrong, but it is absolutely silly to suggest that I'm in any way actively supporting tyrants.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 15:33, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

I wrote on this website in response to that:

The following facts had been established before he wrote the above: That Wikibilim is funded largely by the Kazakh government's sovereign wealth fund, that it says "paid editing" is conducted at the Kazakh Wikipedia with this money, that at least 40,000 of the Kazakh Wikipedia's articles were lifted directly from the government's own Kazakh National Encyclopedia, and that the government's National Academy of Sciences has been conducting "content and quality review" of the Kazakh Wikipedia's contents.

He also doesn't seem to understand the idea that involvement with such governments, even when made with the best of intentions, can be in turn used by those governments to polish their own images.

Mr. Wales' public reputation wasn't really dented by his involvement with the government of Kazakhstan. But it should have been. He certainly doesn't seem to have learned a thing.

Adding: This is one of my favorite bits from that thread. Wales wrote in Jan. 2013: "Not that the facts have slowed you down much, but do you know that the staff of Wikbilim don't edit Wikipedia?." It was then pointed out to him that the staff of Wikibilim do edit Wikipedia, among them Nartay Ashim, the government-funded group's national coordinator, who was editing politically sensitive articles about Kazakhstan. To that Mr. Wales responded: "He edits on his own time. Lots of people do that."

[Peter Damian]

I wrote that Wales was brand-sweetening for dictators then, and that's what he's done just now for the UAE.

Lovely turn of phrase. Also known as 'nose powdering'.

To understand the Republic of Kazakhstan, we have to understand the postmodern dictatorship. It is quite unlike a traditional dictatorship: there are no firing squads, no chain of gulags, no forced labour. There are no parades of munitions and goosestepping soldiers, no overt and explicit cult of personality. The regime’s goal is at all costs to avoid comparisons with traditional dictatorships like North Korea or Cuba. It uses modern methods of marketing to promote itself as an evolving or reforming democracy. It powders its nose through a global support system utilising ‘public relations’ agencies in the West, it pays large sums of money to high profile Western public figures who are willing to use their reputation to lend legitimacy to the regime. The leading figures of the regime cultivate blogs, and encourage loyal members of the regime to use social media and the internet. Both the regime and the loyal bloggers deny that there are any direct financial ties between them.

[Vigilant]

These kinds of things make me wonder if they're actually in bed, on purpose, with states like Kazakhstan and they just to look like they're getting played to be able to take the money anyway.

[HRIP7]

An additional advantage of Kazakh is, of course, that very few outsiders can read, speak or critique it.

Incidentally, the English Wikipedia's article on Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev (T-H-L) has no mention of the words "human rights", "freedom", "press" or "free speech".

The section "Human Rights and media" of Wikipedia's article on Kazakhstan (T-H-L) currently reads, in its entirety, as follows:

On June 3, 2014 OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier appointed Kazakh diplomat Madina Jarbussynova as OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Human Trafficking.[107]

In November 2012, 183 members of the United Nations General Assembly elected Kazakhstan to serve a three year term on the Human Rights Council, the United Nations key forum for tackling entrenched human rights concerns around the world.[108]

In 2009, Kazakhstan published a National Human Rights Action Plan.[109]

With support from the U.S. Department of State's Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL), the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative opened a media support center in Almaty to bolster free expression and journalistic rights in Kazakhstan.[110]

In 2002, Kazakhstan created a Human Rights Ombudsman with the mandate to protect the human rights of Kazakhstan’s citizens from encroachments by state officials, to ensure the development of protective legislation and to introduce and expand educational programs.[111]

Kazakhstan is ranked 161 out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders.[112] A mid-March 2002 a court order, with the government as a plaintiff, stated that Respublika were to stop printing for three months.[113] The order was evaded by printing under other titles, such as Not That Respublika.[113] In early 2014 a court also issued a cease publication order to the small-circulation Assandi-Times newspaper, saying it was a part of the Respublika group. Human Rights Watch said: "this absurd case displays the lengths to which Kazakh authorities are willing to go to bully critical media into silence."[114]

