Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Talk:Devon Archer

2020-10-12T04:52:55Z

FirstAmendment: sp

This article is very confusing and may have two paragraphs accidentally dropped in from a different article. How do Whitey Bolger and John Durham relate to Devon Archer? There may be a connection, but the article does not contain any linkage. Should the Bolger and Durham paragraphs be deleted? Thanks, [[User:FirstAmendment|FirstAmendment]] ([[User talk:FirstAmendment|talk]]) 00:52, 12 October 2020 (EDT)

Talk:Devon Archer

2020-10-12T04:52:11Z

FirstAmendment: two misplaced paragraphs?

This article is very confusing and may have two paragraphs accidentally dropped in from a different article. How do Whitey Bolger and John Durham related to Devon Archer? There may be a connection, but the article does not contain any linkage. Should the Bolger and Durham paragraphs be deleted? Thanks, [[User:FirstAmendment|FirstAmendment]] ([[User talk:FirstAmendment|talk]]) 00:52, 12 October 2020 (EDT)

Evergreen State College

2020-10-09T10:38:27Z

FirstAmendment: Academics

{{University
|name=Evergreen State College
|background=Green
|text=white
|type=Public
|city=Olympia, Washington
|size= 4,089<ref name=facts>http://www.evergreen.edu/institutionalresearch/factpage</ref>
|faculty=229<ref name=facts/>
|sports=Basketball, Volleyball, Track and Field, and Soccer<ref>http://gogeoducks.com/</ref>
|colors=Green and White
|mascot=Speedy, a [[Geoduck]]
|website=[http://www.evergreen.edu/ www.evergreen.edu]
|endowment=$8,582,189<ref>The Evergreen State College Foundation audited financials for fiscal 2013-2014</ref>
}}
'''Evergreen State College''' is a public liberal [[art]]s college located near [[Olympia]], [[Washington]].

==History==
The Council of Presidents of Washington State baccalaureate institutions wrote a report in 1964 stating that another college was needed in the state to balance the geographical distribution of the existing state institutions. Following further feasibility studies, the state legislature passed a law creating a new state college stipulating that the campus should be no smaller than 600 acres, making it then the largest campus in the state as well as the first public four-year college created in Washington in the 20th century. Classes started in 1971 with 1128 students. Charles J. McCann was the founding President of Evergreen until June 1977. Daniel J. Evans, who as Governor signed the legislation creating Evergreen, became President. Evans left the president's office abruptly in 1983 when he was appointed to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy created by the death of Senator Henry M. Jackson.

===2017 protests===
[[File:Evergreen clocktower.jpg|thumb|right|Campus Clock Tower]]
In some past years, students staged a "Day of Absence" event where African-American students held events off campus to make the other students realize how much they contribute overall to the college. In 2017, students proposed that the white students refrain from conducting classes or events on campus as the "Day of Absence."<ref name=highered>Jaschik , Scott. (May 30, 2017). "[https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/05/30/escalating-debate-race-evergreen-state-students-demand-firing-professor Who Defines What Is Racist?]", ''[[Inside Higher Ed]]''. Retrieved June 3, 2017.</ref> Biology Professor Bret Weinstein publicly objected to the change<ref name=highered /> and wrote a piece for ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]''. The Administration told him he would not be safe on campus, so he held his class off-campus in a park. In response, African-American students demanded that Prof. Weinstein be fired. Because local law enforcement received credible threats of terrorism, the campus was completely closed on June 1 and 2.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/jun/01/lawmaker-targets-evergreen-college-money-amid-race/|title=
Threat closes Evergreen State College after protests over race|date=June 1, 2017|accessdate=June 2, 2017}}</ref> Additional threats were received over the weekend, and police closed the campus on June 5 until 3 p.m.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.evergreen.edu/news/post/olympia-campus-reopens-monday-june-5|title=Olympia Campus Reopens Monday, June 5|work=evergreen.edu|date=June 5, 2017|accessdate=June 6. 2017}}</ref> Students also occupied the President's office for two hours.<ref name=times/>

In response to student protests, the President promised to hire senior administrators who are minorities and to provide great latitudes for Native Americans who wish to "cook and eat Native foods in freedom."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.evergreen.edu/news/post/response-student-issues|title=Response to Student Issues|date=May 26, 2017|accessdate=June 3, 2017}}</ref>

On June 2, 2017, 15 members of the Washington State House introduced a bill to convert Evergreen State into a private college.<ref name=bill>{{cite web|url=http://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2221&Year=2017|title= HB 2221 - 2017-18: Transitioning The Evergreen State College to a private four-year institution of higher education.|accessdate=June 18, 2017}}</ref> The same bill was reintroduced in the 2018 legislative session.<ref name=bill/> On June 6, the school announced the relocation of its graduation out of concern for possible demonstrations or disruptions.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://komonews.com/news/local/classes-resume-at-evergreen-state-as-graduation-is-moved|title=Classes resume at Evergreen State as graduation is moved|work=KOMO News|date=June 6, 2017|accessdate=June 17, 2017}}</ref> On June 15, an off-campus group called "[[Patriot Prayer]]" together with conservative Evergreen students marched on campus and got into a violent confrontation with a group of counter-demonstrators that was broken up by State Police.<ref name=times>{{cite news|url=https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/06/16/us/evergreen-state-protests.html|title=A Campus Argument Goes Viral. Now the College Is Under Siege.|date=June 16, 2017|accessdate=June 18, 2017|work=New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/06/16/protest-and-counterprotest-evergreen-state|title=Protest and Counterprotest at Evergreen State|date=June 16, 2017|accessdate=June 18, 2017|work=Inside Higher Ed}}</ref> The June 16, 2017 graduation ceremony was moved to a minor league baseball stadium in Tacoma Washington, where all participants passed through metal detectors. The rental of the stadium together with security and bus transportation cost the school $100,000.<ref name=times/> The ceremony proceeded without disruption. The theme was “In a time of destruction, create something.” a quote by Maxine Hong Kingston, and the graduating class charity was Stand with Standing Rock, a grassroots movement that began in early 2016 in reaction to the approved Dakota Access Pipeline.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.evergreen.edu/graduation/theme-speaker|title=Graduation Commencement Ceremony|accessdate=June 18, 2017}}</ref>

In July 2017, Weinstein and his wife, Anthropology Professor Heather Heying, filed a $3.85 million tort claim against the college. In September, Weinstein, Heying and the college reached a settlement for $500,000 with Weinstein and Heying resigning from the faculty.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cooperpointjournal.com/2017/09/26/school-settles-weinstein-resigns/|title=School Settles|date=September 26, 2017|accessdate=January 22, 2018}}</ref>

Concurrently, student Resident Advisors living in the dorms form an informal organization called RAFT (which was not a union) which presented demands in May regarding working conditions, racism, and pay. When RAFT's demands were not met, they went on strike. Over the summer, the striking RAFT members were mostly terminated for failure to perform their jobs and their meal plans were canceled and they were ordered to vacate their dorm rooms.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cooperpointjournal.com/2017/09/26/resident-assistants-on-strike-resident-assistants-fighting-for-tomorrow-ends-in-mass-firing/|title=Resident Assistants on Strike|date=September 26, 2017|accessdate=January 22, 2018}}</ref>

==Academic program==
Students follow one of 11 curated Paths of Study or design their own program. At the end of each course, the student writes an self-evaluation called a "Academic Statement" and then the professor writes a "critical evaluation." There are no letter grades. Prior to the 2017 protests, the faculty established pipelines with various graduate schools that enabled Evergreen undergraduates to use their faculty recommendations to get accepted into programs to continue education. However, since 2017, the loss of established faculty and the decline in use of standardized tests for graduate admission has diminished the value of an Evergreen undergraduate degree.<ref name=academics>{{cite web|url=https://www.evergreen.edu/academics|title=Academics|accessdate=October 9, 2020}}</ref>

Evergreen's Native Pathways Program is for students who are connected and involved within Native American or Indigenous communities and culture. It "provides opportunities to learn through western and indigenous pedagogy, while maintaining and promoting an indigenous worldview."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.evergreen.edu/nativepathways|title=Native Pathways Program|accessdate=October 9, 2020}}</ref>

Evergreen offers three advanced degrees:
*Master of Environmental Studies
*Master of Public Administration
*Master in Teaching<ref name=academics/>
==Student body==
The college has a 98% acceptance rate, making it one of the least selective colleges in the nation.<ref>[https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/evergreen-state-college-8155/applying US News Report]</ref> The average GPA for freshmen admitted in 2015 was 3.15. The average SAT composite (critical reading and math) score was 1084 and the average ACT composite test score was 24. The SAT writing test and subject tests are not required.<ref>http://www.evergreen.edu/admissions/requirements/freshman</ref> Twenty-six percent of the students are students of color, and 60% of students hold down a job while going to school.<ref>http://www.evergreen.edu/about/facts</ref>

==Famous alumni==
*[[Rachel Corrie]]
*[[Matt Groening]] creator of the Simpsons

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Washington Universities]]
[[Category:Liberal Organizations]]

Category:Wisconsin Universities

2020-10-08T18:09:04Z

FirstAmendment: start cat

[[Category:United States Universities]]

Marquette University

2020-10-08T18:08:28Z

FirstAmendment: /* External links */ fix cat

{{University
|name=Marquette University
|image=
|text=rgb(0,27,79)
|background=rgb(252,201,23)
|type=Private
|city=Milwaukee, Wisconsin
|sports=basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, track and field, volleyball<ref>http://gomarquette.cstv.com/index-main.html</ref>
|size=11,800<ref name=AboutMarquette>{{cite web|title=Marquette University|url=https://www.marquette.edu/about/|publisher=MarquetteUniversity|accessdate=October 8, 2020}}</ref>
|colors=gold, blue, white
|mascot=Golden Eagles
| endowment = $698.0 million (2019)<ref>As of June 30, 2019. {{cite web |url=https://www.nacubo.org/-/media/Nacubo/Documents/EndowmentFiles/2019-Endowment-Market-Values--Final-Feb-10.ashx? |title=U.S. and Canadian 2019 NTSE Participating Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2019 Endowment Market Value, and Percentage Change in Market Value from FY18 to FY19 (Revised) |publisher=National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA |accessdate=October 8, 2020}}</ref>
|website=http://www.mu.edu/
}}
'''Marquette University''' is a private [[Jesuit]] [[school]] located in Milwaukee, [[Wisconsin]]. It was named after Father [[Jacques Marquette]], a missionary and explorer of the 1600s.<ref>http://www.marquette.edu/omc/newsroom/news/prFrMarqStat9-19-05.shtml</ref>

In 2020, Marquette's black student counsel demanded a “Black Living Learning Community” and ways to punish “hate speech.” This has prompted criticism for illegal housing segregation and for violating First Amendment Rights.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thecollegefix.com/marquette-explores-blacks-only-housing-plan-hate-speech-punishment/|title=Marquette explores blacks-only housing plan, hate speech punishment|date=October 6, 2020|accessdate=October 8, 2020}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://marquette.edu/ Marquette University official site]

{{Nb_US_universities|Wisconsin‎}}

2020-10-05T01:49:05Z

FirstAmendment: link

'''Politically correct renaming''' refers to the form of mind control that confuses and undermines a person's self-confidence by altering familiar frames of reference. Society tends to honor historic figures by applying their name to cities, rivers, colleges, professorships or buildings. In some cases, the naming is due to a donation and in other cases it is an expression of gratitude or tribute to virtue. In this way, society designates the person as an example of virtue. Similarly, the person honored builds his image, brand or reputation.

[[Critical race theory]] demands a re-examination of naming decisions, particularly with regard to whether the honored individual held beliefs that would not be acceptable in today's society. If a person owned slaves during a time that slavery was legal and an acceptable form of investment, such ownership under this theory makes the person unworthy of present-day honor and the name must be changed. Instead of acknowledging that people are very complicated with both virtues worth celebrating along with failings, historic figures must be erased at the slightest provocation. This is an application of [[cancel culture]] to a target that does not have a present career.

Some protestors seeking to erase these historic figures have defaced or vandalizes statues or markers commemorating them. In response, President Trump signed an Executive Order on Protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues and Combating Recent Criminal Violence.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-protecting-american-monuments-memorials-statues-combating-recent-criminal-violence/|title=Executive Order on Protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues and Combating Recent Criminal Violence|date=June 24, 2020|accessdate=2020-09-10}}</ref>

== Examples ==
Local [[Democratic Party]] units held a nation-wide series of fundraising dinners called the [[Jefferson Jackson Dinner]]. These events have been renamed, for example as "Blue Victory Dinners."

The [[Jefferson Davis Highway]] was a national road designed before highway route numbers became common in response to the designation of a coast-to-coast [[Lincoln Highway]] through northern states. Local governments are now renaming their segments of the Jefferson Davis Highway.

In 1971, the portion of California Route 90 between [[Interstate 405]] and Marina Del Ray was named in honor of President [[Richard Nixon]]. In 1976, following [[Watergate]], the freeway was renamed the Marina Freeway.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/11/nixon-freeway-michael-jackson-auditorium-some-questionable-la-names.html|title=Nixon Freeway? Michael Jackson Auditorium? Some L.A. place names are no longer|date=November 14, 2010|accessdate=2020-09-11|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

In 1944, Liberty Hyde Bailey named an area of the [[Cornell University]] campus the "Cornell Plantations" to serve as a botanic teaching area. That department earned an international reputation. In response to the demands of black students who claimed the word "plantations" reminded them of slavery, it was renamed the "Cornell Bonatic Gardens".<ref name=plant>{{cite news|url=https://dailycaller.com/2016/08/28/cornell-university-renames-cornell-plantations/|title=Cornell University Renames ‘Cornell Plantations’|date=August 28, 2016|accessdate=2020-09-10}}</ref> In 2010, [[Rhode Island]] voters rejected a constitutional amendment to change the state’s official name, "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations".<ref name=plant/>

[[Princeton University]] honored [[Woodrow Wilson]], who served as both President of Princeton and of the United States, by naming its public policy school after him. In 2020, Princeton removed his name from the school.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/27/nyregion/princeton-university-woodrow-wilson.html|title=Princeton Will Remove Woodrow Wilson’s Name From School|first=Bryan|last=Pietsch
|date=June 27, 2020|work=New York Times|accesdate=2020-09-11}}</ref>

Student protestors demanded that [[Washington and Lee University]] change its name even though [[Robert E. Lee]] served as President of that school. The school faculty voted to support dropping the name.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2020/07/07/washington-and-lee-faculty-vote-to-remove-lee-from-universitys-name/#78292eda7c87|title=Washington And Lee Faculty Vote To Remove ‘Lee’ From University’s Name|date=July 7, 2020|accessdate=2020-09-10}}</ref> Arlington Virginia officials voted to rename Washington and Lee High School "Washington Liberty High School."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.asumag.com/facilities-management/business-finance/article/20856838/in-arlington-va-washingtonlee-high-school-is-renamed-washington-liberty-high|title=In Arlington, Va., Washington-Lee High School is renamed Washington Liberty High|date=January 11, 2019|accessdate=2020-09-11}}</ref>

SUNY New Paltz renamed six buildings that were named after former slaveholders.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.asumag.com/facilities-management/article/20857000/suny-new-paltz-is-renaming-6-buildings-that-carried-slaveowner-names|title=SUNY New Paltz is renaming 6 buildings that carried slaveowner names|date=April 2, 2019|accessdate=2020-09-11}}</ref>

One of the twelve residential colleges at [[Yale University]] was named in honor of U.S. Vice President [[John C. Calhoun]], a proponent of slavery and states rights. In 2017, Yale renamed it for Grace Murray Hopper, a Yale alumna and a pioneering computer scientist.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.asumag.com/facilities-management/business-finance/article/20853691/yale-university-reverses-decision-renames-calhoun-college|title=Yale University reverses decision, renames Calhoun College|date= Feb. 13, 2017|accessdate=2020-09-11}}</ref>

In California, a number of streets and buildings were named for Father [[Junipero Serra|Junípero Serra]] who established a string of missions along the California coast. Activists are demanding name changes in light of his mistreatment of the indigenous population. In 2019 [[Stanford University]]’s Serra House where the [[Clayman Institute for Gender Research]] is located was renamed the [[Carolyn Attneave|Carolyn Lewis Attneave House]].<ref name=mercury>{{cite news|first=Jason |last=Green |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/03/01/stanford-renames-buildings-for-sally-ride-carolyn-attneave/amp/ |title=Stanford renames buildings for Sally Ride, Carolyn Attneave |work=Mercurynews.com |date=2019 |accessdate=2020-09-10}}</ref> That same year, [[Stanford University]]’s other Serra House located in Lucie Stern Hall was renamed the [[Sally Ride]] House.<ref name=mercury/> It was formerly named after Serra.<ref name=mercury/>

David Starr Jordan was a [[Indiana University]] professor of zoology from 1875 to 1885 and then served as IU's seventh President from 1885 to 1891. He then left to be founding president of [[Stanford University]]. Jordan Hall, Jordan River, Jordan Avenue and the Jordan Parking Garage were all named in his honor. On July 2, 2020, an IU committee was appointed to consider renaming these because some people disagree with certain statements and views that Jordan held.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.iu.edu/stories/2020/07/iub/releases/02-jordan-review-committee-appointed.htm|title=Committee appointed to review Jordan namings on IU Bloomington campus|date=July 2, 2020|accessdate=2020-09-10}}</ref>

[[Millard Fillmore]] was not only thirteenth President of the United States. he was also comptroller of New York, a member of the United States House of Representatives, vice president of the United States, and founder and first Chancellor of the State University of New York at Buffalo. He was not a slaveholder. SUNY Buffalo is in the process of renaming the Millard Fillmore Academic Center, because Fillmore signed the Fugitive Slave Act while President.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/08/university-at-buffalo-removing-president-millard-fillmores-name-from-campus/#more|title=University at Buffalo Removing President Millard Fillmore’s Name From Campus|date=August 5, 2020|accessdate=2020-10-01}}</ref>

==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Bigotry]]

Wichita State University

2020-10-04T18:48:57Z

FirstAmendment: footer

{{University
| name = Wichita State University
|background=#FFD200
| type = Public
| endowment = $276.142 million (2019)<ref>As of June 30, 2019. {{cite web |url=https://www.nacubo.org/-/media/Nacubo/Documents/EndowmentFiles/2019-Endowment-Market-Values--Final-Feb-10.ashx? |title=U.S. and Canadian 2019 NTSE Participating Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2019 Endowment Market Value, and Percentage Change in Market Value from FY18 to FY19 (Revised) |publisher=National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA |access-date=July 8, 2020}}</ref>
| size = 16,058 (Fall 2019)<ref name=Enrollment>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wichita.edu/services/planning_and_analysis/documents/Enrollment_Fall_Census_OPAweb.pdf|title=Student Enrollment Factbook for Fall Census Day|publisher=Wichita State University|accessdate=July 9, 2020}}</ref>
| city = Wichita, Kansas
| mascot = WuShock
| website = www.wichita.edu
| colors = Black and Shocker Yellow
}}
'''Wichita State University''' is a public research university located in [[Wichita]] Kansas. It was founded in 1895 as Fairmont College, a private college. The city of Wichita bought the school in 1926, and it later was incorporated into the Kansas State system.

In 2020, [[Ivanka Trump]] was invited to give a virtual graduation address to WSU's technical program. However, under political pressure, President Jay Golden revoked the invitation. In turn, the Board of Regents accepted Golden's resignation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article246012950.html |title=Wichita State President Jay Golden resigns less than a year after taking over |first=Chance |last=Swaim |publisher=[[The Wichita Eagle]] |date=September 25, 2020 |accessdate=September 29, 2020}}</ref>
==References==
<references/>
{{Nb_US_universities|Kansas}}

2020-10-04T14:36:09Z

FirstAmendment: law enforcement

[[File:White privilege.jpeg|right}250px|thumb|A [[white privilege]]d [[middle class]] female confronts an [[African American]] police officer: "They're part of the problem."<ref>https://youtu.be/1hSmeFzCkUs</ref>]]
'''Critical race theory''' ('''CRT''') is a [[Postmodernist]] construct based on [[Critical theory]] that teaches that race is not [[genetic]]. Instead, race is a social construct and a basis for political struggles in the fight for racial justice.

Critical race theory provided the foundation for claims that the [[Founding Fathers]] are "[[racist]]." Critical race theory was devised by Derrick Bell, [[Barack Obama]]’s favorite Harvard professor, in the early 1980s.<ref>Fernando, Ivan (November 18, 2013). [http://diversitychronicle.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/progressive-professor-urges-white-male-students-to-commit-suicide-during-class/ "Progressive professor urges white male students to commit suicide during class"]. Diversity Chronicle website.</ref> CRT exemplifies [[Lenin]]’s strategy as applied to race. According to [[Discover the Networks]]:
{{quotebox-float|Critical race theory contends that America is permanently racist to its core, and that consequently the nation’s legal structures are, by definition, racist and invalid … members of “oppressed” racial groups are entitled—in fact obligated—to determine for themselves which laws and traditions have merit and are worth observing. …}}
Bell’s theory is in turn an innovation of [[Critical Theory]], which was developed by Marxist thinkers of the [[Frankfurt School]] in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1923. The Institute’s left-wing scholars fled Hitler’s Germany in the 1930s, relocating to [[Columbia University]] in New York. Critical Theory teaches a view that all aspects of Western society are discredited, and this view forms the foundation of what we know today as [[political correctness]]. One of its most famous purveyors was the Frankfurt School’s [[Herbert Marcuse]], longtime associate of the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]]’s [[Julian Bond]]. Marcuse invented the concept of “partisan tolerance,” that is, [[tolerance]] for leftist ideas and [[intolerance]] of all others. The Southern Poverty Law Center applied Marcuse’s strategy in developing its “Hate Watch” list, and ''[[Rules for Radicals]]'' author [[Saul Alinsky]] used it in his own life’s work.

==Criticism==
Peter M. Burfeind writes,<ref>https://thefederalist.com/2020/09/24/why-black-lives-matter-only-empowers-racist-white-leftists/</ref>
{{quotebox|[[Black Lives Matter]] is the operational arm of “critical race theory,” the [[postmodern]] philosophy of “critical theory” applied to race. Critical theory suffers an inescapable [[epistemology|epistemological]] conundrum. It’s the Liar’s Paradox: If a Cretan says all Cretans are liars, is he to be believed? [...]

So, who came up with critical theory? You got it: white men. Or do you not recognize in [[Immanuel Kant]], [[Karl Marx]], [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]], [[Michel Foucault]], Jean Baudrillard, Ferdinand de Saussure, George Herbert Mead, [[Noam Chomsky]], Hans-Georg Gadamer, [[Roland Barthes]], and [[Jacques Derrida]], a whiteness the lilies themselves would envy. Should we not add critical theory to the list of oppressive systems dead white men came up with to advance [[white supremacy |white power]]? [...]

According to its own terms, critical race theory must be racist. Furthermore, Black Lives Matter, the political movement based on its theories, must also be racist—and not black racism, but white racism. At a deep, subconscious level, it serves the purpose of advancing and enhancing “white privilege.”

