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| Most Wikipedia 'arbitrators' don't even show up |
Imagine a major media company in which the senior management is too busy at other things to do their jobs.
This company is owned by a holding company that disclaims responsibility for content.
Together, they are a powerful, well-funded media combine that rejoices in their deficiencies and are happy to admit that there is no accountability for what is on their website, no supervision of editors and writers
They can but refuse to prevent their website from becoming a propaganda tool in the war against Israel.
I have just described Wikipedia.
The 40 Jewish organizations that wrote the Wikimedia Foundation (the "holding company" above) to demand an investigation into the infamous "ADL is unreliable" decision were stunned into silence when the Wikimedia Foundation firmly rebuffed their appeal.
What they don't get is that Wikipedia is intentionally mismanaged. Mismanagement is not a bug. It is a feature. Lack of accountability is marbled into the system. Wikipedia's overseers don't want to fix its problems. Even the volunteer "arbitrators" tasked with doing so are largely indifferent.
That is why Wikipedia is vulnerable to exploitation by determined pro-Hamas, anti-Israel and antisemitic operatives, professional and volunteer propagandists that I call the "Wikipedia Flood."
That is why people who complain to Wikipedia, no matter how distinguished or influential, are told to pound sand. That is why Wikipedia shrugs off negative press attention. Organizations that are not accountable do that, whether they are Al Qaeda, the Sinaloa Cartel, or Wikipedia.
The shunning of responsibility by the so-called "Arbitration Committee," the highest Wikipedia tribunal, is the topic of a conversation currently underway on a Wikipedia discussion page. Here is a permalink to that discussion.
The "arbs" hold actual power and are in a position to stem the Wikipedia Flood. They've been asked to do so.
Last month I posted an item on this blog describing how the "arbs" were asked to address misconduct by pro-Hamas editors. But as can be seen from the discussion captured at the top of this page, in the six weeks since that case has been pending 9 of the 13 arbs haven't even shown up to discuss the case! Only four have shown up, and only one has made a substantive contribution.
With most arbitrators too busy or lazy to care, the Wikipedia Flood has been granted a victory by default.
Here's a permalink to the Arbitration case page as it currently appears. As you can see, the Wikipedia Flood quickly descended on the page with word salads, diversions, threats and meaningless "data." The anti-Zionist contingent wore down everyone else with the sheer gusto of their nitpicky argumentation, and the case is petering out.
The pro-Hamas editors know that "pounding away" works. It deters "the enemy" from speaking out, while persuading the arbs that the whole thing is just too darn complicated to take up their valuable time. One of their most persuasive tricks is to provide reams of meaningless "data" designed to "prove" that everything is just fine.
They also divert the arbs by claiming that the occasional appearance of easily countered vandals, or "sockpuppets," is the real problem, if there is problem.
The pro-Hamas crew are experienced operatives and know how to work the system. Brushing off "arbcom" has been a slam-dunk.
The Wikimedia Foundation is perfectly aware that "arbcom" is not going to lift a finger to stop the Wikipedia Flood.
So when they told the ADL and the Conference of Presidents that "neither the Board or the Foundation make content decisions on Wikipedia. A community of volunteers makes these decisions subject to Wikipedia’s terms of use,” what they are basically saying is that there is no accountability on Wikipedia, no matter how much it is abused by pro-Hamas propagandists.
This means that there are two ways of fighting the Flood.
One way is to get in there and edit the articles that the Flood is attacking. I've posted a blog item describing how to do that.
The other is to work actively against Wikimedia Foundation fundraising until and unless Wikipedia or the Foundation takes meaningful action against pro-Hamas operatives. There is usually a big fundraising push at the end of the year.
Don't just not give them money. Urge others not to do so.
Defund Wikipedia.
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