The European Union (EU) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have signed an agreement to help the Kazakh government develop child protection systems and laws that meet international standards. This agreement will support the existing Kazakh program called ‘The Improvement of the Justice for Children and Child Rights Protection System” that focuses on the rights of child victims, children who are witnesses of crime and children in conflict with the law.[115]

Contrast this with this short paragraph from Human Rights Watch:

Kazakhstan’s human rights record has seriously deteriorated following violent clashes in December 2011 between police and demonstrators, including striking oil workers. Authorities blamed outspoken oil workers and political opposition activists for the unrest, and sentenced Vladimir Kozlov, an opposition leader, to prison on vague and overbroad criminal charges. Freedom of assembly is strictly controlled and a restrictive law on religious freedoms remains in force. There were attacks on independent journalists, and authorities shut down key independent media outlets. Legislation regulating workers’ rights is vague and burdensome, and a ban on strikes in certain sectors of the economy restricts workers’ rights.

[Peter Damian]

These kinds of things make me wonder if they're actually in bed, on purpose, with states like Kazakhstan and they just to look like they're getting played to be able to take the money anyway.

I honestly think, and this is based on corresponding with Jimbo about the KZ affair, that he really believed all that stuff. All they could see was edits at the KZ Wikipedia rocketing, and the membership and 'community' exploding. If you looked carefully enough it was obvious that they were paying people good money to work on it, but you had to do the work (I worked through a year's worth of KZ wiki edits), and Jimmy doesn't have the temperament for that (whatever he may spout).

But if someone pays you money or invites you to a state affair, you will be less tempted to do that. I have always found that people giving me money sets me glowing with a warm feeling towards them, like a niceness field, and I find it painful to investigate anything bad. Fortunately, this rarely happens.

[DanMurphy]

These kinds of things make me wonder if they're actually in bed, on purpose, with states like Kazakhstan and they just to look like they're getting played to be able to take the money anyway.

I honestly think, and this is based on corresponding with Jimbo about the KZ affair, that he really believed all that stuff. All they could see was edits at the KZ Wikipedia rocketing, and the membership and 'community' exploding. If you looked carefully enough it was obvious that they were paying people good money to work on it, but you had to do the work (I worked through a year's worth of KZ wiki edits), and Jimmy doesn't have the temperament for that (whatever he may spout).

But if someone pays you money or invites you to a state affair, you will be less tempted to do that. I have always found that people giving me money sets me glowing with a warm feeling towards them, like a niceness field, and I find it painful to investigate anything bad. Fortunately, this rarely happens.

My first "real" job was for Bloomberg News in 1994. They had an internal handbook. The entry on why you should never accept gifts, or even lunch, from officials or sources has stuck with me. Something like:

Yes, he's your source but you also spend a lot of time together, socialize together, grab drinks after work. It's work, but you're friends too, right? He mentions that a weekend trip has been set up for Bermuda - house rented, taking company plane. There's room. No skin off his nose if you don't come - but they're spending the same amount of money whether you do or not. What could be more natural?

You put your feet up on the porch at the end of a long day of golf and beach, a Cuba libre at your elbow. You light the fine Cuban cigar from the box your host has thoughtfully placed on the sideboard as you enjoy the last glow of a wonderful day.

Gotcha.

[Peter Damian]

I have been very lazy and really should try to get the book published.

And so our story comes to an end. Jimbo had travelled a long road. He was no longer just the guy on the internet, typing in his pyjamas, who had never been out of his country, receiving with childish awe his invitation to Bono’s party in Switzerland. Perhaps he had even come a long way. He was the spiritual leader of the Internet. He had followers all around the world, who called him a Gandhi who only ‘seeks the truth and freedom’. He had become the kind of person who is able to say, “I try to meet with top leaders all around the world whenever I can”. Leaders of regimes, some of them authoritarian and harsh, would seek his advice and approval just as the rulers of medieval principalities and kingdoms had sought out the Pope to bless their wicked adventures. It was an extraordinary achievement. Whether or not Wikipedia works, there are millions of people who believe it works. Wikipedia is a sort of miracle, an enterprise that works in practice but not in theory. Wikipedia’s history is recent. Perhaps it is too recent to make a judgment on it, and on Jimbo Wales.