How else do you explain rich white kids screeching venom at black [[police]] officers and business owners?<ref>https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/tyler-o-neil/2020/06/23/watch-white-blm-protester-calls-black-cop-n-word-in-profane-tirade-n567409</ref> Or how else do you explain that the theorist who’s been most empowered by critical race theory is white author Robin DiAngelo?

Ruminate on the sad indisputability of this statement for a moment: Something in the [[leftist]]s’ minds needs to keep minorities from finding [[hope]] and advancing in existent American “systems.”

Meanwhile, of necessity by the terms of critical race theory, the flip side of this dynamic is going on. Leftists feel the [[new world order]] will advance their wills to power. Now, at the subconscious level, leftists don’t know they’re doing this. They may reject they’re doing this — because they have [[white fragility]]. Or, more accurately, they are projecting onto others what they themselves are.

They are truly the racists, as they always have been. And here’s sort of an obvious point: They’re telling everyone this now. This is exactly what they’re currently saying: “We’re all racist.” To which I say, “Speak for yourself, but interesting what you’re saying.” [...]

Who do you suppose will benefit most from that new regime of [[civil rights]] law? Sounds like a nice system if you’re an upper-middle-class white leftist. That’s because it is. It’s exactly as critical race theory proposes. “Whites gonna white,” says the theory, so how can the theory itself be anything other than the latest vehicle for whites to empower themselves?

The evidence bears this out. The left has had decades of power and control of our cities, [[academia]], and [[media]]. They’ve had ample opportunities to demonstrate the wonders of their ideas. Yet all we see is the [[systemic racism|perpetuation of the very things they decry]], while they gain more and more power.

For decades, we’ve been told all the [[violence]] and ugliness spawned by leftism are merely the birth pangs of a new system. Well, how long do you leftists need to give birth? Enough already! Give us a taste of the glories of the New World in your [[Democrat urban issues|urban microcosms]]!

Or maybe, as Maya Angelou said, “When someone shows you who he is, believe him.” Leftists are outing themselves as racists complicit in perpetuating systems of oppression. Maybe we should believe them. [...]

Perhaps an honest appraisal of critical race theory is in order, so we can liberate ourselves from the sticky epistemological tentacles of a nonsensical theory. Unfortunately, writ into the DNA of its axioms is the deconstruction of rational dialogue — that too, you see, is just another tool of white privilege. Leftism can’t have room for questions.

We could extol what is by and large a just system for the advancement of anyone who applies himself and works hard — the American system. Individuals in that system could be spending their days in hope and personal achievement using the liberties available to them in this country. Or we could have a healthy discussion about race as it relates to traditional American principles.

Yet instead, we’ll just have to wait for the virus of critical race theory to work its [[nihilism|nihilistic]] destruction on the black community, while whites sit on the sidelines with their shut, masked mouths, on bended knee, advancing their privilege.}}
==Higher Education==
CRT has affected higher education in a number of ways,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cyber.harvard.edu/bridge/CriticalTheory/critical4.htm|title=Critical Race Theory|accessdate=October 3, 2020}}</ref> and many critics claimed that higher education was the breeding ground for the theory prior to its spread into general society. CRT has been developed and spread in a large number of academic papers, with journal editors showing a preference for analysis that promotes CRT relative to other theoretical frameworks.

In terms of faculty hiring, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Law of 1964, discrimination on the basis of race in hiring and promotion is illegal, however CRT adherents advocated that color-blind hiring and promotion practices must be abandoned because of the inherent "institutional racism" embedded in traditional views of academic standards and quality. Some universities reallocated budgets to create special minority hiring funds. Under this arrangement, academic departments could use color-blind hiring as vacancies occurred, but that separate funding would be made available from the central fund for additional raced-based hiring.

Starting in the 1980s, campuses began to adopt "speech codes" seeking to limit student speech that black students would find hurtful without a corresponding limitation on speech that majority students would find hurtful. CRT provided a rational for limiting traditional First Amendment rights of college students and staff.

In contrast with the 1960s, when the Civil Rights Movement fought to integrate campus housing, including fraternities and sororities, CRT has promoted "safe spaces" and segregated campus housing for minority students.
==Religion==
According to the [[Alabama]]-based '''Capstone Report''', Critical race theory has made its way into some of the [[Southern Baptist Convention]]'s (SBC) seminaries. At its 2019 Annual Meeting, messengers to the SBC narrowly passed Resolution 9, which stated that CRT (along with [[intersectionality]], another controversial construct) could be "useful tools" in interpreting modern issues (though it pointed out that any such use not impinge on [[Biblical inerrancy]] or infallibility).

In response, a [[Conservative Baptist Network]] was formed in February 2020 to battle the spread of CRT within the SBC. It is concerned that CRT has overwhelmed the proper Baptist emphasis on evangelism and spiritual renewal.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/conservative-baptist-network-launched-amid-woke-trend-in-sbc-emphasizing-scripture-evangelism.html|date=FEBRUARY 14, 2020|title=Conservative Baptist Network launched amid 'woke' trend in SBC, emphasizing Scripture, evangelism|accessdate=October 3, 2020}}</ref>

Theologian [[Tim Keller]] has noted: {{quotebox|The distinctly secular theory of justice locates evil in the wrong place, he added, seeing all injustice as occurring on a human level, demonizing human being instead of recognizing evil forces — "the world, the flesh, the devil" operating in every human being (Ephesians 6:12).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/critical-theory-is-not-biblical-justice-it-locates-evil-in-the-wrong-place-tim-keller-explains.html|title=Critical theory is not biblical justice, it locates evil in the wrong place: Tim Keller explains|date=August 13, 2020|accessdate=October 3, 2020}}</ref>}}
==Law enforcement==
Under traditional theories, the goal of law enforcement was the adoption of clear rules of conduct and then enforcing those rules in a color-blind manner. Because law enforcement officials have to make split-second decisions that could result in serious bodily harm or death, most states adopted qualified immunity statutes to protect individual law enforcement officers from liability for such injuries. In contrast, CRT sees all events and interactions as involving race and the exercise of power to subjugate racial groups. Accordingly, CRT justifies movements to "defund the police" and to repeal qualified immunity for law enforcement.

==Trump Administration==
On September 4, 2020, President Trump ordered federal executive branch departments to halt employee training based upon critical race theory. Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote a memo announcing Trump's instruction to stop using controversial forms of training on “critical race theory,” “white privilege” and “any other training or propaganda effort that teaches or suggests either...that the United States is an inherently racist or evil country or...that any race or ethnicity is inherently racist or evil.” Vought added, “These types of ‘trainings’ not only run counter to the fundamental beliefs for which our Nation has stood since its inception, but they also engender division and resentment within the Federal workforce."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-ends-critical-race-theory-training-federal-employees|title=Trump ends 'critical race theory' training for federal employees, calls it a 'sickness'|date=September 5, 2020|work=Fox News|accessdate=2020-09-05}}</ref> Vought's memo concludes:
{{quotebox| The divisive, false, and demeaning propaganda of the critical race theory movement is
contrary to all we stand for as Americans and should have no place in the Federal government.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/M-20-34.pdf|title=MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES M20-34|date=September 4, 2020|accessdate=2020-09-05}}</ref>}}

On September 22, 2020, President Trump followed up with an Executive Order on "Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-race-sex-stereotyping/|title=Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping
|date=September 22, 2020|accessdate=October 3, 2020}}</ref> The Executive Order prohibits teaching CRT to the Uniformed Services or requiring members of the Uniformed Services from being sanctions for refusing agree with CRT. All federal government contractors are prohibited from using CRT-based trainings. Entities that receive federal grants are also prohibited. The Executive Order recognizes the inconsistency between CRT and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Attorney General must research how CRT could establish a hostile work environment prohibited by Title VII.
==Bibliography==
* [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/147980276X/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl Delgado, Richard. Critical Race Theory, Third Edition. NYU Press. Kindle Edition]
* [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1442216042/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl Thompson, Sherwood. Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Kindle Edition]
* [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1634312023/ref=as_li_tl Pluckrose, Helen & James Lindsay, CYNICAL THEORIES: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity―and Why This Harms Everybody. Pitchstone Publishing.]

==References==
{{reflist}}
==See also==
* [[Critical legal studies]]
*[[1619 Project]]
==External links==
* [https://newdiscourses.com/tftw-critical-race-theory/ Social Justice Encyclopedia]
{{communism}}
[[Category:Postmodernism]]
[[Category:Marxism]]
[[Category:Racism]]

Critical race theory

2020-10-04T10:22:38Z

FirstAmendment: expand

[[File:White privilege.jpeg|right}250px|thumb|A [[white privilege]]d [[middle class]] female confronts an [[African American]] police officer: "They're part of the problem."<ref>https://youtu.be/1hSmeFzCkUs</ref>]]
'''Critical race theory''' ('''CRT''') is a [[Postmodernist]] construct based on [[Critical theory]] that teaches that race is not [[genetic]]. Instead, race is a social construct and a basis for political struggles in the fight for racial justice.

Critical race theory provided the foundation for claims that the [[Founding Fathers]] are "[[racist]]." Critical race theory was devised by Derrick Bell, [[Barack Obama]]’s favorite Harvard professor, in the early 1980s.<ref>Fernando, Ivan (November 18, 2013). [http://diversitychronicle.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/progressive-professor-urges-white-male-students-to-commit-suicide-during-class/ "Progressive professor urges white male students to commit suicide during class"]. Diversity Chronicle website.</ref> CRT exemplifies [[Lenin]]’s strategy as applied to race. According to [[Discover the Networks]]:
{{quotebox-float|Critical race theory contends that America is permanently racist to its core, and that consequently the nation’s legal structures are, by definition, racist and invalid … members of “oppressed” racial groups are entitled—in fact obligated—to determine for themselves which laws and traditions have merit and are worth observing. …}}
Bell’s theory is in turn an innovation of [[Critical Theory]], which was developed by Marxist thinkers of the [[Frankfurt School]] in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1923. The Institute’s left-wing scholars fled Hitler’s Germany in the 1930s, relocating to [[Columbia University]] in New York. Critical Theory teaches a view that all aspects of Western society are discredited, and this view forms the foundation of what we know today as [[political correctness]]. One of its most famous purveyors was the Frankfurt School’s [[Herbert Marcuse]], longtime associate of the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]]’s [[Julian Bond]]. Marcuse invented the concept of “partisan tolerance,” that is, [[tolerance]] for leftist ideas and [[intolerance]] of all others. The Southern Poverty Law Center applied Marcuse’s strategy in developing its “Hate Watch” list, and ''[[Rules for Radicals]]'' author [[Saul Alinsky]] used it in his own life’s work.

==Criticism==
Peter M. Burfeind writes,<ref>https://thefederalist.com/2020/09/24/why-black-lives-matter-only-empowers-racist-white-leftists/</ref>
{{quotebox|[[Black Lives Matter]] is the operational arm of “critical race theory,” the [[postmodern]] philosophy of “critical theory” applied to race. Critical theory suffers an inescapable [[epistemology|epistemological]] conundrum. It’s the Liar’s Paradox: If a Cretan says all Cretans are liars, is he to be believed? [...]

So, who came up with critical theory? You got it: white men. Or do you not recognize in [[Immanuel Kant]], [[Karl Marx]], [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]], [[Michel Foucault]], Jean Baudrillard, Ferdinand de Saussure, George Herbert Mead, [[Noam Chomsky]], Hans-Georg Gadamer, [[Roland Barthes]], and [[Jacques Derrida]], a whiteness the lilies themselves would envy. Should we not add critical theory to the list of oppressive systems dead white men came up with to advance [[white supremacy |white power]]? [...]

According to its own terms, critical race theory must be racist. Furthermore, Black Lives Matter, the political movement based on its theories, must also be racist—and not black racism, but white racism. At a deep, subconscious level, it serves the purpose of advancing and enhancing “white privilege.”

How else do you explain rich white kids screeching venom at black [[police]] officers and business owners?<ref>https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/tyler-o-neil/2020/06/23/watch-white-blm-protester-calls-black-cop-n-word-in-profane-tirade-n567409</ref> Or how else do you explain that the theorist who’s been most empowered by critical race theory is white author Robin DiAngelo?

Ruminate on the sad indisputability of this statement for a moment: Something in the [[leftist]]s’ minds needs to keep minorities from finding [[hope]] and advancing in existent American “systems.”

Meanwhile, of necessity by the terms of critical race theory, the flip side of this dynamic is going on. Leftists feel the [[new world order]] will advance their wills to power. Now, at the subconscious level, leftists don’t know they’re doing this. They may reject they’re doing this — because they have [[white fragility]]. Or, more accurately, they are projecting onto others what they themselves are.

They are truly the racists, as they always have been. And here’s sort of an obvious point: They’re telling everyone this now. This is exactly what they’re currently saying: “We’re all racist.” To which I say, “Speak for yourself, but interesting what you’re saying.” [...]

Who do you suppose will benefit most from that new regime of [[civil rights]] law? Sounds like a nice system if you’re an upper-middle-class white leftist. That’s because it is. It’s exactly as critical race theory proposes. “Whites gonna white,” says the theory, so how can the theory itself be anything other than the latest vehicle for whites to empower themselves?

The evidence bears this out. The left has had decades of power and control of our cities, [[academia]], and [[media]]. They’ve had ample opportunities to demonstrate the wonders of their ideas. Yet all we see is the [[systemic racism|perpetuation of the very things they decry]], while they gain more and more power.

For decades, we’ve been told all the [[violence]] and ugliness spawned by leftism are merely the birth pangs of a new system. Well, how long do you leftists need to give birth? Enough already! Give us a taste of the glories of the New World in your [[Democrat urban issues|urban microcosms]]!

Or maybe, as Maya Angelou said, “When someone shows you who he is, believe him.” Leftists are outing themselves as racists complicit in perpetuating systems of oppression. Maybe we should believe them. [...]

Perhaps an honest appraisal of critical race theory is in order, so we can liberate ourselves from the sticky epistemological tentacles of a nonsensical theory. Unfortunately, writ into the DNA of its axioms is the deconstruction of rational dialogue — that too, you see, is just another tool of white privilege. Leftism can’t have room for questions.

We could extol what is by and large a just system for the advancement of anyone who applies himself and works hard — the American system. Individuals in that system could be spending their days in hope and personal achievement using the liberties available to them in this country. Or we could have a healthy discussion about race as it relates to traditional American principles.

Yet instead, we’ll just have to wait for the virus of critical race theory to work its [[nihilism|nihilistic]] destruction on the black community, while whites sit on the sidelines with their shut, masked mouths, on bended knee, advancing their privilege.}}
==Higher Education==
CRT has affected higher education in a number of ways,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cyber.harvard.edu/bridge/CriticalTheory/critical4.htm|title=Critical Race Theory|accessdate=October 3, 2020}}</ref> and many critics claimed that higher education was the breeding ground for the theory prior to its spread into general society. CRT has been developed and spread in a large number of academic papers, with journal editors showing a preference for analysis that promotes CRT relative to other theoretical frameworks.

In terms of faculty hiring, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Law of 1964, discrimination on the basis of race in hiring and promotion is illegal, however CRT adherents advocated that color-blind hiring and promotion practices must be abandoned because of the inherent "institutional racism" embedded in traditional views of academic standards and quality. Some universities reallocated budgets to create special minority hiring funds. Under this arrangement, academic departments could use color-blind hiring as vacancies occurred, but that separate funding would be made available from the central fund for additional raced-based hiring.

Starting in the 1980s, campuses began to adopt "speech codes" seeking to limit student speech that black students would find hurtful without a corresponding limitation on speech that majority students would find hurtful. CRT provided a rational for limiting traditional First Amendment rights of college students and staff.

In contrast with the 1960s, when the Civil Rights Movement fought to integrate campus housing, including fraternities and sororities, CRT has promoted "safe spaces" and segregated campus housing for minority students.
==Religion==
According to the [[Alabama]]-based '''Capstone Report''', Critical race theory has made its way into some of the [[Southern Baptist Convention]]'s (SBC) seminaries. At its 2019 Annual Meeting, messengers to the SBC narrowly passed Resolution 9, which stated that CRT (along with [[intersectionality]], another controversial construct) could be "useful tools" in interpreting modern issues (though it pointed out that any such use not impinge on [[Biblical inerrancy]] or infallibility).

In response, a [[Conservative Baptist Network]] was formed in February 2020 to battle the spread of CRT within the SBC. It is concerned that CRT has overwhelmed the proper Baptist emphasis on evangelism and spiritual renewal.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/conservative-baptist-network-launched-amid-woke-trend-in-sbc-emphasizing-scripture-evangelism.html|date=FEBRUARY 14, 2020|title=Conservative Baptist Network launched amid 'woke' trend in SBC, emphasizing Scripture, evangelism|accessdate=October 3, 2020}}</ref>

Theologian [[Tim Keller]] has noted: {{quotebox|The distinctly secular theory of justice locates evil in the wrong place, he added, seeing all injustice as occurring on a human level, demonizing human being instead of recognizing evil forces — "the world, the flesh, the devil" operating in every human being (Ephesians 6:12).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/critical-theory-is-not-biblical-justice-it-locates-evil-in-the-wrong-place-tim-keller-explains.html|title=Critical theory is not biblical justice, it locates evil in the wrong place: Tim Keller explains|date=AUGUST 13, 2020|accessdate=October 3, 2020}}</ref>}}
==Trump Administration==
On September 4, 2020, President Trump ordered federal executive branch departments to halt employee training based upon critical race theory. Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote a memo announcing Trump's instruction to stop using controversial forms of training on “critical race theory,” “white privilege” and “any other training or propaganda effort that teaches or suggests either...that the United States is an inherently racist or evil country or...that any race or ethnicity is inherently racist or evil.” Vought added, “These types of ‘trainings’ not only run counter to the fundamental beliefs for which our Nation has stood since its inception, but they also engender division and resentment within the Federal workforce."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-ends-critical-race-theory-training-federal-employees|title=Trump ends 'critical race theory' training for federal employees, calls it a 'sickness'|date=September 5, 2020|work=Fox News|accessdate=2020-09-05}}</ref> Vought's memo concludes:
{{quotebox| The divisive, false, and demeaning propaganda of the critical race theory movement is
contrary to all we stand for as Americans and should have no place in the Federal government.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/M-20-34.pdf|title=MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES M20-34|date=September 4, 2020|accessdate=2020-09-05}}</ref>}}

On September 22, 2020, President Trump followed up with an Executive Order on "Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-race-sex-stereotyping/|title=Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping
|date=September 22, 2020|accessdate=October 3, 2020}}</ref> The Executive Order prohibits teaching CRT to the Uniformed Services or requiring members of the Uniformed Services from being sanctions for refusing agree with CRT. All federal government contractors are prohibited from using CRT-based trainings. Entities that receive federal grants are also prohibited. The Executive Order recognizes the inconsistency between CRT and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Attorney General must research how CRT could establish a hostile work environment prohibited by Title VII.
==Bibliography==
* [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/147980276X/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl Delgado, Richard. Critical Race Theory, Third Edition. NYU Press. Kindle Edition]
* [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1442216042/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl Thompson, Sherwood. Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Kindle Edition]
* [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1634312023/ref=as_li_tl Pluckrose, Helen & James Lindsay, CYNICAL THEORIES: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity―and Why This Harms Everybody. Pitchstone Publishing.]

==References==
{{reflist}}
==See also==
* [[Critical legal studies]]
*[[1619 Project]]
==External links==
* [https://newdiscourses.com/tftw-critical-race-theory/ Social Justice Encyclopedia]
{{communism}}
[[Category:Postmodernism]]
[[Category:Marxism]]
[[Category:Racism]]

Critical race theory

2020-10-04T09:30:46Z

FirstAmendment: Bibliography

Critical race theory

2020-10-04T09:13:38Z

FirstAmendment: External links

Critical race theory

2020-10-04T02:00:01Z

FirstAmendment: /* Criticism */ expand

University of Denver

2020-10-03T08:37:08Z

FirstAmendment: start article

{{University
|name = University of Denver
|former_name=Colorado Seminary (1864-1880)
|type = Private
|endowment = $786.4 million (2019)<ref>As of June 30, 2019. {{cite web |url=https://www.nacubo.org/-/media/Nacubo/Documents/EndowmentFiles/2019-Endowment-Market-Values--Final-Feb-10.ashx? |title=U.S. and Canadian 2019 NTSE Participating Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2019 Endowment Market Value, and Percentage Change in Market Value from FY18 to FY19 (Revised) |publisher=National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA |access-date=April 19, 2020}}</ref>
|faculty = 763 (2019 Fall)<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
|size = 12,931 (2019 Fall)<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|url=http://www.du.edu/ir/factbook/ |title=University Factbook |publisher=DU.edu |accessdate =May 2, 2017}}</ref>
|city = [[Denver]], Colorado
|colors = Crimson and Gold
|website = www.du.edu
}}
The '''University of Denver''' is a private college located in [[Denver]], Colorado. Methodists founded it in 1864, making it the oldest independent private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. In 1880, it was renamed the University of Denver although its legal name continues to be "Colorado Seminary."

The Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management had its first graduating class in 1946, making it one of the oldest college hotel school programs in the United States.

DU hosts 20 fraternities and sororities. Currently, 22% of DU's students are involved with fraternities and sororities, and many of those students also hold positions in the Undergraduate Student Government, the University of Denver Programs Board (DUPB), Student Media Board, and many other organizations across campus.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.du.edu/studentlife/engagement/get-involved/fraternity-sorority-life.html|title=Fraternity & Sorority Life|accessdate=Oct. 2, 2020}}</ref>

In September 2020, the University of Denver suspended 38 members of its men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams after the students attended a large, off-campus party that violated COVID-19 restrictions.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/university-of-denver-suspends-38-swimming-and-diving-student-athletes-for-violating-covid-19-restrictions-after-attending-large-off-campus-party|title=University of Denver suspends 38 swimming and diving student athletes for violating COVID-19 restrictions after attending large, off-campus party|work=Fox News|date=September 30, 2020|accessdate=October 3, 2020}}</ref>
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Colorado]]
{{Nb_US_universities|Colorado}}

Politically correct renaming

2020-10-01T18:15:22Z

FirstAmendment: /* Examples */ Millard Fillmore

'''Politically correct renaming''' refers to the form of mind control that confuses and undermines a person's self-confidence by altering familiar frames of reference. Society tends to honor historic figures by applying their name to cities, rivers, colleges, professorships or buildings. In some cases, the naming is due to a donation and in other cases it is an expression of gratitude or tribute to virtue. In this way, society designates the person as an example of virtue. Similarly, the person honored builds his image, brand or reputation.

Critical race theory demands a re-examination of naming decisions, particularly with regard to whether the honored individual held beliefs that would not be acceptable in today's society. If a person owned slaves during a time that slavery was legal and an acceptable form of investment, such ownership under this theory makes the person unworthy of present-day honor and the name must be changed. Instead of acknowledging that people are very complicated with both virtues worth celebrating along with failings, historic figures must be erased at the slightest provocation. This is an application of [[cancel culture]] to a target that does not have a present career.

