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Congratulations on receiving the Knowledge Award and a cash prize of $1 million! Everymorning talk to me 01:43, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

Oh wow! Yes well done @Jimbo Wales:! Very well deserved :)--5 albert square (talk) 01:46, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

Congrats! =D - Knowledgekid87 (talk) 01:55, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

Nice Job! Hopefully it makes up for all the toxic users on your talk page ;) Winner 42 Talk to me! 02:38, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

• Bravo! - Smallbones_(smalltalk) 03:47, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
• It is cool. It may even have made it into Misplaced Pages, congratulations.—John Cline (talk) 05:14, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
• Very cool - congrats! ~SuperHamster Talk Contribs 05:45, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

Thank you all. It's pretty amazing. It's actually split with Sir Tim Berners-Lee so not $1 million to me but still it's impressive.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 13:46, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

• Congrats on this. Taking the emotion of the moment, I thought I'll suggest that perhaps you could institute some kind of an award (non-monetary) or recognition for editors from your desk or the Foundation's. Would motivate them too, similar to how we feel good when you get the award. Barnstars are wonderful - and great recognition. But a formal series of recognitions from your/Foundation's side could put some additional verve into our editor lot (or perhaps such a thing already exists and I am not aware of it; or maybe it's not a practical idea, but just had it in my mind for some time, so thought I'll suggest). Congrats again. Wifione 14:54, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

What a cordiality and friendly speech from someone who has been told "not to come back" (by Jimbo Wales himself), not long time ago! I admire your ability to forgive, User:Wifione. Btw, you don't work for Mr. Chaudhuri anymore? I mean, you don't manipulate those articles since it was exposed in your editor review and in other places ... --Vejvančický (talk / contribs) 09:35, 9 December 2014 (UTC)

Truly amazing to see you honored equally with the great TB-L. Congratulations. To which NGO(s) will you donate the loot? Coming as it does with the imprimatur of a repellant regime, infamous for human rights violations such as slave labor, repression of free speech, judicial discrimination against women, criminalization of rape victims and Muslim women who marry non-Muslims, and judicial penalties that include the execution of homosexuals, pot dealers, and apostates, will you be looking for organizations that combat these human rights abuses? Writegeist (talk) 07:22, 9 December 2014 (UTC)

As an Emirati, and a student at the American University of Sharjah, I am disappointed that Mr Wales did not take the opportunity to speak out against the abuses that Writegeist writes about and which is documented here on Misplaced Pages and elsewhere. Mr Wales, you had an opportunity to speak out for the people in my country who have experienced true freedom elsewhere (I studied in the United States) and who suffer under a regime that does not value true human rights. The regime splurges billions of dollars on promoting a false image of life in the Emirates to a western audience; you had an opportunity Mr Wales to speak out for all Emiratis, and also those non-nationals who are forced into slave labour and have no rights. I am at risk by posting this very message. This is not how it should be Mr Wales. Instead, it appears you were bought for $500,000. You sold us out Mr Wales. 194.170.173.249 (talk) 12:58, 9 December 2014 (UTC)

IP249, thank you for your courageous post. As this talk page is heavily watchlisted and as, for the time being at least, the co-founder seems to be at a loss for words on this topic (though not on that of so-called "Cultural Marxism"), perhaps some of the watchers will chip in and name human rights organizations for the co-founder to consider as beneficiaries of a gesture of largesse that would be in keeping with his vociferous advocacy of "moral ambitiousness". Writegeist (talk) 19:53, 9 December 2014 (UTC)

All awards are political. And the more money they carry, the more political they are. What did/will the sheikh want in return? Misplaced Pages just hit the new low. 83.208.89.162 (talk) 22:02, 9 December 2014 (UTC)

@Jimbo Wales: Had you been in your home town the day before you received your $500,000 payment in Dubai, you could have joined the Day of Anger protest outside the UAE embassy to add your voice to those raised against the UAE's egregious human rights violations.

And only yesterday the Emirates Centre for Human Rights tweeted: "The silence of the international community despite the deteriorating conditions of PoC's in the UAE is shameful. Action must be taken."

Do you think the UK office of the ECHR would be a good starting point for you?

My suggestion FWIW is Human Rights Watch. Their online donations page invites tax-deductible gifts to help HRW "investigate and expose human rights abuses, hold human rights abusers accountable for their crimes, and pressure governments, policy-makers, and the international community to take action against abuse"—precisely, I'm sure, the activities you'd want to support with your UAE payment.