[HRIP7]

These kinds of things make me wonder if they're actually in bed, on purpose, with states like Kazakhstan and they just to look like they're getting played to be able to take the money anyway.

I honestly think, and this is based on corresponding with Jimbo about the KZ affair, that he really believed all that stuff. All they could see was edits at the KZ Wikipedia rocketing, and the membership and 'community' exploding. If you looked carefully enough it was obvious that they were paying people good money to work on it, but you had to do the work (I worked through a year's worth of KZ wiki edits), and Jimmy doesn't have the temperament for that (whatever he may spout).

But if someone pays you money or invites you to a state affair, you will be less tempted to do that. I have always found that people giving me money sets me glowing with a warm feeling towards them, like a niceness field, and I find it painful to investigate anything bad. Fortunately, this rarely happens.

Yes, this is my feeling too.

Tony Blair's working for the Kazakh government (along with others in Wales' and his wife's social circle) and all of them being good mates at Davos, in civilised surroundings, probably contributed to that (as Dan expressed so well above). And Wales is enough of a narcissist, and has the right mix of naivety and entitlement, to feel that people liking his project and courting him must surely be a good thing.

He thinks he is great, Wikipedia is great, and if the Kazakhs think he is great and Wikipedia is great too, how could they possibly be wrong? He's more likely to have been a fool and a bit selfish than outright corrupt.

Still, none of these are qualities you'd want in someone in a leadership position for a project like Wikipedia.

[HRIP7]

I have been very lazy and really should try to get the book published.

Yes, you really, really should.

[thekohser]

I have been very lazy and really should try to get the book published.

Yes, you really, really should.

Agreed, but don't beat yourself up about being "lazy". If you're like me, it's that your sense of perfectionism is not adequately supported by hours in the day to accomplish that goal.

[HRIP7]

Rob Price, The Daily Dot, After criticism, Jimmy Wales pledges $500k prize to charity

Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales has pledged that the half a million dollars he was awarded earlier this month by the United Arab Emirates will go to charity.

The move comes on the heels of intense pressure from Wikipedians themselves, furious that Wales, famous for his public exhortations against autocratic governments, had taken money from one that is notorious for its human rights abuses.

[HRIP7]

I wonder whether he will need reminding of this pledge. It wouldn't be the first time:

Winners of Wikipedia's biggest award still haven't received prize money

The Wikipedian of the Year award is surely one of the Internet's stranger prizes. It does not exist in any formal sense, and its winners do not always know they have won. Wikipedia doesn't actually sponsor it. There are, in fact, no published criteria for winning the award; that's entirely the discretion of Jimmy ("Jimbo") Wales, the encyclopedia's cofounder (and "God-king"), who now sits on the board of trustees.

And he owes the two winners $5,000 each.

Rauan Kenzhekhanuly won the inaugural award in 2011 for his work building a robust Kazakh language Wikipedia—work that would later become the subject of controversy, after online sleuths dug up that his project was enabled in part by a fund run by the autocratic Kazakh regime. Wales announced the prize at the 2011 Wikimania, the annual Wikipedia conference.

In the year and a half since winning, Kenzhekhanuly hasn't seen a dime. Wales has publicly acknowledged this fact. But he says there's nothing fishy about it. "The actual money has not been transferred yet, as the concept has always been that I'd do it ceremonially when I go to Kazakhstan, which I've not managed yet," Wales wrote on his Wikipedia talk page on April 22.

That's all well and good, but Kenzhekhanuly isn't the only winner who's never had a sniff of his prize money. [...]

[Notvelty]

I wonder whether he will need reminding of this pledge. It wouldn't be the first time:

Winners of Wikipedia's biggest award still haven't received prize money

The Wikipedian of the Year award is surely one of the Internet's stranger prizes. It does not exist in any formal sense, and its winners do not always know they have won. Wikipedia doesn't actually sponsor it. There are, in fact, no published criteria for winning the award; that's entirely the discretion of Jimmy ("Jimbo") Wales, the encyclopedia's cofounder (and "God-king"), who now sits on the board of trustees.