Some protestors seeking to erase these historic figures have defaced or vandalizes statues or markers commemorating them. In response, President Trump signed an Executive Order on Protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues and Combating Recent Criminal Violence.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-protecting-american-monuments-memorials-statues-combating-recent-criminal-violence/|title=Executive Order on Protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues and Combating Recent Criminal Violence|date=June 24, 2020|accessdate=2020-09-10}}</ref>

== Examples ==
Local [[Democratic Party]] units held a nation-wide series of fundraising dinners called the [[Jefferson Jackson Dinner]]. These events have been renamed, for example as "Blue Victory Dinners."

The [[Jefferson Davis Highway]] was a national road designed before highway route numbers became common in response to the designation of a coast-to-coast [[Lincoln Highway]] through northern states. Local governments are now renaming their segments of the Jefferson Davis Highway.

In 1971, the portion of California Route 90 between [[Interstate 405]] and Marina Del Ray was named in honor of President [[Richard Nixon]]. In 1976, following [[Watergate]], the freeway was renamed the Marina Freeway.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/11/nixon-freeway-michael-jackson-auditorium-some-questionable-la-names.html|title=Nixon Freeway? Michael Jackson Auditorium? Some L.A. place names are no longer|date=November 14, 2010|accessdate=2020-09-11|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

In 1944, Liberty Hyde Bailey named an area of the [[Cornell University]] campus the "Cornell Plantations" to serve as a botanic teaching area. That department earned an international reputation. In response to the demands of black students who claimed the word "plantations" reminded them of slavery, it was renamed the "Cornell Bonatic Gardens".<ref name=plant>{{cite news|url=https://dailycaller.com/2016/08/28/cornell-university-renames-cornell-plantations/|title=Cornell University Renames ‘Cornell Plantations’|date=August 28, 2016|accessdate=2020-09-10}}</ref> In 2010, [[Rhode Island]] voters rejected a constitutional amendment to change the state’s official name, "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations".<ref name=plant/>

[[Princeton University]] honored [[Woodrow Wilson]], who served as both President of Princeton and of the United States, by naming its public policy school after him. In 2020, Princeton removed his name from the school.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/27/nyregion/princeton-university-woodrow-wilson.html|title=Princeton Will Remove Woodrow Wilson’s Name From School|first=Bryan|last=Pietsch
|date=June 27, 2020|work=New York Times|accesdate=2020-09-11}}</ref>

Student protestors demanded that [[Washington and Lee University]] change its name even though [[Robert E. Lee]] served as President of that school. The school faculty voted to support dropping the name.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2020/07/07/washington-and-lee-faculty-vote-to-remove-lee-from-universitys-name/#78292eda7c87|title=Washington And Lee Faculty Vote To Remove ‘Lee’ From University’s Name|date=July 7, 2020|accessdate=2020-09-10}}</ref> Arlington Virginia officials voted to rename Washington and Lee High School "Washington Liberty High School."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.asumag.com/facilities-management/business-finance/article/20856838/in-arlington-va-washingtonlee-high-school-is-renamed-washington-liberty-high|title=In Arlington, Va., Washington-Lee High School is renamed Washington Liberty High|date=January 11, 2019|accessdate=2020-09-11}}</ref>

SUNY New Paltz renamed six buildings that were named after former slaveholders.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.asumag.com/facilities-management/article/20857000/suny-new-paltz-is-renaming-6-buildings-that-carried-slaveowner-names|title=SUNY New Paltz is renaming 6 buildings that carried slaveowner names|date=April 2, 2019|accessdate=2020-09-11}}</ref>

One of the twelve residential colleges at [[Yale University]] was named in honor of U.S. Vice President [[John C. Calhoun]], a proponent of slavery and states rights. In 2017, Yale renamed it for Grace Murray Hopper, a Yale alumna and a pioneering computer scientist.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.asumag.com/facilities-management/business-finance/article/20853691/yale-university-reverses-decision-renames-calhoun-college|title=Yale University reverses decision, renames Calhoun College|date= Feb. 13, 2017|accessdate=2020-09-11}}</ref>

In California, a number of streets and buildings were named for Father [[Junipero Serra|Junípero Serra]] who established a string of missions along the California coast. Activists are demanding name changes in light of his mistreatment of the indigenous population. In 2019 [[Stanford University]]’s Serra House where the [[Clayman Institute for Gender Research]] is located was renamed the [[Carolyn Attneave|Carolyn Lewis Attneave House]].<ref name=mercury>{{cite news|first=Jason |last=Green |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/03/01/stanford-renames-buildings-for-sally-ride-carolyn-attneave/amp/ |title=Stanford renames buildings for Sally Ride, Carolyn Attneave |work=Mercurynews.com |date=2019 |accessdate=2020-09-10}}</ref> That same year, [[Stanford University]]’s other Serra House located in Lucie Stern Hall was renamed the [[Sally Ride]] House.<ref name=mercury/> It was formerly named after Serra.<ref name=mercury/>

David Starr Jordan was a [[Indiana University]] professor of zoology from 1875 to 1885 and then served as IU's seventh President from 1885 to 1891. He then left to be founding president of [[Stanford University]]. Jordan Hall, Jordan River, Jordan Avenue and the Jordan Parking Garage were all named in his honor. On July 2, 2020, an IU committee was appointed to consider renaming these because some people disagree with certain statements and views that Jordan held.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.iu.edu/stories/2020/07/iub/releases/02-jordan-review-committee-appointed.htm|title=Committee appointed to review Jordan namings on IU Bloomington campus|date=July 2, 2020|accessdate=2020-09-10}}</ref>

[[Millard Fillmore]] was not only thirteenth President of the United States. he was also comptroller of New York, a member of the United States House of Representatives, vice president of the United States, and founder and first Chancellor of the State University of New York at Buffalo. He was not a slaveholder. SUNY Buffalo is in the process of renaming the Millard Fillmore Academic Center, because Fillmore signed the Fugitive Slave Act while President.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/08/university-at-buffalo-removing-president-millard-fillmores-name-from-campus/#more|title=University at Buffalo Removing President Millard Fillmore’s Name From Campus|date=August 5, 2020|accessdate=2020-10-01}}</ref>

==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Bigotry]]

Wichita State University

2020-10-01T14:14:01Z

FirstAmendment: started article

{{University
| name = Wichita State University
| type = Public
| endowment = $276.142 million (2019)<ref>As of June 30, 2019. {{cite web |url=https://www.nacubo.org/-/media/Nacubo/Documents/EndowmentFiles/2019-Endowment-Market-Values--Final-Feb-10.ashx? |title=U.S. and Canadian 2019 NTSE Participating Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2019 Endowment Market Value, and Percentage Change in Market Value from FY18 to FY19 (Revised) |publisher=National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA |access-date=July 8, 2020}}</ref>
| size = 16,058 (Fall 2019)<ref name=Enrollment>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wichita.edu/services/planning_and_analysis/documents/Enrollment_Fall_Census_OPAweb.pdf|title=Student Enrollment Factbook for Fall Census Day|publisher=Wichita State University|access-date=July 9, 2020}}</ref>
| city = [[Wichita, Kansas|Wichita]]
| mascot = WuShock
| website = www.wichita.edu

}}
'''Wichita State University''' is a public research university located in [[Wichita]] Kansas. It was founded in 1895 as Fairmont College, a private college. The city of Wichita bought the school in 1926, and it later was incorporated into the Kansas State system.

In 2020, [[Ivanka Trump]] was invited to give a virtual graduation address to WSU's technical program. However, under political pressure, President Jay Golden revoked the invitation. In turn, the Board of Regents accepted Golden's resignation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article246012950.html |title=Wichita State President Jay Golden resigns less than a year after taking over |first=Chance |last=Swaim |publisher=[[The Wichita Eagle]] |date=September 25, 2020 |accessdate=September 29, 2020}}</ref>
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Kansas]]

Murray State University

2020-09-26T22:35:31Z

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'''Murray State University''' ('''MSU'''<ref>Not to be confused with [[Michigan State University]]</ref>) is a public liberal arts institution of higher education which is located in Murray, [[Kentucky]].
==Notes/References==
<references/>
==External links==
*[http://murraystate.edu Website]
{{Nb_US_universities|Kentucky}}
[[Category:Kentucky]]

University of Kentucky

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FirstAmendment: /* External links */

{{University
|name=University of Kentucky
|image=
|text=white
|background=#005DAA
|type=Public
|city=Lexington, Kentucky
|sports=baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, gymnastics, rifle, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track, volleyball<ref name="sports">http://www.ukathletics.com</ref>
|colors=blue, white
|mascot=Wildcats
|website=[http://www.uky.edu uky.edu]
}}
The '''University of Kentucky''', the flagship university of the Commonwealth of [[Kentucky]], is located in [[Lexington, Kentucky]], the second-largest city in the state. The Wildcat is mascot of the University, and their colors are royal blue and white. The University is most known for its men's [[basketball]] teams, which have the most wins in the history of [[NCAA]] athletics, and have brought home the 2nd most titles in NCAA history, with 7. Past alumni of the basketball team include Dan Issel, Pat Riley, Jamal Mashburn, Kenny Walker, and Tayshaun Prince. In total, the school has 10 men's and 11 [[Title IX|women]]'s sports teams.<ref name="sports"/>
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
*[http://www.uky.edu Official Website]
[[Category:Kentucky]]
{{Nb_US_universities|Kentucky}}

University of Kentucky

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FirstAmendment: /* External links */ template creates cats

Category:Kentucky Universities

2020-09-26T22:32:09Z

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[[Category:United States Universities]]

Transylvania University

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{{University
|name=Transylvania University
|background=Crimson
|type=Private
|city=Lexington, Kentucky
|size=963
|colors=Crimson
|mascot=Raf, Rafinesque's big-eared bat
|website=http://www.transy.edu/
|endowment=$191.2 million (as of 6/30/19)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nacubo.org/-/media/Nacubo/Documents/EndowmentFiles/2019-Endowment-Market-Values--Final-Feb-10.ashx|title=U.S. and Canadian 2019 NTSE Participating Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2019 Endowment Market Value, and Percentage Change in Market Value from FY18 to FY19 (PDF)|accessdate=2020-09-06}}</ref>
}}
'''Transylvania University''' is a private university located in [[Lexington, Kentucky]] known for its small university size and being the highest ranked university in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Founded in 1780, it is the oldest university in Kentucky and among the oldest in the nation.

Its most notable graduates include: Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, two U.S. vice presidents, John C. Breckinridge and Richard Mentor Johnson, and two U.S. Supreme Court justices, John Marshall Harlan and Samuel Freeman Miller.

In Fall 2020, Transy fell into controversy by granting admission to High school student [[Nick Sandmann]] who had worn a MAGA hat while visiting the Lincoln Memorial on a school field trip.
==References==
<references/>
==External links==
*[http://www.transy.edu/ Website]

{{Nb_US_universities|Kentucky}}

Wikimedia Foundation

2020-09-21T13:57:55Z

FirstAmendment: /* Lawsuits */ tense

'''Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.''' (WMF) is a not-for-profit Florida corporation with its principle place of business in [[San Francisco, California]]. It was founded by [[Jimmy Wales]], who has a permanent position on the Board of Directors. It operates several online collaborative wiki projects including [[Wikipedia]], [[Wiktionary]], [[Wikiquote]], [[Wikibooks]], [[Wikisource]], [[Wikimedia Commons]], [[Wikispecies]], [[Wikinews]], [[Wikiversity]], Wikimedia Incubator, Meta-Wiki, [[Wikidata]], [[Wikivoyage]], and owns the now-defunct Nupedia online encyclopedia. Its Executive Director is Katherine Maher. In essence, an operator of a phonographic website, set up a non-profit foundation to which to transfer his crowd-sourced project, only to end up with the Chairman of its Board of Directors being a lesbian secretly married to a woman who misused her Foundation connections to openly harass male volunteers that attempted to maintain quality control on her articles. The WMF Board then turned its back on the army of long-time volunteers to reinvent their projects to promote subjective individual personal opinions rather than objective truth to create "epistemic justice." Meanwhile, it is using its donations to sue the National Security Agency (NSA) over government efforts to fight terrorism.

HQ is 1 Montgomery Street, Suite 1600, San Francisco, CA 94104 Phone:(415) 839-6885 Supposed business hours: 9AM–5PM PST.<ref>https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Contact_us</ref> However, the WMF shifted to remote operations and half-time work at full-time pay in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2020/03/06/wikimedia-foundation-will-close-san-francisco-office-and-encourage-remote-work-for-march-2020-amidst-covid-19-concerns/|title=Amid COVID-19, Wikimedia Foundation offers full pay for reduced hours, mobilizes all staff to work remote, and waives sick time|date=March 6, 2020|accessdate=Sept. 20, 2020}}</ref>

For the fiscal year ending 6/30/17, the Executive Director's salary was $307,141.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=11212|title=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=June 24, 2019}}</ref>

==History==
The creation of the foundation was officially announced on June 20, 2003, by the [[atheism|atheist]] and Wikipedia co-founder [[Jimmy Wales]],<ref name="Rupert Neate">{{cite news | first = Rupert | last = Neate | title = Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales goes bananas | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/3399843/Wikipedia-founder-Jimmy-Wales-goes-bananas.html |work=The Daily Telegraph | date= October 7, 2008 | accessdate =October 25, 2009 | quote = The encyclopedia's huge fan base became such a drain on Bomis's resources that Mr Wales, and co-founder Larry Sanger, thought of a radical new funding model – charity.}}</ref> who had been operating Wikipedia within his pornographic company [[Bomis]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2003-June/010743.html | title = Wikipedia English mailing list message | date = June 20, 2003 | first = Jimmy | last = Wales | authorlink = Jimmy Wales}}</ref> At the time, Wikipedia was operating out of Bomis' offices in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The name "Wikimedia" was [[neologism|coined]] by American author [[Sheldon Rampton]] in a post to the English mailing list in March 2003.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2003-March/001887.html | title = Wikipedia English mailing list message | date = March 16, 2003 | first = Sheldon | last = Rampton | authorlink = Sheldon Rampton }}</ref>
At the start, Wales transferred ownership of all Wikipedia, Wiktionary and [[Nupedia]] [[domain name]]s to Wikimedia along with the copyrights for all materials related to these projects that were created by [[Bomis]] employees or Wales himself. The computer equipment used to run all the Wikimedia projects was also donated by Wales to the foundation, which also acquired the domain names "wikimedia.org" and "wikimediafoundation.org".

In April 2005, the US [[Internal Revenue Service]] determined that the foundation was an educational foundation in the category "[[Adult education|Adult]], [[Continuing education|Continuing Education]]", making all contributions to the foundation [[Tax deduction|tax-deductible]] for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

On September 25, 2007, the foundation's board decided to move to the [[San Francisco Bay Area]]. The Board said its major reasons for choosing San Francisco were proximity to like-minded organizations and potential partners as well as cheaper and more convenient international travel than is available from St. Petersburg, Florida.<ref name="MoncadaWikimoveTribune">{{cite web | url = http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/sep/25/wikimedia-foundation-moving-another-bay-area/?news-breaking | title= Wikimedia Foundation Moving To Another Bay Area | author = Carlos Moncada | work = [[The Tampa Tribune]] |date = September 25, 2007 | quote = }}</ref><ref name="MullinsWikimoveTribune">{{cite web | url= http://www.tbo.com/news/money/MGBNF5F517F.html | title = Online Encyclopedia To Leave St. Petersburg For San Francisco | author = Richard Mullins | work = The Tampa Tribune |date = September 26, 2007 | quote = }}</ref><ref name="KimWikimoveSFChronicle">{{cite web | url= https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/10/BU69SNMQ2.DTL&tsp=1 | title = Wikipedia team plans move to San Francisco | first = Ryan | last = Kim |work=San Francisco Chronicle | date = October 10, 2007 | quote = }}</ref>

The Wikimedia Foundation Board met in 2016 in a small town in Italy to discuss transparency and communication. The Foundation funded all Board members' travel to Italy.

==Wikia==
{{Main|Wikia}} 
In January 2004, [[Jimmy Wales]] appointed his business partners [[Tim Shell]] and Michael E. Davis to the foundation's board. In June 2004, an election was held for two user representative board members. Following one month of campaigning and two weeks of online voting, [[Angela Beesley Starling|Angela Beesley]] and [[Florence Devouard|Florence Nibart-Devouard]] were elected to join the board. In late 2004, Wales and Beesley launched a startup company, [[Wikia]], affiliated with neither Wikimedia nor Bomis, except for their presence as principals/trustees. In July 2005, Beesley and Nibart-Devouard were re-elected to the board. On July 1, 2006, Beesley resigned from the board effective upon election of her successor, expressing concern about "certain events and tendencies that have arisen within the organization since the start of this year," but stating her intent to continue to participate in the Wikimedia projects, and in the formation of an Australian chapter. A special election was held in September to finish Beesley's term, ending with the mid-2007 election. [[Erik Möller]] won the election. Möller was subsequently hired as Deputy Executive Director of the WMF. On December 8, 2006, the board expanded to seven people with the appointments of Kat Walsh and [[Oscar van Dillen]]. Walsh was elected Chair of the board in July 2012. Walsh was not re-elected to the WMF Board in 2013.

Wales and Beesley continued to develop Wikia as a for-profit alternative to the WMF projects, and some critics allege that by deleting very specialized articles and content from Wikipedia, a core team was pushing people to develop specialized wikis on Wikia. When Wikipedia community voted 61-39% percent to treat all links to other sites equally by removing nofollow (Google-ignored) tags for all of them, the Wikipedia co-founder overruled this decision and Wikipedia now favors Wikia in its treatment of nofollow tags.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/28/wikipedia-special-treatment-for-wikia-and-other-wikis/|title=Wikipedia: Special Treatment for Wikia and some other Wikis|author=Nik Cubrilovic|date=April 28, 2007|accessdate=July 22, 2012}}</ref><ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-January/061137.html</ref> Michael E. Davis, a former business partner of Wales who served for years as a founding member of the WMF board and was MWF's Treasurer, was named Treasurer and Secretary of Wikia in January 2006. In January 2009, Wikia subleased two conference rooms to the WMF.

Wales continues as a voting member of the WMF Board and serves as its spokesperson.

In August 2009, Matt Halprin, Partner of the Omidyar Network, was asked to join the Wikimedia Foundation board of trustees. Halprin was responsible for an Omidyar team that “pursues investments in Social Media”, and Omidyar invested part of $4 million into Wikia, Inc. in 2006. So, his company would succeed if Wikia made a nice return on investment, yet of all of the available competent Silcon Valley experts, the WMF selected Halprin to serve on the Board that is entrusted to ensure that the WMF treats Wikia on an arms-length basis.

In 2006, Wikia received a major round of venture capital funding from Amazon.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2006/12/04/daily16.html?jst=b_ln_hl|title=Amazon invests in Wikia|work=Puget Sound Business Journal|date=December 6, 2006|accessdate=February 4, 2013}}</ref> Although a large number of payment processors are available, as of 2013, the WMF uses Amazon to process donation payments.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Village_pump_%28policy%29&diff=526220744&oldid=526213000#Wikipedia_is_now_enriching_itself_by_contributing_to_the_destruction_of_small_businesses|title=Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)|date=December 3, 2012|accessdate=February 4, 2013}}</ref>

Wikia created the "Speedy Deletion Wikia" in which a robot harvested the Wikipedia articles that were deleted on an expedited basis and then reposted them on Wikia. These included copyrighted material and pornographic images that were deleted because of their objectionable nature.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=498803845&oldid=498803787|title=User Talk:Jimbo Wales|accessdate=January 13, 2017}}</ref>

==Controversies==

===Patrick administration===
WMF announced on 2006-06-19 that it had hired attorney Bradford Patrick as internal counsel acted as interim Executive Director.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2006-06-19/Brad_Patrick</ref>

In early 2007, a prominent Wikipedia editor, named only "Essjay" online and described on his user profile "as a tenured professor of religion at a private university with expertise in canon law," was exposed as a 24-year-old college kid in Kentucky. He resigned in disgrace — even though Wikipedia tried to retain him, claiming he'd edited thousands of articles with flair.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essjay_controversy</ref>

===Gardner administration===

====Doran scandal====
In January 2007, WMF named Carolyn Doran chief operating officer and Sandy Ordonez joined as [http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Head_of_Communications head of communications].<ref>{{cite web | title = Current staff | publisher = Wikimedia Foundation | url = https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Current_staff | accessdate =February 1, 2007 | author = Danny | authorlink = foundation:User:Danny | archiveurl = https://wikimediafoundation.org/w/index.php?title=Current_staff&oldid=19370 | archivedate = February 1, 2007 }}</ref> Doran began working at WMF as a part-time bookkeeper in 2006 after being sent by a [[Temporary work|temporary agency]]. Doran later left the foundation in July 2007, and [[Sue Gardner]] was hired as consultant and special advisor (later becoming the Chief Executive Officer). It was later disclosed<ref>{{cite news | first = Cade | last = Metz | title = Wikipedia COO was convicted felon | url = http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/13/wikimedia_coo_convicted_felon/ | date = December 13, 2007 | accessdate =December 27, 2007 }}</ref> that Doran was a convicted [[felony|felon]], with a [[DUI]] arrest during her tenure at the foundation and a substantial criminal history, including shooting her boyfriend and complicity in credit card forgery.<ref>{{cite news |authorlink=Brian Bergstein | first = Brian | last = Bergstein | title = Felon Became COO of Wikipedia Foundation | url = http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hcWLu3fg-aDeJNfWTY6hlbz93oCwD8TM0HVG0 | date = December 21, 2007 | accessdate =December 27, 2007 }}</ref> Her departure from the organization was cited as one of the reasons the foundation took about seven months to release its fiscal 2007 financial audit.<ref>{{cite news | author = Ral315 | title = ''Signpost'' interview: Florence Devouard | url = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2007-11-19/Anthere_interview | work = The Wikipedia Signpost | date = November 19, 2007 }}</ref>

====2014 Staffing controversies====
One of the growing pains that organizations experience is that paid staff can be hired and perhaps perform their job duties well, but their off-duty conduct brings discredit to their employer. This is particularly challenging for the WMF, who hired staff from the pool of Wikipedia volunteers, with many staff continuing to edit Wikipedia outside their regular WMF job duties.