For your—and your page watchers'—interest here is HRW's 2013 World Report on the UAE: . And here are their latest (2014) reports on specific UAE human rights abuses: , , , . I hope this helps. Or do you already have a particular beneficiary in mind? Writegeist (talk) 23:47, 9 December 2014 (UTC)

I find this extremely worrying. (And now there's a comment, below, about a genealogy project, on which he " have a strong view"). I would agree about HRW, on whom this encyclopaedia relies extensively. zzz (talk) 10:29, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

Indeed it is worrying.

Today is Human Rights Day. What perfect (and ironic) timing. The co-founder has $500,000 burning a hole in his conscience because he took it from a regime that's notorious for human rights abuse. What better day than Human Rights Day for the co-founder to give the tainted loot to Human Rights Watch, thus actually doing something worthwhile with the money, in a meaningful gesture of protest about human rights abuses by the UAE and other vile regimes worldwide—a truly grand gesture that would show some real "moral ambitiousness" and earn some real respect. What say you, Jimbo Wales? Or are you silent because you're waiting for advice from the PR people? Writegeist (talk) 17:32, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

Common guys, I'm sure Mr. Wales has accepted the award with one purpose and one purpose only: He's going to donate all of it, to the very last penny to the WMF to be used for spreading a free knowledge, which I'm sure would help to improve human rights around the world. You're going to donate the money to the WMF, aren't you, Mr. Wales? Think about it. If you're to donate the money, you would kill two birds with one stone: First, you stop the critics who're saying that you dishonored yourself by accepting the award from an oppressive regime, and second your donation would help the WMF to stop begging for donations a few days earlier.59.78.160.247 (talk) 02:02, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

I live in hope, but somehow, sadly I don't think that will happen. I hope I'm proved wrong though.--5 albert square (talk) 02:13, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

• I rarely speak on posts like these, but I am severely disappointed that Jimmy accepted this award without and an immediate, strong, public condemnation of the human rights practices of the UAE. One million is little to pay to gain the publicity generated by being able to attract famous figures for an awards ceremony. The United Arab Emirates have at least 250,000 people working in conditions that amount to slavery. Not slavery thrown around in a Godwin manner, actual slavery. Jimbo: return the award, make a public renunciation of the human rights practices of the UAE, and distribute the money to a worthy charity or other cause. If you keep the money, you are directly benefitting from modern day slavery and from the deaths of many, many people. Kevin Gorman (talk) 04:25, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

@Kevin Gorman - out of interest, when were you last in the UAE? Pedro :  Chat  21:02, 12 December 2014 (UTC)

I tend not to go to places whose regimes I strongly disagree with. I don't particularly think you need to go to a country to be familiar with its underbelly - in fact, I rather suspect spending a week at a resort in Dubai would be less informative than the thousands of pages of reading I've done about governance in the Emirates, or the hundred or so pages of academic writing I've done about it. Kevin Gorman (talk) 00:56, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

Every penny of the money will be used to combat human rights abuses worldwide with a specific focus on the Middle East and with a specific focus on freedom of speech / access to knowledge issues. Of course.

The specifics of exactly what the best approach is to doing that are not clear to me yet - I had no advance warning of this prize and so did not have any kind of plan in place. While of course I love the Wikimedia Foundation and continue to donate a huge chunk of my time and energy supporting the work of the Foundation, it is not an organization specifically focussed on human rights issues nor specifically focussed on the Middle East, and so I think wouldn't have nearly the impact that I can have in other ways.

The first thing that I did upon returning to London was hire a human rights lawyer full-time to work for me for the next month on these issues. That may turn into a longer term thing, or it may not. As I say, I'm only at the beginning of figuring out the optimal strategic approach.

I have always been extremely outspoken on these issues and will continue to do so. I am thankful for some of the suggestions given in this thread (and less thankful for the nasty false assumptions and snide attitude from some). In particular, I plan to contact and meet with "the UK office of Emirates Centre for Human Rights," an organization that I had never heard of before just now. I'll be happy to get leads on other interesting organizations as well.

Finally, I wanted to specifically call out Mr. Writegeist for obnoxiousness. "are you silent because you are waiting for advice from PR people?" That's a completely uninformed nasty remark that bears no resemblance to the facts, and indicates such a total lack of knowledge of me and my character that I think you should really regret making it.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 17:59, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

Mr. Writegeist posted his first comment 2 days ago, and you responded to a number of other comments between then and now. You do have a history of (seemingly) waiting for the archive bot rather than responding to uncomfortable questions.