And he owes the two winners $5,000 each.

Rauan Kenzhekhanuly won the inaugural award in 2011 for his work building a robust Kazakh language Wikipedia—work that would later become the subject of controversy, after online sleuths dug up that his project was enabled in part by a fund run by the autocratic Kazakh regime. Wales announced the prize at the 2011 Wikimania, the annual Wikipedia conference.

In the year and a half since winning, Kenzhekhanuly hasn't seen a dime. Wales has publicly acknowledged this fact. But he says there's nothing fishy about it. "The actual money has not been transferred yet, as the concept has always been that I'd do it ceremonially when I go to Kazakhstan, which I've not managed yet," Wales wrote on his Wikipedia talk page on April 22.

That's all well and good, but Kenzhekhanuly isn't the only winner who's never had a sniff of his prize money. [...]

Now, now, Andreas. I'm sure it will show up on his tax return.

[Ross McPherson]

My first "real" job was for Bloomberg News in 1994. They had an internal handbook. The entry on why you should never accept gifts, or even lunch, from officials or sources has stuck with me. Something like:

Yes, he's your source but you also spend a lot of time together, socialize together, grab drinks after work. It's work, but you're friends too, right? He mentions that a weekend trip has been set up for Bermuda - house rented, taking company plane. There's room. No skin off his nose if you don't come - but they're spending the same amount of money whether you do or not. What could be more natural?

You put your feet up on the porch at the end of a long day of golf and beach, a Cuba libre at your elbow. You light the fine Cuban cigar from the box your host has thoughtfully placed on the sideboard as you enjoy the last glow of a wonderful day.

Gotcha.

It isn't just the big end of town that plays that game. I was souvenir shopping in Hong Kong once. The proprietor offered me a cold drink and a chair to rest in. "Gotcha". I still have the useless, over-priced souvenir to prove it.

Wikipedia the free encyclopaedia anyone can edit.

Gotcha

[Midsize Jake]

Based on this tweet, Jimbo is now casting about for a handy service to manage the grunt work of giving away some or all of the $0.5M:

---

---

On the one hand, this is a positive sign in that he's at least thinking about subtle ways to make people aware that he wants credit from the tweeting public for his (still not quite acted-upon) charitable impulses. On the other, it will probably work, as we've seen many times that the media pretty much takes his word for it when he says he's eventually going to do something, despite his past history. True, a few have recently begun to see through this technique, but it's hardly a widespread realization.

I guess we'll see what happens - if he doesn't follow through, I'm pretty sure there's no legal recourse against snatch-it-back cash-waving. It's still his money, for better or worse.

[Notvelty]

I guess we'll see what happens - if he doesn't follow through, I'm pretty sure there's no legal recourse against snatch-it-back cash-waving. It's still his money, for better or worse.

"Founder of World's Largest Encyclopaedia Non-Profit Pretends Not to Know About Key Donation Source"


edit:

Actually, does anyone have a contact at a large American donor-advised fund program? Half a million looks like something that would be worthwhile following up... diligently.

[thekohser]

If Jimbo's looking for a donor advised fund, I'm surprised he doesn't just follow what his buddies at Google did, and go through Tides.org.

[HRIP7]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk ... eadline.29

I've written to them to correct the core error in the story - the false claim that this was done in response to pressure from Wikipedians. I started the process from the moment I was told about the prize, including hiring someone full-time to work on the question of how to best accomplish my goals.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 08:23, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

The report's claim that your pledge came "on the heels of intense pressure from Wikipedians themselves" is not a "core error" as you claim—it's a core fact. Proof is self-evident in the content of the Congratulations thread on this page.