In January 2014, Sarah Stierch was discovered to have written Wikipedia articles for hire while being a full-time WMF employee. The WMF promptly announced her departure as an employee without any official explanation.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2014-January/129466.html</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2014-01-08/News_and_notes|work=Wikimedia Signpost|date=January 8, 2014|title=WMF employee forced out over "paid advocacy editing"|accessdate=March 12, 2014}}</ref>

In March 2014, Ryan Kaldari, who has been working for the WMF for almost four years and is a Wikipedia administrator, got into an editing battle with another editor. Kaldari then made complaining comments about that editor under a second assumed name. For that policy violation, Kaldari lost his administrator privileges. However, the dispute caused Wikipedia users to research Kaldari's background and discovered that for years he has been the owner and operator of several other websites including "Snuffster.com", which was intended as a parody of Friendster, but soon became a haven for Internet trolls to mock murdered children. Kaldari has been paying for the site for 10 years and has actively added comments to various threads on the site.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.examiner.com/article/wikimedia-foundation-employee-caught-sockpuppeting-and-loses-admin-rights|first=Gregory|last=Kohs|title=Wikimedia Foundation employee caught sockpuppeting and loses admin rights |date=March 8, 204|accessdate=March 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dailydot.com/news/wikipedia-sockpuppet-ryan-kaldari/|title=Wikipedia staffer at center of latest sockpuppet scandal|first=Rob|last=Price|work=Daily Dot|date= March 12, 2014|accessdate=March 16, 2014}}</ref> Kaldari's poor judgment in owning and operating this site was called to the attention of Jimbo Wales, who dismissed it out of hand.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&oldid=599304349</ref>

===Tretikov Administration===
In March 2013, Executive Director Sue Gardner announced that she would leave,<ref name=bizinsider/><ref>http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/The_search_for_our_next_Executive_Director Retrieved June 16, 2014.</ref> and an extensive search did not produce a satisfactory candidate. After a second search, Russian-born Lila Tretikov was selected as Gardner's replacement, and she took office on June 2, 2014. The WMF appointed a transition team to assist her in learning her new role, and there was a three-week transition period following the announcement of her selection. At the time, Tretikov was dating PHP programmer Will Sinclair. Both Tretikov and Sinclair attempted to become immersed in Wikipedia culture, and Sinclair quickly found his way to the noted criticism website [[Wikipediocracy]], where he registered an account. On May 30-June 1, 2014, the WMF sponsored a conference called "WikiConference USA" at the [[New York Law School]] which welcomed everyone to attend including "the curious, the skeptical, and others wishing to engage in meaningful conversation about the Wikimedia movement in the United States."<ref>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/WikiCon_USA_2014_Press_Release_v1.pdf Retrieved June 16, 2014</ref> However, the afternoon before the conference began, Greg Kohs who had proposed to give a presentation on "paid editing" had his registration cancelled and was told not to attend.<ref>http://wikipediocracy.com/2014/06/02/wikiconference-usa-bans-critic-from-open-meeting/ Retrieved June 16, 2014</ref> Sinclair defended Kohs' right to attend and started a [http://wllm.com/ blog] and an [http://www.change.org/petitions/wikipedia-make-wikipedia-conferences-truly-open-to-all-by-allowing-greg-kohs-to-attend online petition] to advocate these views. He also expressed his views on a WMF listserv. In response, the WMF insiders turned vicious and openly suggested that Tretikov should break up their family and leave Sinclair because of his support for Kohs.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo#Regarding_the_nauseating_and_cowardly_remarks_made_by_Wikiconference_USA_attendees</ref> On June 15, Sinclair announced on Mr. Wales talk page that he would no longer participate on Wikipediocracy.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=612984072&oldid=612983354 June 15, 2014.</ref> Efforts to get Mr. Wales to clarify why Kohs was banned from the conference were met with censorship.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=613156950&oldid=613156824 June 16, 2014.</ref>

Sinclair later in 2014 started his own "Off-Wiki" Wikipedia criticism site.

As Executive Director, Tretikov gave speeches and participated in meetings and conferences around the world. Her travels may have made her less accessible to the WMF staff. One important initiative that Tretikov started was improving the WMF's efforts in child protection. Previously, the WMF left the decision to take disciplinary action against users to untrained volunteers on individual projects. The project leaders complained that they were not properly trained to handle allegations that a user was a child predator. Under Tretikov, the WMF legal staff began handling such complaints and banned a number of users from all WMF projects.

In 2015, the WMF Board and Tretikov reorganized the "Advancement" fundraising staff and secretly entered into an agreement with the [[Tides Foundation]] to establish a separate endowment fund. The Tides Foundation was established by liberal [[George Soros]]. Under the arrangement, the Tides Foundation will invest and control the endowment until it reaches its goal of $100 million at which time the WMF and Tides will agree on how to handle the money in the future. The WMF has hired staff to solicit and process gifts for the endowment, and the endowment was publicly launched on January 15, 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://15.wikipedia.org/endowment.html|title=Wikimedia Endowment|accessdate=Feb. 26, 2016}}</ref> Many people have questioned how the WMF could embark on a $100 million endowment fund drive just a few weeks after a banner ad campaign on its website begging for money to keep its servers running.

In 2015, Tretikov reorganized the staff and launched a secret project to develop a "Knowledge Engine" (KE) which some planning documents said would compete with [[Google]] as a means of searching sources beyond the WMF projects by automating the process of evaluating what information on the Internet was reliable.<ref>[https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/02/head-of-wikimedia-foundation-resigns-as-tensions-with-editors-mount/ Wikimedia Foundation director resigns after uproar over “Knowledge Engine”], ''Ars Technica''.</ref> Tretikov applied for a grant of $2 million per year over three years from the Knight Foundation, but only received a one-time $250,000 grant to explore the concept. In November 2015, the WMF Board reaffirmed its support of Tretikov's leadership and retained a management consultant to mentor her. In addition, a number of senior WMF staff (including Deputy Director Erik Möller) departed, some making critical public remarks as they left.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wikipediocracy.com/2016/02/26/unicorns-are-a-myth-lila-tretikov-resigns-as-wikimedia-foundation-executive-director/#comment-44801|title=Unicorns are a Myth: Lila Tretikov resigns as Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director|date=Feb. 26, 2016|accessdate=Feb. 26, 2016}}</ref> It is easy to imagine KE to evolve into an attempt to provide the equivalent of a FICO score for every domain name, perhaps every known person on Earth, that third-party software would likely utilities to influence how second-rate search engines would rank information. Wales frequently uses software features at his web sites to discredit or silence the communications anyone he disapproves of. Wales had previously welcomed the idea of having a biography for every person on Earth but the "deletionist" element of his "community" (who simply lust after the destroying of information about low-fame entities) rejected the notion.

[[File:James Heilman.png|thumb|left|200px|James Heilman, M.D. was removed from the Board]] In July 2015, James Heilman, MD was elected to the WMF Board by the editing community after starting working at WP in 2008 and being a very active ("many hours a day") and highly qualified non-anonymous editor and later administrator. He made many mass media presentations promoting the project and worked to improve its reliability especially for those seeking medical information. He attempted to recruit other physicians to help in the effort. Heilman brought staff dissatisfaction with Tretikov's leadership to the Board and pressed for more information on the Knowledge Engine and the Knight Foundation grant. On December 28, 2015, on the eve of two members leaving the Board, the Board held an emergency meeting and removed Heilman from the WMF Board by a vote of 8 to 2. The Board released a statement that Heilman "lacked the confidence" of his fellow trustees. The Community responded to his dismissal by pressing for the release of the Knowledge Engine grant application resulting in a public apology from Tretikov for pushing the project without first gaining consensus. Heilman continues to spend many hours a day contributing to WP as an editor and an admin and continues to make media appearances promoting the WP project.<ref>http://thewikipedian.net/tag/james-heilman/</ref><ref>https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/11/08/501087493/should-i-trust-wikipedia-with-my-health</ref>

The WMF Board appointed two new people to fill outside Board slots effective January 1, one of which was a Google executive, Arnnon Geshuri who was a central figure in an antitrust case. Community outrage over this improperly vetted appointment resulted in his resignation from the WMF Board.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/01/editors-demand-ouster-of-wikimedia-board-member-involved-in-no-poach-deal/|title= Law & Disorder / Civilization & Discontents Wikipedia editors revolt, vote "no confidence" in newest board member|date=Jan. 25, 2016|accessdate=Feb. 25, 2016}}</ref> On February 25, 2016, Tretikov announced her resignation as the Wikimedia Foundation's Executive Director.<ref name=ltresign/> She continued until March 31.

===Maher Administration===
[[File:Katherine Maher.jpg|thumb|right|Katherine Maher, Executive Director]]
Katherine Maher was announced as the interim ED was announced and later it was announced that she was appointed permanently to the position.<ref name=ltresign>{{cite web|url=https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2016-February/082472.html|title=Executive transition planning|date=February 25, 2016|accessdate=February 25, 2016}}</ref>

The female Chair of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Directors is married to Laura Hale. Ms. Hale has a long history, dating back to 2011 of incompetent edits and abusing male editors. A long-time male administrator, Fram, followed Ms. Hale around making corrections to her problematic edits. In turn, Ms. Hale complained to the Trust & Security staff of the Wikimedia Foundation, rather than to the volunteer-staffed complaint mechanisms on Wikipedia. Although the Trust & Security staff has previously banned a few editors for problems involving illegal conduct such as pedophilia, in June 2019, for the first time, they suspended Fram for one year for "incivility". In response, an English Wikipedia administrator lifted the block and was in turn stripped of his administratorship, and several other administrators resigned in protest.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_response_to_the_Wikimedia_Foundation%27s_ban_of_Fram|title=Wikipedia:Community response to the Wikimedia Foundation's ban of Fram|accessdate=June 24, 2019}}</ref> In response to a Buzzfeed article about the controversy,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/wikipedia-ban-editor-culture-war|title=The Culture War Has Finally Come For Wikipedia|date=July 27, 2019|accessdate=July 28, 2019|work=Buzzfeed News}}</ref> Maher sent a tweet calling the article "s***ty.".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/krmaher/status/1144394019893460993|title=tweet|accessdate=June 28, 2019}}</ref> As more Wikipedia Administrators and Bureaucrats resign or go on strike, the crisis has also been reported by Breitbart.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/06/28/wikipedia-editors-revolt-over-sites-ban-of-veteran-administrator/|title=Wikipedia Editors Revolt over Site’s Ban of Veteran Administrator|date=July 28, 2019|work=Breitbart|accessdate=July 28, 2019}}</ref> Despite the Fram-Laura Hale scandal, on August 15, 2019, the WMF Board re-elected Laura Hale's wife to serve another year as Board chair.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2019/08/16/wikimedia-foundation-announces-shani-evenstein-sigalov-as-new-trustee-as-well-as-leadership-appointments-at-fifteenth-annual-wikimania/
|title=Wikimedia Foundation announces Shani Evenstein Sigalov as new Trustee, as well as leadership appointments at fifteenth annual Wikimania|date=August 16, 2019|accessdate=August 17, 2019}}</ref>

There is a fundamental rift at Wikipedia. On the one hand, editors from the global north advocate that knowledge is produced by the scientific method, and that Wikipedia should only document verifiable facts. On the other hand, editors from the global south believe that Western civilization is the product of old or dead white men and that Wikipedia should give voice to suppressed people who have personal experiences that may not meet the accepted standards currently imposed by the traditional views of knowledge. These people advocate a "post-modernist" definition of knowledge, including folk remedies supplanting Western medicine and counteracting the historic bias that views males as holding key roles in history, when they serve as military or political leaders. This later group views the current governing structure and resource allocation of the Foundation as illegitimate and wants to rebuild both Wikipedia and the Foundation into something very different so that when internet access spreads throughout the world by 2030, people in the global south will be involved with Wikipedia instead of some other website that might become established to serve their own communities.

To assure that all views were heard, the WMF devoted millions of dollars on a strategic planning exercise that held workshops in the global south and provided very few opportunities for input from editors in Europe or the United States. The result was a large set of self-contradictory recommendations. Next, the WMF hosted a "harmonization sprint" in Tunis which was attended by Laura Hale's wife and Maher to try to unify the recommendations. Finally, a writing group was appointed to write a self-consistent set of recommendations, for which public comment will be collected in January-February 2020.

Although a large number of non-profit groups issued virtue signaling statements following the death of George Floyd, Maher (speaking for the WMF) used the opportunity to announce a complete surrender to the faction that refocused the mission on knowledge equity and also announced that WMF websites would abandon their unbiased coverage of race relations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2020/06/03/we-stand-for-racial-justice/|title=We stand for racial justice.|date=June 3, 2020|accessdate=Sept. 17. 2020}}</ref> Maher described as a goal:
{{cquote|Our content: Building power, relationships, and resources to advance epistemic justice and redress the exclusion and omission of Black, indigenous, and communities of color within knowledge systems in general and the Wikimedia projects specifically.}}

==Site shut downs==
As a section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, the foundation must not be "carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting, to influence legislation (except as otherwise provided in subsection (h)), and which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office."<ref>{{USC|26|501(c)(3)}}.</ref> However, WMF has repeatedly used shutting down its website or threatening to shut down its website as a tactic to pressure specific legislative outcomes.

On October 4, 2011, the WMF servers were reprogrammed to hide the contents of the [[Italian Wikipedia|Italian language version of Wikipedia]], as a protest against paragraph 29 of the "''[[DDL intercettazioni]]''" (Wiretapping Bill).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.camera.it/_dati/leg16/lavori/stampati/pdf/16PDL0038530.pdf |title=Camera dei Deputati: disegno di legge N. 1415-B |language=Italian |date=11 June 2010 |accessdate=September 18, 2012 |publisher=Camera dei Deputati}} ([http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=it&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.camera.it%2F_dati%2Fleg16%2Flavori%2Fstampati%2Fpdf%2F16PDL0038530.pdf English translation])</ref> The proposed bill would empower anyone who believes themselves to have been attacked by the content of a web site to enforce publication of a reply, uneditable and uncommented, on the same web site, within 48 hours and without any prior evaluation of the claim by a judge or to face a €12,000 fine.

On October 4 through 6, 2011, the WMF redirected all pages on the Italian language version of Wikipedia redirected to a statement opposing the proposed legislation.<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/italy-wikipedia-wiretapping-2011-10 "Wikipedia Shuts Down Italian Site In Response To Berlusconi's New Wiretap Act"], Adam Taylor, ''Business Insider'', 4 October 2011</ref> This was true for all users, not just those IP addresses based in Italy. On October 7, the Italian Wikipedia pages were again available, but a notice about the proposed legislation was still displayed at the top of pages.

The success of the Italian shut down whetted the appetite of people seeking to influence legislation in the United States. In December 2011, Wikipedia co-founder [[Jimmy Wales]] discussed a possible coordinated blackout by Wikipedia and other United States websites to protest anti-piracy two bills pending before the United States Congress: [[SOPA]] and [[PIPA]]. After committing the WMF to join a larger boycott, Wales initiated discussion with editors about his plan. Editors and others<ref>Charlie Osborne, [https://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/would-a-wikipedia-blackout-be-such-a-bad-thing/13726 "Would a Wikipedia blackout be such a bad thing?"], ''iGeneration'' on [[ZDNet]], December 13, 2011, 11:04 am PST. Retrieved September 18, 2012.</ref> debated the alternatives of completely interrupting service for one or more days, or alternatively presenting site visitors with a blanked page directing them to further information before permitting them to complete searches.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/jimmy-wales/8953273/Wikipedia-co-founder-threatens-blackout-over-anti-piracy-law.html |title=Wikipedia co-founder threatens blackout over anti-piracy law |work=The Telegraph |date=December 13, 2011 |author=Christopher Williams |accessdate=September 18, 2012 |location=London}}</ref><ref name="itnews wikipedia mulls blackout">{{cite news |url=http://www.itnews.com.au/News/284285,wikipedia-mulls-blackout-to-protest-sopa.aspx |title=Wikipedia mulls blackout to protest SOPA |publisher=itnews |date=December 13, 2011 |accessdate=September 18, 2012 |author=Brett Winterford |quote=Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has threatened a knowledge "blackout" of the online encyclopedia to protest a US anti-piracy bill that could have serious ramifications for online service providers.}}</ref> On January 16, the Wikimedia Foundation announced that the English-language Wikipedia would be blacked out for 24 hours on January 18.<ref>{{cite news |title=Wikipedia to go dark in piracy protest |date=January 17, 2012 |work=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-17/wiki-to-go-dark-in-piracy-protest/3778452 |accessdate=September 18, 2012}}</ref> The Simple English Wikipedia voted to continue full service and did not join the blackout.<ref>https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Simple_talk/Archive_97#Potential_black-out_of_Simple_English_Wikipedia_in_the_US</ref> Many editors complained that the blackout decision was not made in a democratic fashion and undercut Wikipedia's objectivity and non-political mission.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/wikipedia-editors-question-sites-planned-blackout-15381673 | title = Wikipedia Editors Question Site's Planned Blackout | first = Peter | last = Svensson | date = January 17, 2012 | accessdate = September 18, 2012| agency = Associated Press }}</ref>

The SOPA/PIPA issue is so important to Sue Gardner, the WMF Executive Director, that in March 2013, she announced that she will be leaving her position to pursue the issue in another capacity.<ref name=bizinsider>{{cite news|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/wikimedia-foundations-sue-gardner-leaving-2013-3|work=Business Insider|date= March 28, 2013|title=The Woman Who Made Wikipedia Huge Is Stepping Down|accessdate=Arpril 27, 2013}}</ref> She left on June 1, 2014.

==Finances==
WMF's fundraising and expenses have grown at a very rapid rate. Some critics claim that WMF is taking in money faster than it can spend wisely.<ref>http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikimedia_Forum&oldid=4864408</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Wikimedia financial data through June 2016 (financial years run from July 1 to June 30)
|-
! style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top" | Fiscal year
! style="text-align: right; vertical-align: top" | Revenue
! style="text-align: right; vertical-align: top" | Year-over-year ratio (revenue)
! style="text-align: right; vertical-align: top" | Expenses
! style="text-align: right; vertical-align: top" | Year-over-year ratio (expenses)
! style="text-align: right; vertical-align: top" | Net assets
! style="text-align: right; vertical-align: top" | Year-over-year ratio (net assets)
|-
| 2003–2004<ref name=2004-2006>{{cite web|url=//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/2/28/Wikimedia_2006_fs.pdf |title=Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June 30, 2006, 2005 and 2004 |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=November 26, 2012|format=PDF}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="80129" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{steady}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $80,129
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="0" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{steady}} || style="text-align: center; width: 42%" | N/A
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="23463" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{steady}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $23,463
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="0" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{steady}} || style="text-align: center; width: 42%" | N/A
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="56666" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{steady}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $56,666
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="0" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{steady}} || style="text-align: center; width: 42%" | N/A
|}
|-
| 2004–2005<ref name=2004-2006 />
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="379088" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $379,088
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="373.10" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 373.1%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="177670" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $177,670
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="657.2" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 657.2%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="268084" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $268,084
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="373.09" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 373.1%
|}
|-
| 2005–2006<ref name=2004-2006 />
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="1508039" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $1,508,039
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="297.81" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 297.8%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="791907" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $791,907
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="345.72" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 345.7%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="1004216" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $1,004,216
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="274.59" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 274.6%
|}
|-
| 2006–2007<ref>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/49/Wikimedia_2007_fs.pdf |title=Microsoft Word – {F0900CC7-D37E-4CDF-95E3-B1F38D7DCD03}.doc |format=PDF |date= |accessdate=November 26, 2012}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="2734909" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $2,734,909
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="81.4" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 81.4%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="2077843" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $2,077,843
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="162.38" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 162.4%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="1658282" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $1,658,282
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="65.13" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 65.1%
|}
|-
| 2007–2008<ref>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/4c/Wikimedia_20072008_fs.pdf |title=Microsoft Word – 31935 SFO Wikimedia fs.doc |format=PDF |date= |accessdate=November 26, 2012}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="5032981" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $5,032,981
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="84.0" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 84.0%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="3540724" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $3,540,724
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="70.40" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 70.4%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="5178168" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $5,178,168
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="212.26" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 212.3%
|}
|-
| 2008–2009<ref>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/4f/FINAL_08_09From_KPMG.pdf |title=Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June 30, 2009 and 2008 |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=November 26, 2012|format=PDF}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="8658006" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $8,658,006
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="72.0" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 72.0%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="5617236" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $5,617,236
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="58.65" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 58.6%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="8231767" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $8,231,767
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="58.97" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 59.0%
|}
|-
| 2009–2010<ref>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/c/cc/FINAL_09_10From_KPMG.pdf |title=Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June 30, 2010 and 2009 |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=November 26, 2012|format=PDF}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="17979312" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $17,979,312
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="107.7" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 107.7%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="10266793" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $10,266,793
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="82.77" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 82.8%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="14542731" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $14,542,731
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="76.67" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 76.7%
|}
|-
| 2010–2011<ref>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/a/ac/FINAL_10_11From_KPMG.pdf |title=Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June, 2011 and 2010 |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation| format=PDF|accessdate=2015-10-25}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="24785092" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $24,785,092
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="37.8" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 37.8%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="17889794" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $17,889,794
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="74.25" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 74.2%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="24192144" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $24,192,144
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="66.35" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 66.3%
|}
|-
| 2011–2012<ref name=2011-2012>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/0/09/FINAL_11_12From_KPMG.pdf|title= Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June, 2012 and 2011|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=December 26, 2012|format=PDF}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="38479665" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $38,479,665
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="55.2" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 55.2%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="29260652" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $29,260,652
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="63.56" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 63.6%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="34929058" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $34,929,058
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="44.38" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 44.4%
|}
|-
| 2012–2013<ref name=2012-2013>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/6/6e/FINAL_12_13From_KPMG.pdf|title= Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June, 2013 and 2012|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=December 14, 2013|format=PDF}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="48635408" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $48,635,408
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="26.4" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 26.4%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="35704796" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $35,704,796
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="22.02" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 22.0%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="45189124" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $45,189,124
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="29.37" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 29.4%
|}
|-
| 2013–2014<ref name=2014-2015 />
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="52465287" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $52,465,287
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="8.6" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 8.6%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="45900745" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $45,900,745
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="28.6" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 28.6%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="53475021" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $53,475,021
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="18.3" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 18.3%
|}
|-
| 2014–2015<ref name=2014-2015>{{cite web|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/43/Wikimedia_Foundation_Audit_Report_-_FY15-16.pdf|title=Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June, 2016 and 2015|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=November 15, 2016}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="74536375" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $74,536,375
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="44.5" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 44.5%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="52596782" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $52,596,782
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="14.6" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 14.6%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="77820298" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $77,820,298
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="45.5" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 45.5%
|}
|-
| 2015–2016<ref name=2015-2016>{{cite web|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/43/Wikimedia_Foundation_Audit_Report_-_FY15-16.pdf|title=Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June, 2016 and 2015|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=November 15, 2016}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="81862724" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $81,862,724
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="9.8" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 9.8%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="65947465" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $65,947,465
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="25.4" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 25.4%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="91782795" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $91,782,795
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="17.9" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 17.9%
|}
|}
If the WMF has $91 million in the bank, those funds could produce (at 4%) $3,640,000 in annual income, which is more than enough to fund the Wikipedia web servers in perpetuity. So, people are questioning the need for the WMF's annual fund raising campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wikipediocracy.com/2014/12/11/the-wikipedia-fundraising-banner-sad-but-untrue/|title=The Wikipedia Fundraising Banner: Sad but Untrue|date=December 11, 2014|accessdate=December 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-good-arguments-against-donating-to-the-Wikimedia-Foundation/answer/Andreas-Kolbe|title=What are some good arguments against donating to the Wikimedia Foundation?|work=Quora|accessdate=December 15, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://newslines.org/blog/stop-giving-wikipedia-money/|title=Stop giving Wikipedia money|date=December 4, 2014|accessdate=December 15, 2014|work=Newslines}}</ref>

Each year the WMF conducts a fundraising drive to keep the webservers working on that popular liberal website. They claim the donations go to "Servers, bandwidth, maintenance, development."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://donate.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:FundraiserLandingPage&country=US&uselang=en&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_source=donate&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikipedia.org|title=Make Your Donation Now - Donate|accessdate=September 3, 2013}}</ref> Yet, in the period July - December 2012, the WMF took in $30.9 million but spent only $1.3 million on internet hosting.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/6/68/Jul-Dec%2712_Mid-year_financials2.pdf|title=Actual vs. Plan Comparison|work=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=September 3, 2013}}</ref> During 2012, the net worth of the WMF grew by $11 million. Yet, liberal Wikipedia users continue to donate in response to the WMF's urgent appeals.