Next time, maybe just say something along the lines of "I hear you, I agree, but I need another day or two to think. Worth a try. --SB_Johnny | ✌ 23:58, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

Thank you for your gracious and positive response, Jimbo. I imagine that it must be frustrating for you when various people insist that you jump through their hoops, lickety split. Anything that you can do with this money to advance the cause of free expression and human rights in the Middle East will be a good thing. Cullen Let's discuss it 04:56, 12 December 2014 (UTC)

• Thank you for responding, Jimbo. I can't particularly criticize accepting money from the Emirates and putting it to good use, given that most of my cardiologists work out of a clinic named after Sheikh Zayed. A million put towards fighting human rights abuses won't fix the world but can certainly do good. One possible use I may suggest for a small fraction of it: working on initiatives to improve Misplaced Pages's coverage of human rights abuses. It's an area we're rather weak in given our systemic biases, and given Misplaced Pages's prominence in pretty much all search engines, better coverage could result in a significantly more informed public. (I don't mean hiring paid editors, but productive content generating initiatives focused on human rights issues could do a lot of good with 50 or 60k.) Kevin Gorman (talk) 00:56, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

Any word on what Berners-Lee is doing with his half of the dough? Neutron (talk) 01:14, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

@Jimbo Wales: "I have always been extremely outspoken on these issues." Please point me to instances of your extreme outspokenness on the issue at hand: human rights abuses by the UAE. Going by DuckDuckGo hits (not necessarily the best indicator), you have spoken about universal accessibility to knowledge as a human right, and also about the undesirability of "censoring links to legally published news articles and Misplaced Pages entries" because "history is a human right," etc. By contrast the history of your extreme outspokenness on human rights abuses by the regime that gave you $500,000 eludes DuckDuckGo. If you or one of your page watchers uses Google, I trust any relevant links will be added to this thread.

In reply to the question in my previous comments you said it showed a lack of knowledge of your character. If you want I can give a thoughtful response with specific examples of your known behaviour (behaviour helps us know character). My personal preference is to sidestep the matter of your character and focus on the larger issue.

Do you, in fact, unequivocally deplore and condemn the human rights abuses by the United Arab Emirates, from whose government you have accepted a payment of $500,000? Writegeist (talk) 03:15, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

You should go read WP:DICK. You are very unlikely to find specific cases of me speaking about the situation in Kyrgystan, Belarus, or any of a very large number of states who violate the right of freedom of speech and other human rights. I am not a one-man Amnesty International. I have always been outspoken on these issues and you should find it very easy to find out my position and to find specific examples of me speaking out against censorship in particular, which is the main issue that I find the world eager to hear my views on. (I could speak out against, for example, female genital mutilation - but no reporter has ever asked me about that issue and unless I had a specific reason to devote my life to it I don't think I could be very effective. And there are, of course, dozens of specific issues that I must leave to others.)

Of course I unequivocally deplore and condemn human rights abuses in every place in the world, including the United Arab Emirates.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 16:25, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

Many people aren't so concerned that their highfalutin human rights are being violated when they face the more immediate risks of starvation, lack of clean drinking water, disease, sexual violence and/or war. Lots of things to worry about and where to begin? If you donated the $500,000 to support polio eradication or clean drinking water in the third world, I wouldn't fault you. Once basic needs are met, people have more opportunity to participate in civic life and demand their human rights. There's no need to aggravate the person who gave you the award by showing him up. Jehochman 22:40, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

There are definite problems in the Gulf states that can be addressed, such as issues surrounding exploitation of labor. If he doesn't want to give it to the Coretheapple Penguin Relief Fund or keep it, he can give it to an organization fighting labor abuses there involving South Asian workers, for instance. Plenty of good causes, if he is so inclined and wants to specifically deal with the Gulf. Coretheapple (talk) 22:49, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

Jimmy, did you do any research into the UK office of Emirates Centre for Human Rights yet? It's generally good to do some googling before setting up a meeting. --SB_Johnny | ✌ 11:11, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