As an aide memoire: your receipt of the money was reported (I think) on December 7. On December 8 you commented here, "It's pretty amazing. It's actually shared with Sir Tim Berners-Lee so not $1 million to me but still it's impressive." Pressure for comment about donating the money began with my post on December 8. Pressure on you continued on December 9 when an Emirati commented on your failure to speak out against UAE human rights abuses and said it appeared the regime had bought you for $500,000. There was further pressure from myself and another user on the same date, and pressure continued on December 10. It was not until December 11 that you finally responded, and the response was your pledge. Do you have a different reading of the timeline? Writegeist (talk) 12:12, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

As I see it, he had plenty of time to make that public pledge. He didn't, until called out on it by multiple people. Even as it is, he has a patchy record with public pledges:

Winners of Wikipedia's biggest award still haven't received prize money

And I look forward to all the "noise" Wales has promised to make about freedom of speech in the UAE:

Thanks. I don't think I said anything about open data in this context, and I completely agree with you that it is a much less pressing issue than freedom of speech. I can assure you that everything I do in this regard will be as public and noisy as I can make it.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 21:53, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

Let's hope the "everything I do in this regard" will not turn out to be "nothing", and that the overall effect will not be deafening silence.

[Vigilant]

Let's take this to a subpage where we can really examine it in earnest...

[Zoloft]

Let's take this to a subpage where we can really examine it in earnest...

Cement overshoes.

[Poetlister]

If Jimbo's looking for a donor advised fund, I'm surprised he doesn't just follow what his buddies at Google did, and go through Tides.org.

Yes, if.

[Vigilant]

If Jimbo's looking for a donor advised fund, I'm surprised he doesn't just follow what his buddies at Google did, and go through Tides.org.

Yes, if.

He doesn't want to get Tide (HA!) up with a real charity that might actually try to get that money.
He needs a fake charity that runs poorly and never gets around to taking the filthy lucre so he can tell the faithful, "I tried, but it was just *too* hard to do it...so I spent it on Russian massage parlors...again." :deep, thoughtful, sigh:

[Writegeist]

The Congratulations thread hots up. (See comments in section under subhead After criticism, Jimmy Wales pledges $500k prize to charity" (headline).)

Wales, pants now well and truly on fire, idiotically continues to fan the flames:

" . . . the false claim that this [the pledge] was done in response to pressure from Wikipedians.

"Look, your pants . . .":

The report's claim that your pledge came "on the heels of intense pressure from Wikipedians themselves" is not a "core error" as you claim—it's a core fact. Proof is self-evident in the content of the Congratulations thread on this page.

Members of the crack Blazing Pants Sycophants brigade circle around the stricken leader in an effort to conceal the obvious:

To arrive at your conclusion, you must rely on the silly assumption that nothing can occur without it being reported on this page. — Deli nk (T-C-L)

I find the inability of some to AGF of your actions and the things you say to be one of the most discouraging things about Wikipedia. — MONGO (T-C-L)

I have to agree with MONGO above — John Carter (T-C-L)

I agree with Deli NL and MONGO above, and generally with John Carter — Smallbones (T-C-L)

Irrespective of what came before, your comments certainly resemble trolling now. — David Levy (T-C-L) (in reply to my setting the crooked record straight yet again)

Just because one event followed another one does not mean the first caused the second. — 0x0077BE (T-C-L)

Fact: Some people are so busy assuming that Jimbo is evil that they lose sight of the obvious, that accusing Jimbo of lying about having someone already identified and in post before the award was even announced is ridiculous, tendentious and unworthy, just like most of what is written about Jimbo by people who obsessively use the term co-founder. — Guy (so distraught about the cofounder's pants that he invents a purely imaginary accusation)

[HRIP7]

Check the latest update to the Daily Dot piece.

In an email to the Daily Dot, Wales specifies that he never planned to keep the money and will use the funds to start his own foundation dedicated to furthering human rights.

Well, that means he doesn't have to give the money away to anyone else, doesn't it.

Is it overly jaundiced of me to fear that this foundation will mainly fund him, his travel expenses and his $70,000-per-event speeches?

Ah well. Perhaps I'm wrong. Time will tell.

[Vigilant]

Check the latest update to the Daily Dot piece.

In an email to the Daily Dot, Wales specifies that he never planned to keep the money and will use the funds to start his own foundation dedicated to furthering human rights.

Well, that means he doesn't have to give the money away to anyone else, doesn't it.

Is it overly jaundiced of me to fear that this foundation will mainly fund him, his travel expenses and his $70,000-per-event speeches?