In spring 2014, Jimmy Wales began to pander for [[bitcoin]] donations at websites where bitcoin investors were seeking ways to lend legitimacy to the digital currency. He promised to ask the WMF Board to allow bitcoin donations on the Wikipedia website. In the summer of 2014, the WMF made arrangements with Coinbase, who promised to convert bitcoin into dollars without charge. Thereafter, a bitcoin option was added to the WMF donation page.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2014/07/30/wikipedia-now-accepts-bitc donations-with-coinbase/|publisher=techcrunch.com|title=Wikipedia Now Accepts Bitcoin Donations With Coinbase|date=July 30, 2014|accessdate=August 8, 2014}}</ref> Seth Meyers noted on his ''Late Night'' program, "Wikipedia is now accepting donations using the online currency Bitcoin. So now you can support information you're not sure is true with currency you're not sure is money."<ref>http://www.thespec.com/living-story/4733681-tuesdayfile/ Retrieved August 8, 2014</ref>

In addition to the WMF staff, the WMF awards grants and hires outside contractors. In the 2016 fiscal year, two law firms, Jones Day ($1,557,553) and Cooley LLP ($410,560), were among the largest payments. The WMF paid $436,104 to Minassian Media Inc. for public relations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/44/Wikimedia_Foundation_2015_Form_990.pdf|title=2015-16 Form 990|accessdate=July 7, 2017}}</ref> Craig Minassian also serves as Chief Communications Officer of the [[Clinton Foundation]].

==Dispersed accountability==
A major factor in preventing accountability is that the fundraising conducted on the Wikipedia website links to a number of different solicitation pages depending on the nationality of the donor. Although the WMF collects the funds from donors located in the United States and other nations, fundraising in many countries is conducted by the country's own national chapter. The chapters then share the revenues with WMF. However, each chapter adopts its own spending practices and accountability standards.

The German chapter spends a portion of its funds on technology, but most of the other chapters focus on conferences, travel and other soft costs. Needless to say, with so much money being spent on non-technology / infrastructure items, the WMF and its chapters have drawn critics from within their own organization. However, internal dissent is quickly deleted.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Netball&diff=next&oldid=535697243|title=Talk:Netball|date=January 30, 2013}}</ref>

The WMF has two chapters in the United States: Wikimedia New York (which has a 501(c)(3) status from the IRS) and Wikimedia District of Columbia, whose 501(c)(3) exemption application was abandoned. The Treasurer of the UK WMF chapter suddenly resigned in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2013/02/john-byrne-stands-down-as-the-treasurer-and-a-trustee-of-wikimedia-uk/|title=John Byrne Stands Down as the Treasurer and a Trustee of Wikimedia UK|date=February 3, 2013|accessdate=February 4, 2013}}</ref> Laura Hale, the outgoing vice president of Wikimedia Australia (who was an unsuccessful candidate for President in its 2012 election) applied for a travel grant with two of her friends to visit Colorado ski resorts in December 2012 and sought the funding retroactively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Proposal:Paralympic_Winter_Sports|title=Proposal:Paralympic Winter Sports|accessdate=February 4, 2013|work=Wikimedia Australia}}</ref>

The President of Wikimedia Australia has spend so much time traveling with the President of Wikimedia Indonesia that the two married.{{citation needed}}

A number of departing WMF employees have left comments on the Glassdoor website, citing problems with senior management creating a very confused work environment. The WMF suffers from a high staff turnover rate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Wikimedia-Foundation-Reviews-E38331.htm|title=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=April 27, 2013}}</ref>

The WMF's endowment is held separately by the [[Tides Foundation]] and is controlled by their Board of Trustees. However, the agreement establishing the endowment between WMF and Tides provides for a separate "Wikimedia Endowment Advisory Board" to represent the Wikimedia communities interests when Tides makes decisions about the endowment. Instead of just having the WMF Board have a say in what will become the WMF's largest financial resource, a separate Board has been appointed with Jimmy Wales and Annette Campbell-White as its initial members.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://blog.wikimedia.org/2016/05/11/annette-campbell-white-endowment/|title=Annette Campbell-White named to the Wikimedia Endowment Advisory Board|date=May 11, 2016|accessdate=January 17, 2017}}</ref> In September, Peter Baldwin was added to the Advisory Board.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://blog.wikimedia.org/2016/09/09/peter-baldwin-endowment-board/|title=Peter Baldwin, professor and philanthropist, is appointed to the Wikimedia Endowment Advisory Board|quote=Endowment Board members are selected based on active involvement in philanthropic endeavors, prior nonprofit board experience, fundraising expertise, and a strong commitment to the Wikimedia Foundation’s mission.|accessdate=January 17, 2017}}</ref>

==Lawsuits==
In March 2015, the WMF and other groups filed a lawsuit against the [[National Security Agency]] (NSA) challenging an upstream surveillance program that was revealled by [[Edward Snowden]], a former NSA contractor. The District Court granted the NSA's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, but the WMF successfully appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. That decision left the WMF as the only remaining plaintiff in the case, and the case continued in District Court on remand.<ref>{{cite news|last=Nelson|first=Steven|title=Appeals Court: Wikimedia Can Fight NSA's 'Not Speculative' Internet Surveillance|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2017-05-23/appeals-court-wikimedia-can-fight-nsas-not-speculative-internet-surveillance|accessdate=24 May 2017|work=U.S. World and News Report|date=May 23, 2017}}</ref> On December 16, 2019, the District Court held that the WMF did not have standing to proceed with its claims. On February 14, 2020, the Wikimedia Foundation filed a notice of appeal in the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.<ref>{{cite web|title=District Court rules for government in Wikimedia Foundation's mass surveillance case against the NSA |url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2019/12/17/district-court-rules-for-government-in-wikimedia-foundations-mass-surveillance-case-against-the-nsa/ |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation |accessdate=September 20, 2020 |date=December 17, 2019}}</ref>

In 2019, cold fusion researcher Abd ul-Rahman Lomax who was banned from Wikipedia filed a lawsuit against the Wikimedia Foundation, seeking $200,000 in damages.<ref>https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.207020/gov.uscourts.mad.207020.1.0.pdf</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Liberal Organizations]]
[[Category:Wikimedia Foundation]]

Wikimedia Foundation

2020-09-21T13:55:07Z

FirstAmendment: more precise

'''Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.''' (WMF) is a not-for-profit Florida corporation with its principle place of business in [[San Francisco, California]]. It was founded by [[Jimmy Wales]], who has a permanent position on the Board of Directors. It operates several online collaborative wiki projects including [[Wikipedia]], [[Wiktionary]], [[Wikiquote]], [[Wikibooks]], [[Wikisource]], [[Wikimedia Commons]], [[Wikispecies]], [[Wikinews]], [[Wikiversity]], Wikimedia Incubator, Meta-Wiki, [[Wikidata]], [[Wikivoyage]], and owns the now-defunct Nupedia online encyclopedia. Its Executive Director is Katherine Maher. In essence, an operator of a phonographic website, set up a non-profit foundation to which to transfer his crowd-sourced project, only to end up with the Chairman of its Board of Directors being a lesbian secretly married to a woman who misused her Foundation connections to openly harass male volunteers that attempted to maintain quality control on her articles. The WMF Board then turned its back on the army of long-time volunteers to reinvent their projects to promote subjective individual personal opinions rather than objective truth to create "epistemic justice." Meanwhile, it is using its donations to sue the National Security Agency (NSA) over government efforts to fight terrorism.

HQ is 1 Montgomery Street, Suite 1600, San Francisco, CA 94104 Phone:(415) 839-6885 Supposed business hours: 9AM–5PM PST.<ref>https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Contact_us</ref> However, the WMF shifted to remote operations and half-time work at full-time pay in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2020/03/06/wikimedia-foundation-will-close-san-francisco-office-and-encourage-remote-work-for-march-2020-amidst-covid-19-concerns/|title=Amid COVID-19, Wikimedia Foundation offers full pay for reduced hours, mobilizes all staff to work remote, and waives sick time|date=March 6, 2020|accessdate=Sept. 20, 2020}}</ref>

For the fiscal year ending 6/30/17, the Executive Director's salary was $307,141.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=11212|title=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=June 24, 2019}}</ref>

==History==
The creation of the foundation was officially announced on June 20, 2003, by the [[atheism|atheist]] and Wikipedia co-founder [[Jimmy Wales]],<ref name="Rupert Neate">{{cite news | first = Rupert | last = Neate | title = Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales goes bananas | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/3399843/Wikipedia-founder-Jimmy-Wales-goes-bananas.html |work=The Daily Telegraph | date= October 7, 2008 | accessdate =October 25, 2009 | quote = The encyclopedia's huge fan base became such a drain on Bomis's resources that Mr Wales, and co-founder Larry Sanger, thought of a radical new funding model – charity.}}</ref> who had been operating Wikipedia within his pornographic company [[Bomis]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2003-June/010743.html | title = Wikipedia English mailing list message | date = June 20, 2003 | first = Jimmy | last = Wales | authorlink = Jimmy Wales}}</ref> At the time, Wikipedia was operating out of Bomis' offices in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The name "Wikimedia" was [[neologism|coined]] by American author [[Sheldon Rampton]] in a post to the English mailing list in March 2003.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2003-March/001887.html | title = Wikipedia English mailing list message | date = March 16, 2003 | first = Sheldon | last = Rampton | authorlink = Sheldon Rampton }}</ref>
At the start, Wales transferred ownership of all Wikipedia, Wiktionary and [[Nupedia]] [[domain name]]s to Wikimedia along with the copyrights for all materials related to these projects that were created by [[Bomis]] employees or Wales himself. The computer equipment used to run all the Wikimedia projects was also donated by Wales to the foundation, which also acquired the domain names "wikimedia.org" and "wikimediafoundation.org".

In April 2005, the US [[Internal Revenue Service]] determined that the foundation was an educational foundation in the category "[[Adult education|Adult]], [[Continuing education|Continuing Education]]", making all contributions to the foundation [[Tax deduction|tax-deductible]] for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

On September 25, 2007, the foundation's board decided to move to the [[San Francisco Bay Area]]. The Board said its major reasons for choosing San Francisco were proximity to like-minded organizations and potential partners as well as cheaper and more convenient international travel than is available from St. Petersburg, Florida.<ref name="MoncadaWikimoveTribune">{{cite web | url = http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/sep/25/wikimedia-foundation-moving-another-bay-area/?news-breaking | title= Wikimedia Foundation Moving To Another Bay Area | author = Carlos Moncada | work = [[The Tampa Tribune]] |date = September 25, 2007 | quote = }}</ref><ref name="MullinsWikimoveTribune">{{cite web | url= http://www.tbo.com/news/money/MGBNF5F517F.html | title = Online Encyclopedia To Leave St. Petersburg For San Francisco | author = Richard Mullins | work = The Tampa Tribune |date = September 26, 2007 | quote = }}</ref><ref name="KimWikimoveSFChronicle">{{cite web | url= https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/10/BU69SNMQ2.DTL&tsp=1 | title = Wikipedia team plans move to San Francisco | first = Ryan | last = Kim |work=San Francisco Chronicle | date = October 10, 2007 | quote = }}</ref>

The Wikimedia Foundation Board met in 2016 in a small town in Italy to discuss transparency and communication. The Foundation funded all Board members' travel to Italy.

==Wikia==
{{Main|Wikia}} 
In January 2004, [[Jimmy Wales]] appointed his business partners [[Tim Shell]] and Michael E. Davis to the foundation's board. In June 2004, an election was held for two user representative board members. Following one month of campaigning and two weeks of online voting, [[Angela Beesley Starling|Angela Beesley]] and [[Florence Devouard|Florence Nibart-Devouard]] were elected to join the board. In late 2004, Wales and Beesley launched a startup company, [[Wikia]], affiliated with neither Wikimedia nor Bomis, except for their presence as principals/trustees. In July 2005, Beesley and Nibart-Devouard were re-elected to the board. On July 1, 2006, Beesley resigned from the board effective upon election of her successor, expressing concern about "certain events and tendencies that have arisen within the organization since the start of this year," but stating her intent to continue to participate in the Wikimedia projects, and in the formation of an Australian chapter. A special election was held in September to finish Beesley's term, ending with the mid-2007 election. [[Erik Möller]] won the election. Möller was subsequently hired as Deputy Executive Director of the WMF. On December 8, 2006, the board expanded to seven people with the appointments of Kat Walsh and [[Oscar van Dillen]]. Walsh was elected Chair of the board in July 2012. Walsh was not re-elected to the WMF Board in 2013.

Wales and Beesley continued to develop Wikia as a for-profit alternative to the WMF projects, and some critics allege that by deleting very specialized articles and content from Wikipedia, a core team was pushing people to develop specialized wikis on Wikia. When Wikipedia community voted 61-39% percent to treat all links to other sites equally by removing nofollow (Google-ignored) tags for all of them, the Wikipedia co-founder overruled this decision and Wikipedia now favors Wikia in its treatment of nofollow tags.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/28/wikipedia-special-treatment-for-wikia-and-other-wikis/|title=Wikipedia: Special Treatment for Wikia and some other Wikis|author=Nik Cubrilovic|date=April 28, 2007|accessdate=July 22, 2012}}</ref><ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-January/061137.html</ref> Michael E. Davis, a former business partner of Wales who served for years as a founding member of the WMF board and was MWF's Treasurer, was named Treasurer and Secretary of Wikia in January 2006. In January 2009, Wikia subleased two conference rooms to the WMF.

Wales continues as a voting member of the WMF Board and serves as its spokesperson.

In August 2009, Matt Halprin, Partner of the Omidyar Network, was asked to join the Wikimedia Foundation board of trustees. Halprin was responsible for an Omidyar team that “pursues investments in Social Media”, and Omidyar invested part of $4 million into Wikia, Inc. in 2006. So, his company would succeed if Wikia made a nice return on investment, yet of all of the available competent Silcon Valley experts, the WMF selected Halprin to serve on the Board that is entrusted to ensure that the WMF treats Wikia on an arms-length basis.

In 2006, Wikia received a major round of venture capital funding from Amazon.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2006/12/04/daily16.html?jst=b_ln_hl|title=Amazon invests in Wikia|work=Puget Sound Business Journal|date=December 6, 2006|accessdate=February 4, 2013}}</ref> Although a large number of payment processors are available, as of 2013, the WMF uses Amazon to process donation payments.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Village_pump_%28policy%29&diff=526220744&oldid=526213000#Wikipedia_is_now_enriching_itself_by_contributing_to_the_destruction_of_small_businesses|title=Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)|date=December 3, 2012|accessdate=February 4, 2013}}</ref>

Wikia created the "Speedy Deletion Wikia" in which a robot harvested the Wikipedia articles that were deleted on an expedited basis and then reposted them on Wikia. These included copyrighted material and pornographic images that were deleted because of their objectionable nature.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=498803845&oldid=498803787|title=User Talk:Jimbo Wales|accessdate=January 13, 2017}}</ref>

==Controversies==

===Patrick administration===
WMF announced on 2006-06-19 that it had hired attorney Bradford Patrick as internal counsel acted as interim Executive Director.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2006-06-19/Brad_Patrick</ref>

In early 2007, a prominent Wikipedia editor, named only "Essjay" online and described on his user profile "as a tenured professor of religion at a private university with expertise in canon law," was exposed as a 24-year-old college kid in Kentucky. He resigned in disgrace — even though Wikipedia tried to retain him, claiming he'd edited thousands of articles with flair.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essjay_controversy</ref>

===Gardner administration===

====Doran scandal====
In January 2007, WMF named Carolyn Doran chief operating officer and Sandy Ordonez joined as [http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Head_of_Communications head of communications].<ref>{{cite web | title = Current staff | publisher = Wikimedia Foundation | url = https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Current_staff | accessdate =February 1, 2007 | author = Danny | authorlink = foundation:User:Danny | archiveurl = https://wikimediafoundation.org/w/index.php?title=Current_staff&oldid=19370 | archivedate = February 1, 2007 }}</ref> Doran began working at WMF as a part-time bookkeeper in 2006 after being sent by a [[Temporary work|temporary agency]]. Doran later left the foundation in July 2007, and [[Sue Gardner]] was hired as consultant and special advisor (later becoming the Chief Executive Officer). It was later disclosed<ref>{{cite news | first = Cade | last = Metz | title = Wikipedia COO was convicted felon | url = http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/13/wikimedia_coo_convicted_felon/ | date = December 13, 2007 | accessdate =December 27, 2007 }}</ref> that Doran was a convicted [[felony|felon]], with a [[DUI]] arrest during her tenure at the foundation and a substantial criminal history, including shooting her boyfriend and complicity in credit card forgery.<ref>{{cite news |authorlink=Brian Bergstein | first = Brian | last = Bergstein | title = Felon Became COO of Wikipedia Foundation | url = http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hcWLu3fg-aDeJNfWTY6hlbz93oCwD8TM0HVG0 | date = December 21, 2007 | accessdate =December 27, 2007 }}</ref> Her departure from the organization was cited as one of the reasons the foundation took about seven months to release its fiscal 2007 financial audit.<ref>{{cite news | author = Ral315 | title = ''Signpost'' interview: Florence Devouard | url = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2007-11-19/Anthere_interview | work = The Wikipedia Signpost | date = November 19, 2007 }}</ref>

====2014 Staffing controversies====
One of the growing pains that organizations experience is that paid staff can be hired and perhaps perform their job duties well, but their off-duty conduct brings discredit to their employer. This is particularly challenging for the WMF, who hired staff from the pool of Wikipedia volunteers, with many staff continuing to edit Wikipedia outside their regular WMF job duties.

In January 2014, Sarah Stierch was discovered to have written Wikipedia articles for hire while being a full-time WMF employee. The WMF promptly announced her departure as an employee without any official explanation.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2014-January/129466.html</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2014-01-08/News_and_notes|work=Wikimedia Signpost|date=January 8, 2014|title=WMF employee forced out over "paid advocacy editing"|accessdate=March 12, 2014}}</ref>

In March 2014, Ryan Kaldari, who has been working for the WMF for almost four years and is a Wikipedia administrator, got into an editing battle with another editor. Kaldari then made complaining comments about that editor under a second assumed name. For that policy violation, Kaldari lost his administrator privileges. However, the dispute caused Wikipedia users to research Kaldari's background and discovered that for years he has been the owner and operator of several other websites including "Snuffster.com", which was intended as a parody of Friendster, but soon became a haven for Internet trolls to mock murdered children. Kaldari has been paying for the site for 10 years and has actively added comments to various threads on the site.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.examiner.com/article/wikimedia-foundation-employee-caught-sockpuppeting-and-loses-admin-rights|first=Gregory|last=Kohs|title=Wikimedia Foundation employee caught sockpuppeting and loses admin rights |date=March 8, 204|accessdate=March 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dailydot.com/news/wikipedia-sockpuppet-ryan-kaldari/|title=Wikipedia staffer at center of latest sockpuppet scandal|first=Rob|last=Price|work=Daily Dot|date= March 12, 2014|accessdate=March 16, 2014}}</ref> Kaldari's poor judgment in owning and operating this site was called to the attention of Jimbo Wales, who dismissed it out of hand.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&oldid=599304349</ref>

===Tretikov Administration===
In March 2013, Executive Director Sue Gardner announced that she would leave,<ref name=bizinsider/><ref>http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/The_search_for_our_next_Executive_Director Retrieved June 16, 2014.</ref> and an extensive search did not produce a satisfactory candidate. After a second search, Russian-born Lila Tretikov was selected as Gardner's replacement, and she took office on June 2, 2014. The WMF appointed a transition team to assist her in learning her new role, and there was a three-week transition period following the announcement of her selection. At the time, Tretikov was dating PHP programmer Will Sinclair. Both Tretikov and Sinclair attempted to become immersed in Wikipedia culture, and Sinclair quickly found his way to the noted criticism website [[Wikipediocracy]], where he registered an account. On May 30-June 1, 2014, the WMF sponsored a conference called "WikiConference USA" at the [[New York Law School]] which welcomed everyone to attend including "the curious, the skeptical, and others wishing to engage in meaningful conversation about the Wikimedia movement in the United States."<ref>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/WikiCon_USA_2014_Press_Release_v1.pdf Retrieved June 16, 2014</ref> However, the afternoon before the conference began, Greg Kohs who had proposed to give a presentation on "paid editing" had his registration cancelled and was told not to attend.<ref>http://wikipediocracy.com/2014/06/02/wikiconference-usa-bans-critic-from-open-meeting/ Retrieved June 16, 2014</ref> Sinclair defended Kohs' right to attend and started a [http://wllm.com/ blog] and an [http://www.change.org/petitions/wikipedia-make-wikipedia-conferences-truly-open-to-all-by-allowing-greg-kohs-to-attend online petition] to advocate these views. He also expressed his views on a WMF listserv. In response, the WMF insiders turned vicious and openly suggested that Tretikov should break up their family and leave Sinclair because of his support for Kohs.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo#Regarding_the_nauseating_and_cowardly_remarks_made_by_Wikiconference_USA_attendees</ref> On June 15, Sinclair announced on Mr. Wales talk page that he would no longer participate on Wikipediocracy.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=612984072&oldid=612983354 June 15, 2014.</ref> Efforts to get Mr. Wales to clarify why Kohs was banned from the conference were met with censorship.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=613156950&oldid=613156824 June 16, 2014.</ref>

Sinclair later in 2014 started his own "Off-Wiki" Wikipedia criticism site.

As Executive Director, Tretikov gave speeches and participated in meetings and conferences around the world. Her travels may have made her less accessible to the WMF staff. One important initiative that Tretikov started was improving the WMF's efforts in child protection. Previously, the WMF left the decision to take disciplinary action against users to untrained volunteers on individual projects. The project leaders complained that they were not properly trained to handle allegations that a user was a child predator. Under Tretikov, the WMF legal staff began handling such complaints and banned a number of users from all WMF projects.