I only heard about the organization's existence 48 hours ago. I have neither googled them nor contacted them. As you should know by now, I'm a very deliberate and thorough person and so I will be very careful to do my due diligence before working with anyone. As I have said, I now have someone on my personal staff working full-time on these issues and we will be investigating slowly and carefully - to have maximum effectiveness - who to work with and what to do. Up above Cullen wisely wrote: "I imagine that it must be frustrating for you when various people insist that you jump through their hoops, lickety split". Of course it is frustrating (though more disappointing than frustrating) but not so frustrating that it will cause me to change my ways and react in some silly knee jerk fashion.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 16:25, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

FFS Jimmy, all you would have needed to do was to read the Misplaced Pages articles to know that accepting this award would be complicated, to say the least. As far as what I should know about you being careful, thorough, and doing due diligence... good gravy man, do you recall our interactions and correspondence in the past? It's all water under the bridge between you and me as far as I'm concerned, but it's your tendency to jump before looking that's getting you into trouble here, and the consequences in this case are a bit more important than whether or not Wikiversity overcomes a problem. Please, please just say no next time you're offered a reward like this. When someone in your position says "no!" loudly, firmly, and with an explanation why, it could actually make a difference. --SB_Johnny | ✌ 23:02, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

It does not seem the least bit complicated to me, and I've made exactly the right choice. Now there is going to be $500,000 fighting against human rights abuses that would have sat in their pockets. Excellent. I'm sure you want it to be difficult and scandalous but of course it isn't in the least.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 10:13, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

Not the least bit complicated? Aside from slave labour and murderous oppression, this regime relies heavily on tourism, in other words on maintaining a certain respectable image. I honestly fail to see how it could be any more complicated. SBJ is correct: saying "no" could have actually made a difference. 500k means nothing: I am sure that they were absolutely delighted . zzz (talk) 12:27, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

OK, but let's be fair to the guy (I mean, he only founded the goddamn website we're using and all that). I've already gone through the mechanics of refusing and pointed out that if he had turned it down it would have been a silent gesture, which he could have turned into a noisy gesture by issuing a statement. But it seems to me that such a route would have had drawbacks too. Whereas taking the money and carefully using it for a proper purpose, such as specific NGOs dealing with labor abuses in the Gulf states, would do serious good. I disagree with you. Half a million is a lot of money for the kinds of programs that would benefit people persecuted in the Gulf states. Now if he uses it to buy a yacht, as I would do in such a situation, it's a different story entirely. Coretheapple (talk) 21:04, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

I'd support a whip-round (in principle), to pay for a yacht for the founder of this website. But half a million would only buy a very small yacht. And, I have zero faith in the vast majority of NGOs. zzz (talk) 00:05, 16 December 2014 (UTC)

Congratulations to founder of the great free-acess website! --Ochilov (talk) 18:11, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

Yes indeed. If there are no strings attached to the award, I don't understand the problem. Yes he could have thrown the money back in their faces and issued a press release. But it's a million bucks. It can do some good. I am no fan of that regime but I would take that money in a minute if it was offered to me, and rest assured that I would bank it and not give it away. By the way, had he decided to refuse the money they would simply have given it to somebody else. Then, to make a fuss, he'd have had to issue a statement saying "they offered me the money and I refused it," which would have been attacked as grandstanding. So let's be fair, people. Coretheapple (talk) 22:46, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

I think you need to understand that there are people who always attack what I do no matter what I do. SB Johnny is one of them. There's no possibility of winning so I just have to laugh off the nonsense and do the right thing regardless of the carping.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 10:13, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

Well that's unfair... am I the enemy of the week or something? I defend you when it's fairly obvious to me that you're trying to do the right thing, though generally not on your talk page. I think you're trying to do the right thing here too, but apparently you're too far into defensive mode to catch my drift.

Hiring an assistant or intern with a background in ethics and international politics would be a good way to spend some of the money, because when you get pulled in for a photo op like this you do damage that's hard to undo. I know you mean well, Jimmy, but you've been snookered twice now by authoritarian regimes. Since researching that sort of thing isn't your specialty, perhaps you'd be willing to hire some help on that front. The volunteers of Misplaced Pages would feel better, no doubt, and would be a big win for you, us, and the world at large. --SB_Johnny | ✌ 23:59, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

Greetings to new user Ochilov, and how lovely that in the space of less than a week you and the co-founder have become friends (according to your user page).