Ah well. Perhaps I'm wrong. Time will tell.

Well, I called that.
He doesn't want a real charity involved since he'd have to actually give them the money.

On the hilarious side, I'm sure his new "foundation" will be just as effective and efficient as his other ventures.

[HRIP7]

Note that the headline has changed from

After criticism, Jimmy Wales pledges $500k prize to charity

to

Jimmy Wales pledges $500k UAE award to human rights causes

[SB_Johnny]

Check the latest update to the Daily Dot piece.

In an email to the Daily Dot, Wales specifies that he never planned to keep the money and will use the funds to start his own foundation dedicated to furthering human rights.

Well, that means he doesn't have to give the money away to anyone else, doesn't it.

Is it overly jaundiced of me to fear that this foundation will mainly fund him, his travel expenses and his $70,000-per-event speeches?

Ah well. Perhaps I'm wrong. Time will tell.

Well, I called that.
He doesn't want a real charity involved since he'd have to actually give them the money.

On the hilarious side, I'm sure his new "foundation" will be just as effective and efficient as his other ventures.

Presumably Russian Syrian massage parlor expenses will be covered for the Sole Founder of this brave new foundation as he brings the good news of wikitruth and wikiality to the hopefully-not-unwashed employees of said massage parlors.

[thekohser]

Wow, you guys are really harsh on this Jimbo guy!

[HRIP7]

Wow, you guys are really harsh on this Jimbo guy!

Not as harsh as Eric Corbett.

[JCM]

Check the latest update to the Daily Dot piece.

In an email to the Daily Dot, Wales specifies that he never planned to keep the money and will use the funds to start his own foundation dedicated to furthering human rights.

Well, that means he doesn't have to give the money away to anyone else, doesn't it.

Is it overly jaundiced of me to fear that this foundation will mainly fund him, his travel expenses and his $70,000-per-event speeches?

Ah well. Perhaps I'm wrong. Time will tell.

I hope you are wrong. Having said that, considering the deplorable status of human rights in some parts of the world, and the attempts of the governments in many of those parts of the world to limit access to outside information, even if much of the money goes to paying for travel and other expenses for his own speeches, that wouldn't be the worst thing he could do with the money. He does have a bit of a reputation as someone related to a project which is supposed to be open to everyone, and that reputation might help some proposals or actions he might take get attention. Maybe. I don't know, and am not really sure how productive it might be, but maybe.

And, honestly, pardon me for being cynical, I don't know that there is that much that can really be done in the world with only half a million dollars anyway. I'm sure a lot of the rest of you already know how a lot of the money and resources to charities for aid to Africa in recent years has wound up in the hands of repressive governments to allow individuals and small quantities of goods from those charities to be given out to the people.

[HRIP7]

Check the latest update to the Daily Dot piece.

In an email to the Daily Dot, Wales specifies that he never planned to keep the money and will use the funds to start his own foundation dedicated to furthering human rights.

Well, that means he doesn't have to give the money away to anyone else, doesn't it.

Is it overly jaundiced of me to fear that this foundation will mainly fund him, his travel expenses and his $70,000-per-event speeches?

Ah well. Perhaps I'm wrong. Time will tell.

I hope you are wrong. Having said that, considering the deplorable status of human rights in some parts of the world, and the attempts of the governments in many of those parts of the world to limit access to outside information, even if much of the money goes to paying for travel and other expenses for his own speeches, that wouldn't be the worst thing he could do with the money. He does have a bit of a reputation as someone related to a project which is supposed to be open to everyone, and that reputation might help some proposals or actions he might take get attention. Maybe. I don't know, and am not really sure how productive it might be, but maybe.

And, honestly, pardon me for being cynical, I don't know that there is that much that can really be done in the world with only half a million dollars anyway. I'm sure a lot of the rest of you already know how a lot of the money and resources to charities for aid to Africa in recent years has wound up in the hands of repressive governments to allow individuals and small quantities of goods from those charities to be given out to the people.

I'm sure Amnesty, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch or Reporters Without Borders could put the money to good use. Don't you think?