In 2015, the WMF Board and Tretikov reorganized the "Advancement" fundraising staff and secretly entered into an agreement with the [[Tides Foundation]] to establish a separate endowment fund. The Tides Foundation was established by liberal [[George Soros]]. Under the arrangement, the Tides Foundation will invest and control the endowment until it reaches its goal of $100 million at which time the WMF and Tides will agree on how to handle the money in the future. The WMF has hired staff to solicit and process gifts for the endowment, and the endowment was publicly launched on January 15, 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://15.wikipedia.org/endowment.html|title=Wikimedia Endowment|accessdate=Feb. 26, 2016}}</ref> Many people have questioned how the WMF could embark on a $100 million endowment fund drive just a few weeks after a banner ad campaign on its website begging for money to keep its servers running.

In 2015, Tretikov reorganized the staff and launched a secret project to develop a "Knowledge Engine" (KE) which some planning documents said would compete with [[Google]] as a means of searching sources beyond the WMF projects by automating the process of evaluating what information on the Internet was reliable.<ref>[https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/02/head-of-wikimedia-foundation-resigns-as-tensions-with-editors-mount/ Wikimedia Foundation director resigns after uproar over “Knowledge Engine”], ''Ars Technica''.</ref> Tretikov applied for a grant of $2 million per year over three years from the Knight Foundation, but only received a one-time $250,000 grant to explore the concept. In November 2015, the WMF Board reaffirmed its support of Tretikov's leadership and retained a management consultant to mentor her. In addition, a number of senior WMF staff (including Deputy Director Erik Möller) departed, some making critical public remarks as they left.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wikipediocracy.com/2016/02/26/unicorns-are-a-myth-lila-tretikov-resigns-as-wikimedia-foundation-executive-director/#comment-44801|title=Unicorns are a Myth: Lila Tretikov resigns as Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director|date=Feb. 26, 2016|accessdate=Feb. 26, 2016}}</ref> It is easy to imagine KE to evolve into an attempt to provide the equivalent of a FICO score for every domain name, perhaps every known person on Earth, that third-party software would likely utilities to influence how second-rate search engines would rank information. Wales frequently uses software features at his web sites to discredit or silence the communications anyone he disapproves of. Wales had previously welcomed the idea of having a biography for every person on Earth but the "deletionist" element of his "community" (who simply lust after the destroying of information about low-fame entities) rejected the notion.

[[File:James Heilman.png|thumb|left|200px|James Heilman, M.D. was removed from the Board]] In July 2015, James Heilman, MD was elected to the WMF Board by the editing community after starting working at WP in 2008 and being a very active ("many hours a day") and highly qualified non-anonymous editor and later administrator. He made many mass media presentations promoting the project and worked to improve its reliability especially for those seeking medical information. He attempted to recruit other physicians to help in the effort. Heilman brought staff dissatisfaction with Tretikov's leadership to the Board and pressed for more information on the Knowledge Engine and the Knight Foundation grant. On December 28, 2015, on the eve of two members leaving the Board, the Board held an emergency meeting and removed Heilman from the WMF Board by a vote of 8 to 2. The Board released a statement that Heilman "lacked the confidence" of his fellow trustees. The Community responded to his dismissal by pressing for the release of the Knowledge Engine grant application resulting in a public apology from Tretikov for pushing the project without first gaining consensus. Heilman continues to spend many hours a day contributing to WP as an editor and an admin and continues to make media appearances promoting the WP project.<ref>http://thewikipedian.net/tag/james-heilman/</ref><ref>https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/11/08/501087493/should-i-trust-wikipedia-with-my-health</ref>

The WMF Board appointed two new people to fill outside Board slots effective January 1, one of which was a Google executive, Arnnon Geshuri who was a central figure in an antitrust case. Community outrage over this improperly vetted appointment resulted in his resignation from the WMF Board.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/01/editors-demand-ouster-of-wikimedia-board-member-involved-in-no-poach-deal/|title= Law & Disorder / Civilization & Discontents Wikipedia editors revolt, vote "no confidence" in newest board member|date=Jan. 25, 2016|accessdate=Feb. 25, 2016}}</ref> On February 25, 2016, Tretikov announced her resignation as the Wikimedia Foundation's Executive Director.<ref name=ltresign/> She continued until March 31.

===Maher Administration===
[[File:Katherine Maher.jpg|thumb|right|Katherine Maher, Executive Director]]
Katherine Maher was announced as the interim ED was announced and later it was announced that she was appointed permanently to the position.<ref name=ltresign>{{cite web|url=https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2016-February/082472.html|title=Executive transition planning|date=February 25, 2016|accessdate=February 25, 2016}}</ref>

The female Chair of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Directors is married to Laura Hale. Ms. Hale has a long history, dating back to 2011 of incompetent edits and abusing male editors. A long-time male administrator, Fram, followed Ms. Hale around making corrections to her problematic edits. In turn, Ms. Hale complained to the Trust & Security staff of the Wikimedia Foundation, rather than to the volunteer-staffed complaint mechanisms on Wikipedia. Although the Trust & Security staff has previously banned a few editors for problems involving illegal conduct such as pedophilia, in June 2019, for the first time, they suspended Fram for one year for "incivility". In response, an English Wikipedia administrator lifted the block and was in turn stripped of his administratorship, and several other administrators resigned in protest.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_response_to_the_Wikimedia_Foundation%27s_ban_of_Fram|title=Wikipedia:Community response to the Wikimedia Foundation's ban of Fram|accessdate=June 24, 2019}}</ref> In response to a Buzzfeed article about the controversy,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/wikipedia-ban-editor-culture-war|title=The Culture War Has Finally Come For Wikipedia|date=July 27, 2019|accessdate=July 28, 2019|work=Buzzfeed News}}</ref> Maher sent a tweet calling the article "s***ty.".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/krmaher/status/1144394019893460993|title=tweet|accessdate=June 28, 2019}}</ref> As more Wikipedia Administrators and Bureaucrats resign or go on strike, the crisis has also been reported by Breitbart.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/06/28/wikipedia-editors-revolt-over-sites-ban-of-veteran-administrator/|title=Wikipedia Editors Revolt over Site’s Ban of Veteran Administrator|date=July 28, 2019|work=Breitbart|accessdate=July 28, 2019}}</ref> Despite the Fram-Laura Hale scandal, on August 15, 2019, the WMF Board re-elected Laura Hale's wife to serve another year as Board chair.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2019/08/16/wikimedia-foundation-announces-shani-evenstein-sigalov-as-new-trustee-as-well-as-leadership-appointments-at-fifteenth-annual-wikimania/
|title=Wikimedia Foundation announces Shani Evenstein Sigalov as new Trustee, as well as leadership appointments at fifteenth annual Wikimania|date=August 16, 2019|accessdate=August 17, 2019}}</ref>

There is a fundamental rift at Wikipedia. On the one hand, editors from the global north advocate that knowledge is produced by the scientific method, and that Wikipedia should only document verifiable facts. On the other hand, editors from the global south believe that Western civilization is the product of old or dead white men and that Wikipedia should give voice to suppressed people who have personal experiences that may not meet the accepted standards currently imposed by the traditional views of knowledge. These people advocate a "post-modernist" definition of knowledge, including folk remedies supplanting Western medicine and counteracting the historic bias that views males as holding key roles in history, when they serve as military or political leaders. This later group views the current governing structure and resource allocation of the Foundation as illegitimate and wants to rebuild both Wikipedia and the Foundation into something very different so that when internet access spreads throughout the world by 2030, people in the global south will be involved with Wikipedia instead of some other website that might become established to serve their own communities.

To assure that all views were heard, the WMF devoted millions of dollars on a strategic planning exercise that held workshops in the global south and provided very few opportunities for input from editors in Europe or the United States. The result was a large set of self-contradictory recommendations. Next, the WMF hosted a "harmonization sprint" in Tunis which was attended by Laura Hale's wife and Maher to try to unify the recommendations. Finally, a writing group was appointed to write a self-consistent set of recommendations, for which public comment will be collected in January-February 2020.

Although a large number of non-profit groups issued virtue signaling statements following the death of George Floyd, Maher (speaking for the WMF) used the opportunity to announce a complete surrender to the faction that refocused the mission on knowledge equity and also announced that WMF websites would abandon their unbiased coverage of race relations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2020/06/03/we-stand-for-racial-justice/|title=We stand for racial justice.|date=June 3, 2020|accessdate=Sept. 17. 2020}}</ref> Maher described as a goal:
{{cquote|Our content: Building power, relationships, and resources to advance epistemic justice and redress the exclusion and omission of Black, indigenous, and communities of color within knowledge systems in general and the Wikimedia projects specifically.}}

==Site shut downs==
As a section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, the foundation must not be "carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting, to influence legislation (except as otherwise provided in subsection (h)), and which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office."<ref>{{USC|26|501(c)(3)}}.</ref> However, WMF has repeatedly used shutting down its website or threatening to shut down its website as a tactic to pressure specific legislative outcomes.

On October 4, 2011, the WMF servers were reprogrammed to hide the contents of the [[Italian Wikipedia|Italian language version of Wikipedia]], as a protest against paragraph 29 of the "''[[DDL intercettazioni]]''" (Wiretapping Bill).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.camera.it/_dati/leg16/lavori/stampati/pdf/16PDL0038530.pdf |title=Camera dei Deputati: disegno di legge N. 1415-B |language=Italian |date=11 June 2010 |accessdate=September 18, 2012 |publisher=Camera dei Deputati}} ([http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=it&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.camera.it%2F_dati%2Fleg16%2Flavori%2Fstampati%2Fpdf%2F16PDL0038530.pdf English translation])</ref> The proposed bill would empower anyone who believes themselves to have been attacked by the content of a web site to enforce publication of a reply, uneditable and uncommented, on the same web site, within 48 hours and without any prior evaluation of the claim by a judge or to face a €12,000 fine.

On October 4 through 6, 2011, the WMF redirected all pages on the Italian language version of Wikipedia redirected to a statement opposing the proposed legislation.<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/italy-wikipedia-wiretapping-2011-10 "Wikipedia Shuts Down Italian Site In Response To Berlusconi's New Wiretap Act"], Adam Taylor, ''Business Insider'', 4 October 2011</ref> This was true for all users, not just those IP addresses based in Italy. On October 7, the Italian Wikipedia pages were again available, but a notice about the proposed legislation was still displayed at the top of pages.

The success of the Italian shut down whetted the appetite of people seeking to influence legislation in the United States. In December 2011, Wikipedia co-founder [[Jimmy Wales]] discussed a possible coordinated blackout by Wikipedia and other United States websites to protest anti-piracy two bills pending before the United States Congress: [[SOPA]] and [[PIPA]]. After committing the WMF to join a larger boycott, Wales initiated discussion with editors about his plan. Editors and others<ref>Charlie Osborne, [https://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/would-a-wikipedia-blackout-be-such-a-bad-thing/13726 "Would a Wikipedia blackout be such a bad thing?"], ''iGeneration'' on [[ZDNet]], December 13, 2011, 11:04 am PST. Retrieved September 18, 2012.</ref> debated the alternatives of completely interrupting service for one or more days, or alternatively presenting site visitors with a blanked page directing them to further information before permitting them to complete searches.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/jimmy-wales/8953273/Wikipedia-co-founder-threatens-blackout-over-anti-piracy-law.html |title=Wikipedia co-founder threatens blackout over anti-piracy law |work=The Telegraph |date=December 13, 2011 |author=Christopher Williams |accessdate=September 18, 2012 |location=London}}</ref><ref name="itnews wikipedia mulls blackout">{{cite news |url=http://www.itnews.com.au/News/284285,wikipedia-mulls-blackout-to-protest-sopa.aspx |title=Wikipedia mulls blackout to protest SOPA |publisher=itnews |date=December 13, 2011 |accessdate=September 18, 2012 |author=Brett Winterford |quote=Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has threatened a knowledge "blackout" of the online encyclopedia to protest a US anti-piracy bill that could have serious ramifications for online service providers.}}</ref> On January 16, the Wikimedia Foundation announced that the English-language Wikipedia would be blacked out for 24 hours on January 18.<ref>{{cite news |title=Wikipedia to go dark in piracy protest |date=January 17, 2012 |work=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-17/wiki-to-go-dark-in-piracy-protest/3778452 |accessdate=September 18, 2012}}</ref> The Simple English Wikipedia voted to continue full service and did not join the blackout.<ref>https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Simple_talk/Archive_97#Potential_black-out_of_Simple_English_Wikipedia_in_the_US</ref> Many editors complained that the blackout decision was not made in a democratic fashion and undercut Wikipedia's objectivity and non-political mission.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/wikipedia-editors-question-sites-planned-blackout-15381673 | title = Wikipedia Editors Question Site's Planned Blackout | first = Peter | last = Svensson | date = January 17, 2012 | accessdate = September 18, 2012| agency = Associated Press }}</ref>

The SOPA/PIPA issue is so important to Sue Gardner, the WMF Executive Director, that in March 2013, she announced that she will be leaving her position to pursue the issue in another capacity.<ref name=bizinsider>{{cite news|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/wikimedia-foundations-sue-gardner-leaving-2013-3|work=Business Insider|date= March 28, 2013|title=The Woman Who Made Wikipedia Huge Is Stepping Down|accessdate=Arpril 27, 2013}}</ref> She left on June 1, 2014.

==Finances==
WMF's fundraising and expenses have grown at a very rapid rate. Some critics claim that WMF is taking in money faster than it can spend wisely.<ref>http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikimedia_Forum&oldid=4864408</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Wikimedia financial data through June 2016 (financial years run from July 1 to June 30)
|-
! style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top" | Fiscal year
! style="text-align: right; vertical-align: top" | Revenue
! style="text-align: right; vertical-align: top" | Year-over-year ratio (revenue)
! style="text-align: right; vertical-align: top" | Expenses
! style="text-align: right; vertical-align: top" | Year-over-year ratio (expenses)
! style="text-align: right; vertical-align: top" | Net assets
! style="text-align: right; vertical-align: top" | Year-over-year ratio (net assets)
|-
| 2003–2004<ref name=2004-2006>{{cite web|url=//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/2/28/Wikimedia_2006_fs.pdf |title=Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June 30, 2006, 2005 and 2004 |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=November 26, 2012|format=PDF}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="80129" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{steady}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $80,129
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="0" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{steady}} || style="text-align: center; width: 42%" | N/A
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="23463" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{steady}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $23,463
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="0" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{steady}} || style="text-align: center; width: 42%" | N/A
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="56666" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{steady}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $56,666
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="0" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{steady}} || style="text-align: center; width: 42%" | N/A
|}
|-
| 2004–2005<ref name=2004-2006 />
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="379088" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $379,088
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="373.10" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 373.1%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="177670" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $177,670
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="657.2" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 657.2%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="268084" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $268,084
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="373.09" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 373.1%
|}
|-
| 2005–2006<ref name=2004-2006 />
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="1508039" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $1,508,039
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="297.81" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 297.8%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="791907" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $791,907
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="345.72" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 345.7%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="1004216" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $1,004,216
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="274.59" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 274.6%
|}
|-
| 2006–2007<ref>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/49/Wikimedia_2007_fs.pdf |title=Microsoft Word – {F0900CC7-D37E-4CDF-95E3-B1F38D7DCD03}.doc |format=PDF |date= |accessdate=November 26, 2012}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="2734909" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $2,734,909
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="81.4" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 81.4%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="2077843" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $2,077,843
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="162.38" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 162.4%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="1658282" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $1,658,282
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="65.13" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 65.1%
|}
|-
| 2007–2008<ref>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/4c/Wikimedia_20072008_fs.pdf |title=Microsoft Word – 31935 SFO Wikimedia fs.doc |format=PDF |date= |accessdate=November 26, 2012}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="5032981" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $5,032,981
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="84.0" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 84.0%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="3540724" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $3,540,724
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="70.40" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 70.4%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="5178168" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $5,178,168
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="212.26" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 212.3%
|}
|-
| 2008–2009<ref>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/4f/FINAL_08_09From_KPMG.pdf |title=Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June 30, 2009 and 2008 |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=November 26, 2012|format=PDF}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="8658006" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $8,658,006
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="72.0" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 72.0%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="5617236" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $5,617,236
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="58.65" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 58.6%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="8231767" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $8,231,767
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="58.97" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 59.0%
|}
|-
| 2009–2010<ref>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/c/cc/FINAL_09_10From_KPMG.pdf |title=Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June 30, 2010 and 2009 |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=November 26, 2012|format=PDF}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="17979312" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $17,979,312
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="107.7" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 107.7%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="10266793" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $10,266,793
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="82.77" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 82.8%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="14542731" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $14,542,731
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="76.67" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 76.7%
|}
|-
| 2010–2011<ref>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/a/ac/FINAL_10_11From_KPMG.pdf |title=Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June, 2011 and 2010 |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation| format=PDF|accessdate=2015-10-25}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="24785092" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $24,785,092
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="37.8" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 37.8%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="17889794" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $17,889,794
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="74.25" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 74.2%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="24192144" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $24,192,144
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="66.35" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 66.3%
|}
|-
| 2011–2012<ref name=2011-2012>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/0/09/FINAL_11_12From_KPMG.pdf|title= Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June, 2012 and 2011|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=December 26, 2012|format=PDF}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="38479665" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $38,479,665
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="55.2" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 55.2%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="29260652" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $29,260,652
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="63.56" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 63.6%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="34929058" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $34,929,058
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="44.38" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 44.4%
|}
|-
| 2012–2013<ref name=2012-2013>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/6/6e/FINAL_12_13From_KPMG.pdf|title= Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June, 2013 and 2012|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=December 14, 2013|format=PDF}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="48635408" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $48,635,408
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="26.4" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 26.4%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="35704796" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $35,704,796
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="22.02" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 22.0%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="45189124" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $45,189,124
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="29.37" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 29.4%
|}
|-
| 2013–2014<ref name=2014-2015 />
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="52465287" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $52,465,287
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="8.6" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 8.6%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="45900745" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $45,900,745
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="28.6" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 28.6%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="53475021" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $53,475,021
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="18.3" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 18.3%
|}
|-
| 2014–2015<ref name=2014-2015>{{cite web|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/43/Wikimedia_Foundation_Audit_Report_-_FY15-16.pdf|title=Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June, 2016 and 2015|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=November 15, 2016}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="74536375" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $74,536,375
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="44.5" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 44.5%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="52596782" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $52,596,782
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="14.6" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 14.6%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="77820298" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $77,820,298
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="45.5" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 45.5%
|}
|-
| 2015–2016<ref name=2015-2016>{{cite web|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/43/Wikimedia_Foundation_Audit_Report_-_FY15-16.pdf|title=Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June, 2016 and 2015|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=November 15, 2016}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="81862724" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $81,862,724
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="9.8" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 9.8%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="65947465" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $65,947,465
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="25.4" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 25.4%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="91782795" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $91,782,795
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="17.9" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 17.9%
|}
|}
If the WMF has $91 million in the bank, those funds could produce (at 4%) $3,640,000 in annual income, which is more than enough to fund the Wikipedia web servers in perpetuity. So, people are questioning the need for the WMF's annual fund raising campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wikipediocracy.com/2014/12/11/the-wikipedia-fundraising-banner-sad-but-untrue/|title=The Wikipedia Fundraising Banner: Sad but Untrue|date=December 11, 2014|accessdate=December 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-good-arguments-against-donating-to-the-Wikimedia-Foundation/answer/Andreas-Kolbe|title=What are some good arguments against donating to the Wikimedia Foundation?|work=Quora|accessdate=December 15, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://newslines.org/blog/stop-giving-wikipedia-money/|title=Stop giving Wikipedia money|date=December 4, 2014|accessdate=December 15, 2014|work=Newslines}}</ref>

Each year the WMF conducts a fundraising drive to keep the webservers working on that popular liberal website. They claim the donations go to "Servers, bandwidth, maintenance, development."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://donate.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:FundraiserLandingPage&country=US&uselang=en&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_source=donate&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikipedia.org|title=Make Your Donation Now - Donate|accessdate=September 3, 2013}}</ref> Yet, in the period July - December 2012, the WMF took in $30.9 million but spent only $1.3 million on internet hosting.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/6/68/Jul-Dec%2712_Mid-year_financials2.pdf|title=Actual vs. Plan Comparison|work=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=September 3, 2013}}</ref> During 2012, the net worth of the WMF grew by $11 million. Yet, liberal Wikipedia users continue to donate in response to the WMF's urgent appeals.

In spring 2014, Jimmy Wales began to pander for [[bitcoin]] donations at websites where bitcoin investors were seeking ways to lend legitimacy to the digital currency. He promised to ask the WMF Board to allow bitcoin donations on the Wikipedia website. In the summer of 2014, the WMF made arrangements with Coinbase, who promised to convert bitcoin into dollars without charge. Thereafter, a bitcoin option was added to the WMF donation page.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2014/07/30/wikipedia-now-accepts-bitc donations-with-coinbase/|publisher=techcrunch.com|title=Wikipedia Now Accepts Bitcoin Donations With Coinbase|date=July 30, 2014|accessdate=August 8, 2014}}</ref> Seth Meyers noted on his ''Late Night'' program, "Wikipedia is now accepting donations using the online currency Bitcoin. So now you can support information you're not sure is true with currency you're not sure is money."<ref>http://www.thespec.com/living-story/4733681-tuesdayfile/ Retrieved August 8, 2014</ref>

In addition to the WMF staff, the WMF awards grants and hires outside contractors. In the 2016 fiscal year, two law firms, Jones Day ($1,557,553) and Cooley LLP ($410,560), were among the largest payments. The WMF paid $436,104 to Minassian Media Inc. for public relations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/44/Wikimedia_Foundation_2015_Form_990.pdf|title=2015-16 Form 990|accessdate=July 7, 2017}}</ref> Craig Minassian also serves as Chief Communications Officer of the [[Clinton Foundation]].

==Dispersed accountability==
A major factor in preventing accountability is that the fundraising conducted on the Wikipedia website links to a number of different solicitation pages depending on the nationality of the donor. Although the WMF collects the funds from donors located in the United States and other nations, fundraising in many countries is conducted by the country's own national chapter. The chapters then share the revenues with WMF. However, each chapter adopts its own spending practices and accountability standards.

The German chapter spends a portion of its funds on technology, but most of the other chapters focus on conferences, travel and other soft costs. Needless to say, with so much money being spent on non-technology / infrastructure items, the WMF and its chapters have drawn critics from within their own organization. However, internal dissent is quickly deleted.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Netball&diff=next&oldid=535697243|title=Talk:Netball|date=January 30, 2013}}</ref>

The WMF has two chapters in the United States: Wikimedia New York (which has a 501(c)(3) status from the IRS) and Wikimedia District of Columbia, whose 501(c)(3) exemption application was abandoned. The Treasurer of the UK WMF chapter suddenly resigned in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2013/02/john-byrne-stands-down-as-the-treasurer-and-a-trustee-of-wikimedia-uk/|title=John Byrne Stands Down as the Treasurer and a Trustee of Wikimedia UK|date=February 3, 2013|accessdate=February 4, 2013}}</ref> Laura Hale, the outgoing vice president of Wikimedia Australia (who was an unsuccessful candidate for President in its 2012 election) applied for a travel grant with two of her friends to visit Colorado ski resorts in December 2012 and sought the funding retroactively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Proposal:Paralympic_Winter_Sports|title=Proposal:Paralympic Winter Sports|accessdate=February 4, 2013|work=Wikimedia Australia}}</ref>

The President of Wikimedia Australia has spend so much time traveling with the President of Wikimedia Indonesia that the two married.{{citation needed}}

A number of departing WMF employees have left comments on the Glassdoor website, citing problems with senior management creating a very confused work environment. The WMF suffers from a high staff turnover rate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Wikimedia-Foundation-Reviews-E38331.htm|title=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=April 27, 2013}}</ref>

The WMF's endowment is held separately by the [[Tides Foundation]] and is controlled by their Board of Trustees. However, the agreement establishing the endowment between WMF and Tides provides for a separate "Wikimedia Endowment Advisory Board" to represent the Wikimedia communities interests when Tides makes decisions about the endowment. Instead of just having the WMF Board have a say in what will become the WMF's largest financial resource, a separate Board has been appointed with Jimmy Wales and Annette Campbell-White as its initial members.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://blog.wikimedia.org/2016/05/11/annette-campbell-white-endowment/|title=Annette Campbell-White named to the Wikimedia Endowment Advisory Board|date=May 11, 2016|accessdate=January 17, 2017}}</ref> In September, Peter Baldwin was added to the Advisory Board.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://blog.wikimedia.org/2016/09/09/peter-baldwin-endowment-board/|title=Peter Baldwin, professor and philanthropist, is appointed to the Wikimedia Endowment Advisory Board|quote=Endowment Board members are selected based on active involvement in philanthropic endeavors, prior nonprofit board experience, fundraising expertise, and a strong commitment to the Wikimedia Foundation’s mission.|accessdate=January 17, 2017}}</ref>

==Lawsuits==
In March 2015, the WMF and other groups filed a lawsuit against the [[National Security Agency]] (NSA) challenging an upstream surveillance program that was revealled by [[Edward Snowden]], a former NSA contractor. The District Court granted the NSA's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, but the WMF successfully appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. That decision left the WMF as the only remaining plaintiff in the case, and the case is proceeding in District Court on remand.<ref>{{cite news|last=Nelson|first=Steven|title=Appeals Court: Wikimedia Can Fight NSA's 'Not Speculative' Internet Surveillance|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2017-05-23/appeals-court-wikimedia-can-fight-nsas-not-speculative-internet-surveillance|accessdate=24 May 2017|work=U.S. World and News Report|date=May 23, 2017}}</ref> On December 16, 2019, the District Court held that the WMF did not have standing to proceed with its claims. On February 14, 2020, the Wikimedia Foundation filed a notice of appeal in the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.<ref>{{cite web|title=District Court rules for government in Wikimedia Foundation's mass surveillance case against the NSA |url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2019/12/17/district-court-rules-for-government-in-wikimedia-foundations-mass-surveillance-case-against-the-nsa/ |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation |accessdate=September 20, 2020 |date=December 17, 2019}}</ref>

In 2019, cold fusion researcher Abd ul-Rahman Lomax who was banned from Wikipedia filed a lawsuit against the Wikimedia Foundation, seeking $200,000 in damages.<ref>https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.207020/gov.uscourts.mad.207020.1.0.pdf</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Liberal Organizations]]
[[Category:Wikimedia Foundation]]

Wikimedia Foundation

2020-09-21T03:59:11Z

FirstAmendment: epistemic justice - you could not make this stuff up if you tried

'''Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.''' (WMF) is a not-for-profit Florida corporation with its principle place of business in [[San Francisco, California]]. It was founded by [[Jimmy Wales]], who has a permanent position on the Board of Directors. It operates several online collaborative wiki projects including [[Wikipedia]], [[Wiktionary]], [[Wikiquote]], [[Wikibooks]], [[Wikisource]], [[Wikimedia Commons]], [[Wikispecies]], [[Wikinews]], [[Wikiversity]], Wikimedia Incubator, Meta-Wiki, [[Wikidata]], [[Wikivoyage]], and owns the now-defunct Nupedia online encyclopedia. Its Executive Director is Katherine Maher. In essence, an operator of a phonographic website, set up a non-profit foundation to which to transfer his crowd-sourced project, only to end up with the Chairman of its Board of Directors being a lesbian secretly married to a woman who misused her Foundation connections to openly harass male volunteers that attempted to maintain quality control on her articles. They then turned their back on their army of long-time volunteers to reinvent their projects to promote subjective individual personal opinions rather than objective truth to create "epistemic justice." Meanwhile, it is using its donations to sue the National Security Agency (NSA) over government efforts to fight terrorism.

HQ is 1 Montgomery Street, Suite 1600, San Francisco, CA 94104 Phone:(415) 839-6885 Supposed business hours: 9AM–5PM PST.<ref>https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Contact_us</ref> However, the WMF shifted to remote operations and half-time work at full-time pay in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2020/03/06/wikimedia-foundation-will-close-san-francisco-office-and-encourage-remote-work-for-march-2020-amidst-covid-19-concerns/|title=Amid COVID-19, Wikimedia Foundation offers full pay for reduced hours, mobilizes all staff to work remote, and waives sick time|date=March 6, 2020|accessdate=Sept. 20, 2020}}</ref>

For the fiscal year ending 6/30/17, the Executive Director's salary was $307,141.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=11212|title=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=June 24, 2019}}</ref>

==History==
The creation of the foundation was officially announced on June 20, 2003, by the [[atheism|atheist]] and Wikipedia co-founder [[Jimmy Wales]],<ref name="Rupert Neate">{{cite news | first = Rupert | last = Neate | title = Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales goes bananas | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/3399843/Wikipedia-founder-Jimmy-Wales-goes-bananas.html |work=The Daily Telegraph | date= October 7, 2008 | accessdate =October 25, 2009 | quote = The encyclopedia's huge fan base became such a drain on Bomis's resources that Mr Wales, and co-founder Larry Sanger, thought of a radical new funding model – charity.}}</ref> who had been operating Wikipedia within his pornographic company [[Bomis]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2003-June/010743.html | title = Wikipedia English mailing list message | date = June 20, 2003 | first = Jimmy | last = Wales | authorlink = Jimmy Wales}}</ref> At the time, Wikipedia was operating out of Bomis' offices in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The name "Wikimedia" was [[neologism|coined]] by American author [[Sheldon Rampton]] in a post to the English mailing list in March 2003.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2003-March/001887.html | title = Wikipedia English mailing list message | date = March 16, 2003 | first = Sheldon | last = Rampton | authorlink = Sheldon Rampton }}</ref>
At the start, Wales transferred ownership of all Wikipedia, Wiktionary and [[Nupedia]] [[domain name]]s to Wikimedia along with the copyrights for all materials related to these projects that were created by [[Bomis]] employees or Wales himself. The computer equipment used to run all the Wikimedia projects was also donated by Wales to the foundation, which also acquired the domain names "wikimedia.org" and "wikimediafoundation.org".

In April 2005, the US [[Internal Revenue Service]] determined that the foundation was an educational foundation in the category "[[Adult education|Adult]], [[Continuing education|Continuing Education]]", making all contributions to the foundation [[Tax deduction|tax-deductible]] for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

On September 25, 2007, the foundation's board decided to move to the [[San Francisco Bay Area]]. The Board said its major reasons for choosing San Francisco were proximity to like-minded organizations and potential partners as well as cheaper and more convenient international travel than is available from St. Petersburg, Florida.<ref name="MoncadaWikimoveTribune">{{cite web | url = http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/sep/25/wikimedia-foundation-moving-another-bay-area/?news-breaking | title= Wikimedia Foundation Moving To Another Bay Area | author = Carlos Moncada | work = [[The Tampa Tribune]] |date = September 25, 2007 | quote = }}</ref><ref name="MullinsWikimoveTribune">{{cite web | url= http://www.tbo.com/news/money/MGBNF5F517F.html | title = Online Encyclopedia To Leave St. Petersburg For San Francisco | author = Richard Mullins | work = The Tampa Tribune |date = September 26, 2007 | quote = }}</ref><ref name="KimWikimoveSFChronicle">{{cite web | url= https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/10/BU69SNMQ2.DTL&tsp=1 | title = Wikipedia team plans move to San Francisco | first = Ryan | last = Kim |work=San Francisco Chronicle | date = October 10, 2007 | quote = }}</ref>

The Wikimedia Foundation Board met in 2016 in a small town in Italy to discuss transparency and communication. The Foundation funded all Board members' travel to Italy.

==Wikia==
{{Main|Wikia}} 
In January 2004, [[Jimmy Wales]] appointed his business partners [[Tim Shell]] and Michael E. Davis to the foundation's board. In June 2004, an election was held for two user representative board members. Following one month of campaigning and two weeks of online voting, [[Angela Beesley Starling|Angela Beesley]] and [[Florence Devouard|Florence Nibart-Devouard]] were elected to join the board. In late 2004, Wales and Beesley launched a startup company, [[Wikia]], affiliated with neither Wikimedia nor Bomis, except for their presence as principals/trustees. In July 2005, Beesley and Nibart-Devouard were re-elected to the board. On July 1, 2006, Beesley resigned from the board effective upon election of her successor, expressing concern about "certain events and tendencies that have arisen within the organization since the start of this year," but stating her intent to continue to participate in the Wikimedia projects, and in the formation of an Australian chapter. A special election was held in September to finish Beesley's term, ending with the mid-2007 election. [[Erik Möller]] won the election. Möller was subsequently hired as Deputy Executive Director of the WMF. On December 8, 2006, the board expanded to seven people with the appointments of Kat Walsh and [[Oscar van Dillen]]. Walsh was elected Chair of the board in July 2012. Walsh was not re-elected to the WMF Board in 2013.

Wales and Beesley continued to develop Wikia as a for-profit alternative to the WMF projects, and some critics allege that by deleting very specialized articles and content from Wikipedia, a core team was pushing people to develop specialized wikis on Wikia. When Wikipedia community voted 61-39% percent to treat all links to other sites equally by removing nofollow (Google-ignored) tags for all of them, the Wikipedia co-founder overruled this decision and Wikipedia now favors Wikia in its treatment of nofollow tags.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/28/wikipedia-special-treatment-for-wikia-and-other-wikis/|title=Wikipedia: Special Treatment for Wikia and some other Wikis|author=Nik Cubrilovic|date=April 28, 2007|accessdate=July 22, 2012}}</ref><ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-January/061137.html</ref> Michael E. Davis, a former business partner of Wales who served for years as a founding member of the WMF board and was MWF's Treasurer, was named Treasurer and Secretary of Wikia in January 2006. In January 2009, Wikia subleased two conference rooms to the WMF.

Wales continues as a voting member of the WMF Board and serves as its spokesperson.

In August 2009, Matt Halprin, Partner of the Omidyar Network, was asked to join the Wikimedia Foundation board of trustees. Halprin was responsible for an Omidyar team that “pursues investments in Social Media”, and Omidyar invested part of $4 million into Wikia, Inc. in 2006. So, his company would succeed if Wikia made a nice return on investment, yet of all of the available competent Silcon Valley experts, the WMF selected Halprin to serve on the Board that is entrusted to ensure that the WMF treats Wikia on an arms-length basis.

In 2006, Wikia received a major round of venture capital funding from Amazon.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2006/12/04/daily16.html?jst=b_ln_hl|title=Amazon invests in Wikia|work=Puget Sound Business Journal|date=December 6, 2006|accessdate=February 4, 2013}}</ref> Although a large number of payment processors are available, as of 2013, the WMF uses Amazon to process donation payments.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Village_pump_%28policy%29&diff=526220744&oldid=526213000#Wikipedia_is_now_enriching_itself_by_contributing_to_the_destruction_of_small_businesses|title=Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)|date=December 3, 2012|accessdate=February 4, 2013}}</ref>

Wikia created the "Speedy Deletion Wikia" in which a robot harvested the Wikipedia articles that were deleted on an expedited basis and then reposted them on Wikia. These included copyrighted material and pornographic images that were deleted because of their objectionable nature.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=498803845&oldid=498803787|title=User Talk:Jimbo Wales|accessdate=January 13, 2017}}</ref>

==Controversies==

===Patrick administration===
WMF announced on 2006-06-19 that it had hired attorney Bradford Patrick as internal counsel acted as interim Executive Director.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2006-06-19/Brad_Patrick</ref>

In early 2007, a prominent Wikipedia editor, named only "Essjay" online and described on his user profile "as a tenured professor of religion at a private university with expertise in canon law," was exposed as a 24-year-old college kid in Kentucky. He resigned in disgrace — even though Wikipedia tried to retain him, claiming he'd edited thousands of articles with flair.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essjay_controversy</ref>

===Gardner administration===

====Doran scandal====
In January 2007, WMF named Carolyn Doran chief operating officer and Sandy Ordonez joined as [http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Head_of_Communications head of communications].<ref>{{cite web | title = Current staff | publisher = Wikimedia Foundation | url = https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Current_staff | accessdate =February 1, 2007 | author = Danny | authorlink = foundation:User:Danny | archiveurl = https://wikimediafoundation.org/w/index.php?title=Current_staff&oldid=19370 | archivedate = February 1, 2007 }}</ref> Doran began working at WMF as a part-time bookkeeper in 2006 after being sent by a [[Temporary work|temporary agency]]. Doran later left the foundation in July 2007, and [[Sue Gardner]] was hired as consultant and special advisor (later becoming the Chief Executive Officer). It was later disclosed<ref>{{cite news | first = Cade | last = Metz | title = Wikipedia COO was convicted felon | url = http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/13/wikimedia_coo_convicted_felon/ | date = December 13, 2007 | accessdate =December 27, 2007 }}</ref> that Doran was a convicted [[felony|felon]], with a [[DUI]] arrest during her tenure at the foundation and a substantial criminal history, including shooting her boyfriend and complicity in credit card forgery.<ref>{{cite news |authorlink=Brian Bergstein | first = Brian | last = Bergstein | title = Felon Became COO of Wikipedia Foundation | url = http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hcWLu3fg-aDeJNfWTY6hlbz93oCwD8TM0HVG0 | date = December 21, 2007 | accessdate =December 27, 2007 }}</ref> Her departure from the organization was cited as one of the reasons the foundation took about seven months to release its fiscal 2007 financial audit.<ref>{{cite news | author = Ral315 | title = ''Signpost'' interview: Florence Devouard | url = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2007-11-19/Anthere_interview | work = The Wikipedia Signpost | date = November 19, 2007 }}</ref>

====2014 Staffing controversies====
One of the growing pains that organizations experience is that paid staff can be hired and perhaps perform their job duties well, but their off-duty conduct brings discredit to their employer. This is particularly challenging for the WMF, who hired staff from the pool of Wikipedia volunteers, with many staff continuing to edit Wikipedia outside their regular WMF job duties.

In January 2014, Sarah Stierch was discovered to have written Wikipedia articles for hire while being a full-time WMF employee. The WMF promptly announced her departure as an employee without any official explanation.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2014-January/129466.html</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2014-01-08/News_and_notes|work=Wikimedia Signpost|date=January 8, 2014|title=WMF employee forced out over "paid advocacy editing"|accessdate=March 12, 2014}}</ref>

In March 2014, Ryan Kaldari, who has been working for the WMF for almost four years and is a Wikipedia administrator, got into an editing battle with another editor. Kaldari then made complaining comments about that editor under a second assumed name. For that policy violation, Kaldari lost his administrator privileges. However, the dispute caused Wikipedia users to research Kaldari's background and discovered that for years he has been the owner and operator of several other websites including "Snuffster.com", which was intended as a parody of Friendster, but soon became a haven for Internet trolls to mock murdered children. Kaldari has been paying for the site for 10 years and has actively added comments to various threads on the site.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.examiner.com/article/wikimedia-foundation-employee-caught-sockpuppeting-and-loses-admin-rights|first=Gregory|last=Kohs|title=Wikimedia Foundation employee caught sockpuppeting and loses admin rights |date=March 8, 204|accessdate=March 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dailydot.com/news/wikipedia-sockpuppet-ryan-kaldari/|title=Wikipedia staffer at center of latest sockpuppet scandal|first=Rob|last=Price|work=Daily Dot|date= March 12, 2014|accessdate=March 16, 2014}}</ref> Kaldari's poor judgment in owning and operating this site was called to the attention of Jimbo Wales, who dismissed it out of hand.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&oldid=599304349</ref>

===Tretikov Administration===
In March 2013, Executive Director Sue Gardner announced that she would leave,<ref name=bizinsider/><ref>http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/The_search_for_our_next_Executive_Director Retrieved June 16, 2014.</ref> and an extensive search did not produce a satisfactory candidate. After a second search, Russian-born Lila Tretikov was selected as Gardner's replacement, and she took office on June 2, 2014. The WMF appointed a transition team to assist her in learning her new role, and there was a three-week transition period following the announcement of her selection. At the time, Tretikov was dating PHP programmer Will Sinclair. Both Tretikov and Sinclair attempted to become immersed in Wikipedia culture, and Sinclair quickly found his way to the noted criticism website [[Wikipediocracy]], where he registered an account. On May 30-June 1, 2014, the WMF sponsored a conference called "WikiConference USA" at the [[New York Law School]] which welcomed everyone to attend including "the curious, the skeptical, and others wishing to engage in meaningful conversation about the Wikimedia movement in the United States."<ref>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/WikiCon_USA_2014_Press_Release_v1.pdf Retrieved June 16, 2014</ref> However, the afternoon before the conference began, Greg Kohs who had proposed to give a presentation on "paid editing" had his registration cancelled and was told not to attend.<ref>http://wikipediocracy.com/2014/06/02/wikiconference-usa-bans-critic-from-open-meeting/ Retrieved June 16, 2014</ref> Sinclair defended Kohs' right to attend and started a [http://wllm.com/ blog] and an [http://www.change.org/petitions/wikipedia-make-wikipedia-conferences-truly-open-to-all-by-allowing-greg-kohs-to-attend online petition] to advocate these views. He also expressed his views on a WMF listserv. In response, the WMF insiders turned vicious and openly suggested that Tretikov should break up their family and leave Sinclair because of his support for Kohs.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo#Regarding_the_nauseating_and_cowardly_remarks_made_by_Wikiconference_USA_attendees</ref> On June 15, Sinclair announced on Mr. Wales talk page that he would no longer participate on Wikipediocracy.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=612984072&oldid=612983354 June 15, 2014.</ref> Efforts to get Mr. Wales to clarify why Kohs was banned from the conference were met with censorship.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=613156950&oldid=613156824 June 16, 2014.</ref>

Sinclair later in 2014 started his own "Off-Wiki" Wikipedia criticism site.

As Executive Director, Tretikov gave speeches and participated in meetings and conferences around the world. Her travels may have made her less accessible to the WMF staff. One important initiative that Tretikov started was improving the WMF's efforts in child protection. Previously, the WMF left the decision to take disciplinary action against users to untrained volunteers on individual projects. The project leaders complained that they were not properly trained to handle allegations that a user was a child predator. Under Tretikov, the WMF legal staff began handling such complaints and banned a number of users from all WMF projects.

In 2015, the WMF Board and Tretikov reorganized the "Advancement" fundraising staff and secretly entered into an agreement with the [[Tides Foundation]] to establish a separate endowment fund. The Tides Foundation was established by liberal [[George Soros]]. Under the arrangement, the Tides Foundation will invest and control the endowment until it reaches its goal of $100 million at which time the WMF and Tides will agree on how to handle the money in the future. The WMF has hired staff to solicit and process gifts for the endowment, and the endowment was publicly launched on January 15, 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://15.wikipedia.org/endowment.html|title=Wikimedia Endowment|accessdate=Feb. 26, 2016}}</ref> Many people have questioned how the WMF could embark on a $100 million endowment fund drive just a few weeks after a banner ad campaign on its website begging for money to keep its servers running.

In 2015, Tretikov reorganized the staff and launched a secret project to develop a "Knowledge Engine" (KE) which some planning documents said would compete with [[Google]] as a means of searching sources beyond the WMF projects by automating the process of evaluating what information on the Internet was reliable.<ref>[https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/02/head-of-wikimedia-foundation-resigns-as-tensions-with-editors-mount/ Wikimedia Foundation director resigns after uproar over “Knowledge Engine”], ''Ars Technica''.</ref> Tretikov applied for a grant of $2 million per year over three years from the Knight Foundation, but only received a one-time $250,000 grant to explore the concept. In November 2015, the WMF Board reaffirmed its support of Tretikov's leadership and retained a management consultant to mentor her. In addition, a number of senior WMF staff (including Deputy Director Erik Möller) departed, some making critical public remarks as they left.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wikipediocracy.com/2016/02/26/unicorns-are-a-myth-lila-tretikov-resigns-as-wikimedia-foundation-executive-director/#comment-44801|title=Unicorns are a Myth: Lila Tretikov resigns as Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director|date=Feb. 26, 2016|accessdate=Feb. 26, 2016}}</ref> It is easy to imagine KE to evolve into an attempt to provide the equivalent of a FICO score for every domain name, perhaps every known person on Earth, that third-party software would likely utilities to influence how second-rate search engines would rank information. Wales frequently uses software features at his web sites to discredit or silence the communications anyone he disapproves of. Wales had previously welcomed the idea of having a biography for every person on Earth but the "deletionist" element of his "community" (who simply lust after the destroying of information about low-fame entities) rejected the notion.

[[File:James Heilman.png|thumb|left|200px|James Heilman, M.D. was removed from the Board]] In July 2015, James Heilman, MD was elected to the WMF Board by the editing community after starting working at WP in 2008 and being a very active ("many hours a day") and highly qualified non-anonymous editor and later administrator. He made many mass media presentations promoting the project and worked to improve its reliability especially for those seeking medical information. He attempted to recruit other physicians to help in the effort. Heilman brought staff dissatisfaction with Tretikov's leadership to the Board and pressed for more information on the Knowledge Engine and the Knight Foundation grant. On December 28, 2015, on the eve of two members leaving the Board, the Board held an emergency meeting and removed Heilman from the WMF Board by a vote of 8 to 2. The Board released a statement that Heilman "lacked the confidence" of his fellow trustees. The Community responded to his dismissal by pressing for the release of the Knowledge Engine grant application resulting in a public apology from Tretikov for pushing the project without first gaining consensus. Heilman continues to spend many hours a day contributing to WP as an editor and an admin and continues to make media appearances promoting the WP project.<ref>http://thewikipedian.net/tag/james-heilman/</ref><ref>https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/11/08/501087493/should-i-trust-wikipedia-with-my-health</ref>

The WMF Board appointed two new people to fill outside Board slots effective January 1, one of which was a Google executive, Arnnon Geshuri who was a central figure in an antitrust case. Community outrage over this improperly vetted appointment resulted in his resignation from the WMF Board.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/01/editors-demand-ouster-of-wikimedia-board-member-involved-in-no-poach-deal/|title= Law & Disorder / Civilization & Discontents Wikipedia editors revolt, vote "no confidence" in newest board member|date=Jan. 25, 2016|accessdate=Feb. 25, 2016}}</ref> On February 25, 2016, Tretikov announced her resignation as the Wikimedia Foundation's Executive Director.<ref name=ltresign/> She continued until March 31.

===Maher Administration===
[[File:Katherine Maher.jpg|thumb|right|Katherine Maher, Executive Director]]
Katherine Maher was announced as the interim ED was announced and later it was announced that she was appointed permanently to the position.<ref name=ltresign>{{cite web|url=https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2016-February/082472.html|title=Executive transition planning|date=February 25, 2016|accessdate=February 25, 2016}}</ref>

The female Chair of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Directors is married to Laura Hale. Ms. Hale has a long history, dating back to 2011 of incompetent edits and abusing male editors. A long-time male administrator, Fram, followed Ms. Hale around making corrections to her problematic edits. In turn, Ms. Hale complained to the Trust & Security staff of the Wikimedia Foundation, rather than to the volunteer-staffed complaint mechanisms on Wikipedia. Although the Trust & Security staff has previously banned a few editors for problems involving illegal conduct such as pedophilia, in June 2019, for the first time, they suspended Fram for one year for "incivility". In response, an English Wikipedia administrator lifted the block and was in turn stripped of his administratorship, and several other administrators resigned in protest.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_response_to_the_Wikimedia_Foundation%27s_ban_of_Fram|title=Wikipedia:Community response to the Wikimedia Foundation's ban of Fram|accessdate=June 24, 2019}}</ref> In response to a Buzzfeed article about the controversy,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/wikipedia-ban-editor-culture-war|title=The Culture War Has Finally Come For Wikipedia|date=July 27, 2019|accessdate=July 28, 2019|work=Buzzfeed News}}</ref> Maher sent a tweet calling the article "s***ty.".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/krmaher/status/1144394019893460993|title=tweet|accessdate=June 28, 2019}}</ref> As more Wikipedia Administrators and Bureaucrats resign or go on strike, the crisis has also been reported by Breitbart.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/06/28/wikipedia-editors-revolt-over-sites-ban-of-veteran-administrator/|title=Wikipedia Editors Revolt over Site’s Ban of Veteran Administrator|date=July 28, 2019|work=Breitbart|accessdate=July 28, 2019}}</ref> Despite the Fram-Laura Hale scandal, on August 15, 2019, the WMF Board re-elected Laura Hale's wife to serve another year as Board chair.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2019/08/16/wikimedia-foundation-announces-shani-evenstein-sigalov-as-new-trustee-as-well-as-leadership-appointments-at-fifteenth-annual-wikimania/
|title=Wikimedia Foundation announces Shani Evenstein Sigalov as new Trustee, as well as leadership appointments at fifteenth annual Wikimania|date=August 16, 2019|accessdate=August 17, 2019}}</ref>

There is a fundamental rift at Wikipedia. On the one hand, editors from the global north advocate that knowledge is produced by the scientific method, and that Wikipedia should only document verifiable facts. On the other hand, editors from the global south believe that Western civilization is the product of old or dead white men and that Wikipedia should give voice to suppressed people who have personal experiences that may not meet the accepted standards currently imposed by the traditional views of knowledge. These people advocate a "post-modernist" definition of knowledge, including folk remedies supplanting Western medicine and counteracting the historic bias that views males as holding key roles in history, when they serve as military or political leaders. This later group views the current governing structure and resource allocation of the Foundation as illegitimate and wants to rebuild both Wikipedia and the Foundation into something very different so that when internet access spreads throughout the world by 2030, people in the global south will be involved with Wikipedia instead of some other website that might become established to serve their own communities.

To assure that all views were heard, the WMF devoted millions of dollars on a strategic planning exercise that held workshops in the global south and provided very few opportunities for input from editors in Europe or the United States. The result was a large set of self-contradictory recommendations. Next, the WMF hosted a "harmonization sprint" in Tunis which was attended by Laura Hale's wife and Maher to try to unify the recommendations. Finally, a writing group was appointed to write a self-consistent set of recommendations, for which public comment will be collected in January-February 2020.

Although a large number of non-profit groups issued virtue signaling statements following the death of George Floyd, Maher (speaking for the WMF) used the opportunity to announce a complete surrender to the faction that refocused the mission on knowledge equity and also announced that WMF websites would abandon their unbiased coverage of race relations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2020/06/03/we-stand-for-racial-justice/|title=We stand for racial justice.|date=June 3, 2020|accessdate=Sept. 17. 2020}}</ref> Maher described as a goal:
{{cquote|Our content: Building power, relationships, and resources to advance epistemic justice and redress the exclusion and omission of Black, indigenous, and communities of color within knowledge systems in general and the Wikimedia projects specifically.}}

==Site shut downs==
As a section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, the foundation must not be "carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting, to influence legislation (except as otherwise provided in subsection (h)), and which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office."<ref>{{USC|26|501(c)(3)}}.</ref> However, WMF has repeatedly used shutting down its website or threatening to shut down its website as a tactic to pressure specific legislative outcomes.

On October 4, 2011, the WMF servers were reprogrammed to hide the contents of the [[Italian Wikipedia|Italian language version of Wikipedia]], as a protest against paragraph 29 of the "''[[DDL intercettazioni]]''" (Wiretapping Bill).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.camera.it/_dati/leg16/lavori/stampati/pdf/16PDL0038530.pdf |title=Camera dei Deputati: disegno di legge N. 1415-B |language=Italian |date=11 June 2010 |accessdate=September 18, 2012 |publisher=Camera dei Deputati}} ([http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=it&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.camera.it%2F_dati%2Fleg16%2Flavori%2Fstampati%2Fpdf%2F16PDL0038530.pdf English translation])</ref> The proposed bill would empower anyone who believes themselves to have been attacked by the content of a web site to enforce publication of a reply, uneditable and uncommented, on the same web site, within 48 hours and without any prior evaluation of the claim by a judge or to face a €12,000 fine.

On October 4 through 6, 2011, the WMF redirected all pages on the Italian language version of Wikipedia redirected to a statement opposing the proposed legislation.<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/italy-wikipedia-wiretapping-2011-10 "Wikipedia Shuts Down Italian Site In Response To Berlusconi's New Wiretap Act"], Adam Taylor, ''Business Insider'', 4 October 2011</ref> This was true for all users, not just those IP addresses based in Italy. On October 7, the Italian Wikipedia pages were again available, but a notice about the proposed legislation was still displayed at the top of pages.

The success of the Italian shut down whetted the appetite of people seeking to influence legislation in the United States. In December 2011, Wikipedia co-founder [[Jimmy Wales]] discussed a possible coordinated blackout by Wikipedia and other United States websites to protest anti-piracy two bills pending before the United States Congress: [[SOPA]] and [[PIPA]]. After committing the WMF to join a larger boycott, Wales initiated discussion with editors about his plan. Editors and others<ref>Charlie Osborne, [https://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/would-a-wikipedia-blackout-be-such-a-bad-thing/13726 "Would a Wikipedia blackout be such a bad thing?"], ''iGeneration'' on [[ZDNet]], December 13, 2011, 11:04 am PST. Retrieved September 18, 2012.</ref> debated the alternatives of completely interrupting service for one or more days, or alternatively presenting site visitors with a blanked page directing them to further information before permitting them to complete searches.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/jimmy-wales/8953273/Wikipedia-co-founder-threatens-blackout-over-anti-piracy-law.html |title=Wikipedia co-founder threatens blackout over anti-piracy law |work=The Telegraph |date=December 13, 2011 |author=Christopher Williams |accessdate=September 18, 2012 |location=London}}</ref><ref name="itnews wikipedia mulls blackout">{{cite news |url=http://www.itnews.com.au/News/284285,wikipedia-mulls-blackout-to-protest-sopa.aspx |title=Wikipedia mulls blackout to protest SOPA |publisher=itnews |date=December 13, 2011 |accessdate=September 18, 2012 |author=Brett Winterford |quote=Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has threatened a knowledge "blackout" of the online encyclopedia to protest a US anti-piracy bill that could have serious ramifications for online service providers.}}</ref> On January 16, the Wikimedia Foundation announced that the English-language Wikipedia would be blacked out for 24 hours on January 18.<ref>{{cite news |title=Wikipedia to go dark in piracy protest |date=January 17, 2012 |work=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-17/wiki-to-go-dark-in-piracy-protest/3778452 |accessdate=September 18, 2012}}</ref> The Simple English Wikipedia voted to continue full service and did not join the blackout.<ref>https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Simple_talk/Archive_97#Potential_black-out_of_Simple_English_Wikipedia_in_the_US</ref> Many editors complained that the blackout decision was not made in a democratic fashion and undercut Wikipedia's objectivity and non-political mission.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/wikipedia-editors-question-sites-planned-blackout-15381673 | title = Wikipedia Editors Question Site's Planned Blackout | first = Peter | last = Svensson | date = January 17, 2012 | accessdate = September 18, 2012| agency = Associated Press }}</ref>

The SOPA/PIPA issue is so important to Sue Gardner, the WMF Executive Director, that in March 2013, she announced that she will be leaving her position to pursue the issue in another capacity.<ref name=bizinsider>{{cite news|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/wikimedia-foundations-sue-gardner-leaving-2013-3|work=Business Insider|date= March 28, 2013|title=The Woman Who Made Wikipedia Huge Is Stepping Down|accessdate=Arpril 27, 2013}}</ref> She left on June 1, 2014.

==Finances==
WMF's fundraising and expenses have grown at a very rapid rate. Some critics claim that WMF is taking in money faster than it can spend wisely.<ref>http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikimedia_Forum&oldid=4864408</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Wikimedia financial data through June 2016 (financial years run from July 1 to June 30)
|-
! style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top" | Fiscal year
! style="text-align: right; vertical-align: top" | Revenue
! style="text-align: right; vertical-align: top" | Year-over-year ratio (revenue)
! style="text-align: right; vertical-align: top" | Expenses
! style="text-align: right; vertical-align: top" | Year-over-year ratio (expenses)
! style="text-align: right; vertical-align: top" | Net assets
! style="text-align: right; vertical-align: top" | Year-over-year ratio (net assets)
|-
| 2003–2004<ref name=2004-2006>{{cite web|url=//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/2/28/Wikimedia_2006_fs.pdf |title=Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June 30, 2006, 2005 and 2004 |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=November 26, 2012|format=PDF}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="80129" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{steady}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $80,129
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="0" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{steady}} || style="text-align: center; width: 42%" | N/A
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="23463" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{steady}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $23,463
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="0" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{steady}} || style="text-align: center; width: 42%" | N/A
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="56666" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{steady}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $56,666
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="0" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{steady}} || style="text-align: center; width: 42%" | N/A
|}
|-
| 2004–2005<ref name=2004-2006 />
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="379088" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $379,088
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="373.10" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 373.1%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="177670" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $177,670
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="657.2" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 657.2%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="268084" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $268,084
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="373.09" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 373.1%
|}
|-
| 2005–2006<ref name=2004-2006 />
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="1508039" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $1,508,039
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="297.81" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 297.8%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="791907" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $791,907
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="345.72" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 345.7%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="1004216" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $1,004,216
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="274.59" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 274.6%
|}
|-
| 2006–2007<ref>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/49/Wikimedia_2007_fs.pdf |title=Microsoft Word – {F0900CC7-D37E-4CDF-95E3-B1F38D7DCD03}.doc |format=PDF |date= |accessdate=November 26, 2012}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="2734909" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $2,734,909
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="81.4" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 81.4%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="2077843" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $2,077,843
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="162.38" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 162.4%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="1658282" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $1,658,282
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="65.13" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 65.1%
|}
|-
| 2007–2008<ref>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/4c/Wikimedia_20072008_fs.pdf |title=Microsoft Word – 31935 SFO Wikimedia fs.doc |format=PDF |date= |accessdate=November 26, 2012}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="5032981" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $5,032,981
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="84.0" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 84.0%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="3540724" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $3,540,724
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="70.40" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 70.4%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="5178168" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $5,178,168
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="212.26" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 212.3%
|}
|-
| 2008–2009<ref>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/4f/FINAL_08_09From_KPMG.pdf |title=Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June 30, 2009 and 2008 |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=November 26, 2012|format=PDF}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="8658006" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $8,658,006
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="72.0" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 72.0%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="5617236" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $5,617,236
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="58.65" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 58.6%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="8231767" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $8,231,767
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="58.97" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 59.0%
|}
|-
| 2009–2010<ref>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/c/cc/FINAL_09_10From_KPMG.pdf |title=Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June 30, 2010 and 2009 |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=November 26, 2012|format=PDF}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="17979312" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $17,979,312
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="107.7" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 107.7%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="10266793" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $10,266,793
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="82.77" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 82.8%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="14542731" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $14,542,731
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="76.67" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 76.7%
|}
|-
| 2010–2011<ref>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/a/ac/FINAL_10_11From_KPMG.pdf |title=Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June, 2011 and 2010 |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation| format=PDF|accessdate=2015-10-25}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="24785092" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $24,785,092
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="37.8" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 37.8%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="17889794" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $17,889,794
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="74.25" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 74.2%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="24192144" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $24,192,144
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="66.35" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 66.3%
|}
|-
| 2011–2012<ref name=2011-2012>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/0/09/FINAL_11_12From_KPMG.pdf|title= Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June, 2012 and 2011|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=December 26, 2012|format=PDF}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="38479665" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $38,479,665
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="55.2" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 55.2%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="29260652" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $29,260,652
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="63.56" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 63.6%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="34929058" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $34,929,058
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="44.38" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 44.4%
|}
|-
| 2012–2013<ref name=2012-2013>{{cite web|url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/6/6e/FINAL_12_13From_KPMG.pdf|title= Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June, 2013 and 2012|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=December 14, 2013|format=PDF}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="48635408" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $48,635,408
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="26.4" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 26.4%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="35704796" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $35,704,796
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="22.02" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 22.0%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="45189124" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $45,189,124
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="29.37" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 29.4%
|}
|-
| 2013–2014<ref name=2014-2015 />
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="52465287" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $52,465,287
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="8.6" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 8.6%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="45900745" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $45,900,745
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="28.6" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 28.6%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="53475021" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $53,475,021
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="18.3" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 18.3%
|}
|-
| 2014–2015<ref name=2014-2015>{{cite web|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/43/Wikimedia_Foundation_Audit_Report_-_FY15-16.pdf|title=Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June, 2016 and 2015|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=November 15, 2016}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="74536375" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $74,536,375
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="44.5" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 44.5%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="52596782" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $52,596,782
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="14.6" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 14.6%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="77820298" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $77,820,298
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="45.5" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 45.5%
|}
|-
| 2015–2016<ref name=2015-2016>{{cite web|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/43/Wikimedia_Foundation_Audit_Report_-_FY15-16.pdf|title=Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Financial Statements June, 2016 and 2015|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=November 15, 2016}}</ref>
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="81862724" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 12%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 88%" | $81,862,724
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="9.8" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 9.8%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="65947465" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $65,947,465
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="25.4" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increaseNegative}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 25.4%
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="91782795" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 5%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 95%" | $91,782,795
|}
| style="text-align: right" data-sort-value="17.9" |
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%;"
| style="width: 58%" | {{increase}} || style="text-align: right; width: 42%" | 17.9%
|}
|}
If the WMF has $91 million in the bank, those funds could produce (at 4%) $3,640,000 in annual income, which is more than enough to fund the Wikipedia web servers in perpetuity. So, people are questioning the need for the WMF's annual fund raising campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wikipediocracy.com/2014/12/11/the-wikipedia-fundraising-banner-sad-but-untrue/|title=The Wikipedia Fundraising Banner: Sad but Untrue|date=December 11, 2014|accessdate=December 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-good-arguments-against-donating-to-the-Wikimedia-Foundation/answer/Andreas-Kolbe|title=What are some good arguments against donating to the Wikimedia Foundation?|work=Quora|accessdate=December 15, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://newslines.org/blog/stop-giving-wikipedia-money/|title=Stop giving Wikipedia money|date=December 4, 2014|accessdate=December 15, 2014|work=Newslines}}</ref>

Each year the WMF conducts a fundraising drive to keep the webservers working on that popular liberal website. They claim the donations go to "Servers, bandwidth, maintenance, development."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://donate.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:FundraiserLandingPage&country=US&uselang=en&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_source=donate&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikipedia.org|title=Make Your Donation Now - Donate|accessdate=September 3, 2013}}</ref> Yet, in the period July - December 2012, the WMF took in $30.9 million but spent only $1.3 million on internet hosting.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/6/68/Jul-Dec%2712_Mid-year_financials2.pdf|title=Actual vs. Plan Comparison|work=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=September 3, 2013}}</ref> During 2012, the net worth of the WMF grew by $11 million. Yet, liberal Wikipedia users continue to donate in response to the WMF's urgent appeals.

In spring 2014, Jimmy Wales began to pander for [[bitcoin]] donations at websites where bitcoin investors were seeking ways to lend legitimacy to the digital currency. He promised to ask the WMF Board to allow bitcoin donations on the Wikipedia website. In the summer of 2014, the WMF made arrangements with Coinbase, who promised to convert bitcoin into dollars without charge. Thereafter, a bitcoin option was added to the WMF donation page.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2014/07/30/wikipedia-now-accepts-bitc donations-with-coinbase/|publisher=techcrunch.com|title=Wikipedia Now Accepts Bitcoin Donations With Coinbase|date=July 30, 2014|accessdate=August 8, 2014}}</ref> Seth Meyers noted on his ''Late Night'' program, "Wikipedia is now accepting donations using the online currency Bitcoin. So now you can support information you're not sure is true with currency you're not sure is money."<ref>http://www.thespec.com/living-story/4733681-tuesdayfile/ Retrieved August 8, 2014</ref>

In addition to the WMF staff, the WMF awards grants and hires outside contractors. In the 2016 fiscal year, two law firms, Jones Day ($1,557,553) and Cooley LLP ($410,560), were among the largest payments. The WMF paid $436,104 to Minassian Media Inc. for public relations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/44/Wikimedia_Foundation_2015_Form_990.pdf|title=2015-16 Form 990|accessdate=July 7, 2017}}</ref> Craig Minassian also serves as Chief Communications Officer of the [[Clinton Foundation]].

==Dispersed accountability==
A major factor in preventing accountability is that the fundraising conducted on the Wikipedia website links to a number of different solicitation pages depending on the nationality of the donor. Although the WMF collects the funds from donors located in the United States and other nations, fundraising in many countries is conducted by the country's own national chapter. The chapters then share the revenues with WMF. However, each chapter adopts its own spending practices and accountability standards.

The German chapter spends a portion of its funds on technology, but most of the other chapters focus on conferences, travel and other soft costs. Needless to say, with so much money being spent on non-technology / infrastructure items, the WMF and its chapters have drawn critics from within their own organization. However, internal dissent is quickly deleted.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Netball&diff=next&oldid=535697243|title=Talk:Netball|date=January 30, 2013}}</ref>

The WMF has two chapters in the United States: Wikimedia New York (which has a 501(c)(3) status from the IRS) and Wikimedia District of Columbia, whose 501(c)(3) exemption application was abandoned. The Treasurer of the UK WMF chapter suddenly resigned in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2013/02/john-byrne-stands-down-as-the-treasurer-and-a-trustee-of-wikimedia-uk/|title=John Byrne Stands Down as the Treasurer and a Trustee of Wikimedia UK|date=February 3, 2013|accessdate=February 4, 2013}}</ref> Laura Hale, the outgoing vice president of Wikimedia Australia (who was an unsuccessful candidate for President in its 2012 election) applied for a travel grant with two of her friends to visit Colorado ski resorts in December 2012 and sought the funding retroactively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Proposal:Paralympic_Winter_Sports|title=Proposal:Paralympic Winter Sports|accessdate=February 4, 2013|work=Wikimedia Australia}}</ref>

The President of Wikimedia Australia has spend so much time traveling with the President of Wikimedia Indonesia that the two married.{{citation needed}}

A number of departing WMF employees have left comments on the Glassdoor website, citing problems with senior management creating a very confused work environment. The WMF suffers from a high staff turnover rate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Wikimedia-Foundation-Reviews-E38331.htm|title=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=April 27, 2013}}</ref>

The WMF's endowment is held separately by the [[Tides Foundation]] and is controlled by their Board of Trustees. However, the agreement establishing the endowment between WMF and Tides provides for a separate "Wikimedia Endowment Advisory Board" to represent the Wikimedia communities interests when Tides makes decisions about the endowment. Instead of just having the WMF Board have a say in what will become the WMF's largest financial resource, a separate Board has been appointed with Jimmy Wales and Annette Campbell-White as its initial members.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://blog.wikimedia.org/2016/05/11/annette-campbell-white-endowment/|title=Annette Campbell-White named to the Wikimedia Endowment Advisory Board|date=May 11, 2016|accessdate=January 17, 2017}}</ref> In September, Peter Baldwin was added to the Advisory Board.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://blog.wikimedia.org/2016/09/09/peter-baldwin-endowment-board/|title=Peter Baldwin, professor and philanthropist, is appointed to the Wikimedia Endowment Advisory Board|quote=Endowment Board members are selected based on active involvement in philanthropic endeavors, prior nonprofit board experience, fundraising expertise, and a strong commitment to the Wikimedia Foundation’s mission.|accessdate=January 17, 2017}}</ref>

==Lawsuits==
In March 2015, the WMF and other groups filed a lawsuit against the [[National Security Agency]] (NSA) challenging an upstream surveillance program that was revealled by [[Edward Snowden]], a former NSA contractor. The District Court granted the NSA's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, but the WMF successfully appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. That decision left the WMF as the only remaining plaintiff in the case, and the case is proceeding in District Court on remand.<ref>{{cite news|last=Nelson|first=Steven|title=Appeals Court: Wikimedia Can Fight NSA's 'Not Speculative' Internet Surveillance|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2017-05-23/appeals-court-wikimedia-can-fight-nsas-not-speculative-internet-surveillance|accessdate=24 May 2017|work=U.S. World and News Report|date=May 23, 2017}}</ref> On December 16, 2019, the District Court held that the WMF did not have standing to proceed with its claims. On February 14, 2020, the Wikimedia Foundation filed a notice of appeal in the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.<ref>{{cite web|title=District Court rules for government in Wikimedia Foundation's mass surveillance case against the NSA |url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2019/12/17/district-court-rules-for-government-in-wikimedia-foundations-mass-surveillance-case-against-the-nsa/ |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation |accessdate=September 20, 2020 |date=December 17, 2019}}</ref>

In 2019, cold fusion researcher Abd ul-Rahman Lomax who was banned from Wikipedia filed a lawsuit against the Wikimedia Foundation, seeking $200,000 in damages.<ref>https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.207020/gov.uscourts.mad.207020.1.0.pdf</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Liberal Organizations]]
[[Category:Wikimedia Foundation]]