@Jimbo Wales: Having asked for evidence of extreme outspokenness on human rights abuse by a financial benefactor, namely the government of the United Arab Emirates, it's interesting and revealing to receive a response prefaced with "Go read WP:DICK". Particularly when it's from someone who wrote "...if an essay on 'Don't be a dick' is being used by people in a dickish way, something has gone wrong." If someone would care to write WP:ASSHOLE (yay! Gender neutral!) I'll bear it in mind as a suggestion for appropriate recipients in future.

Be that as it may, you nevertheless confirm the findings I noted in my comments: your past public utterances on human rights have indeed addressed general principles of free speech and access to information, but not human rights abuses in the Middle East in general or the United Arab Emirates in particular. I commend the clear statement you have now made in unequivocal condemnation of the UAE's human rights record, and note that you will devote at least some of the money they gave you to the cause of combatting their violations and abuses. Your clarification comes as very welcome news, not least in light of past connection to the Kazakh dictatorship, described by Human Rights Watch as implementing "a growing crackdown" on free speech, which came under scrutiny by the media at the time.

SB Johnny makes an excellent point about the ECHR. But even if you decide the questions raised by the Torygraph and others—about religio-political connections and ultimate objectives—render the organization ineligible for your financial support, the people there may be able to provide information that helps to educate you more deeply about the UAE's human rights abuses. Thank you for an interesting and productive discussion. Herewith bowing out of this thread :) Writegeist (talk) 00:57, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

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

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

2011 Wikimani closing ceremony. John lilburne (talk) 13:19, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

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

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

Oh the point is, and perhaps I'm being a bit picky here, that "I have no past connection of any kind to the Kazakh dictatorship" is not quite the same as "I have never spoken to the Prime Minister there". John lilburne (talk) 07:43, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

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

I always find it kind of weird that people think they have some sort of moral right to tell other people how to spend their money. NE Ent 10:48, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

Calling a documented fact "bullshit" doesn't fool anyone except the foolish. As to the issue you raise of impropriety in dealing/connecting with the Kazakh dictatorship—e.g. paying a Kazakh government worker to copy state-controlled "encyclopedic" information to Misplaced Pages—I note you take the position that such actions are not improper; that you take them as someone who seeks to use his influence to encourage positive change; and that you tell people what you think. By the way have you, as a self-declared free speech activist (vide Twitter) whose dealings and connection with the Kazakhstan government are entirely proper, made any specific public statements telling people what you think about Kazakhstan's dictatorial control of information, suppression of free speech, and violation of dissidents' human rights? Writegeist (talk) 19:44, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

Credit where it's due. (Christian Science Monitor reporter Dan Murphy responded elsewhere with: "The following facts had been established before he wrote the above: That Wikibilim is funded largely by the Kazakh government's sovereign wealth fund, that it says "paid editing" is conducted at the Kazakh Misplaced Pages with this money, that at least 40,000 of the Kazakh Misplaced Pages's articles were lifted directly from the government's own Kazakh National Encyclopedia, and that the government's National Academy of Sciences has been conducting "content and quality review" of the Kazakh Misplaced Pages's contents. He also doesn't seem to understand the idea that involvement with such governments, even when made with the best of intentions, can be in turn used by those governments to polish their own images.") Have you made any similar statement about Kazakhstan outside of Misplaced Pages? Writegeist (talk) 20:31, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

I know little about this, but one of these days you ought to go on the board of a nonprofit, a type of organization that by definition begs people for money, and see what happens when the Government of Crumbumistan offers you $1 million. I think you'll find that it's tempting to say the least. If you're worried about paid editing perhaps you should join me in urging Jimbo to end it. Coretheapple (talk) 22:31, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

Message from M.al-A.UAE

This was posted on my talk page, since I was the admin who semi-protected this one. I'm just passing it along; I skimmed it to make sure it wasn't obviously abusive, but beyond that I offer no opinion.

Dear Mr. Wales,

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

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

Mr. Wales, please consider the following cases:

1. In 2012, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation was forced to close its office in Abu Dhabi. Their mission is the promotion of “promotion of freedom and liberty, peace, and justice”. The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs also had its Dubai office closed by the authorities. No legitimate reason was given for the closure. See: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/06/world/meast/uae-organizations/
2. In 2012, Assistant Professor of Communication Matt J. Duffy had his contract at Zayed University cancelled and he was deported from the country. Mr. Duffy helped to found a campus chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and attempted to teach students journalistic ethics and standards. Mr. Duffy wrote about this at http://mattjduffy.com/2012/08/ive-been-kicked-out-of-the-united-arab-emirates/. Mr. Duffy also offers reasons for the termination of his employment and deportation at http://mattjduffy.com/2012/08/top-18-things-that-may-have-gotten-me-booted-from-the-uae/.
3. In 2014, Yasin Kakande was fired from The National and deported from the country for writing the autobiographical book The Ambitious Struggle: An African Journalist's Journey of Hope and Identity in a Land of Migrants (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ambitious-Struggle-Journalists-Identity-Migrants/dp/189035743X/ref=la_B00GU54WOO_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418300730&sr=1-1). Mr. Wales, please take the time to read this book, which is banned in the UAE (http://www.migrant-rights.org/research/uae-censors-author-of-book-criticizing-migrant-race-issues/).

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

There is no freedom in the UAE Mr. Wales.

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

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

We, the people, of the United Arab Emirates, thank you Mr. Wales for your commitment to helping us gain basic human rights and we trust the organisations you will donate the $500,000 to will put the money to good use.

Thank you for your time. M.al-A.UAE (talk) 04:19, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

—HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 16:15, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

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

"After criticism, Jimmy Wales pledges $500k prize to charity" (headline)

"I can assure you that everything I do in this regard will be as public and noisy as I can make it." J. Wales, 14 December

Bravo. Someone has already made a start on that for you:

"Misplaced Pages cofounder Jimmy Wales has pledged that the half a million dollars he was awarded earlier this month by the United Arab Emirates will go to charity. The move comes on the heels of intense pressure from Wikipedians themselves . . . " etc. Writegeist (talk) 16:49, 16 December 2014 (UTC)

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

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

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

To arrive at your conclusion, you must rely on the silly assumption that nothing can occur without it being reported on this page. Deli nk (talk) 13:05, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

Precisely. To be 100% clear: I started my consideration of what to do with the money from the moment I learned of it and before the prize was even announced I was already talking to the human rights lawyer about what the options would be. When I got back to London I hired her full-time. None of that had anything to do with any pressure from anyone.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 15:31, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

I find the inability of some to AGF of your actions and the things you say to be one of the most discouraging things about Misplaced Pages.--MONGO 17:31, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

I have to agree with MONGO above.

Also, as a bit of a plug for in-house matters, although technically it might well be very difficult to do, I wonder if maybe some of the money might be given to the foundation for the purposes of maybe paying for putting some valuable and useful PD sources, like local history journals and reference sources which over time fall into the PD, on the web or on commons or whatever. Considering that every year more sources become PD, and the era that is now gradually becoming PD is among the greatest periods of production of literature of all time, there is a lot of valuable and potentially useful information that could be made more broadly available. So, maybe, as an example, a donation to the Missouri History Museum to pay for putting images of PD works on Commons and/or the broader net might be one option. Or, maybe, a donation to the Columbus, Ohio, public library, which so far as I can tell has the broadest collection of local history journals in the US. Just an idea, anyway. John Carter (talk) 17:42, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

I agree with Deli NL and MONGO above, and generally with John Carter. The digitization of PD material does seem like something WP could help pay for (btw -selfpromotion - see my unpaid work at Commons:Category:Postcard collections of the Presbyterian Historical Society)

Nevertheless, the suggestions for where Jimbo might spend his money seem to be quite far from the MidEast issues that it seems he wants to address. I too like suggesting to other people where they might spend their money, but usually avoid it because it never seems to work! To get some help in that matter you might more effectively ask for contributions from the chapters (e.g. WikiDC or WikiNYC), and I guess there are other places to make suggestions directly with the foundation. Perhaps there should be a central place for requests for big projects, such as PD digitization. I've always wanted to suggest that WP help fund the recording of PD music, but refrained because it is such a big potential project, and frankly I haven't expected many people to agree with me (but who knows?). Smallbones_(smalltalk) 18:15, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

Fact: The cofounder made his pledge after criticism here. The article's assertion is demonstrably accurate.

Fact: The pledge came "on the heels of intense pressure from Wikipedians themselves." The article's assertion is demonstrably accurate.

Fact: "Wales made his intentions for the prize money public after pressure from Wikipedians who expressed dismay that Wales, famous for his public exhortations against autocratic governments, appeared to have taken money from one that is notorious for its human rights abuses."  The article's assertion is demonstrably accurate.

Fact: "Following the , Wikipedians took to Wales's user page on the online encyclopedia to criticize him for seemingly failing to issue an "immediate, strong, public condemnation of human rights practices in the UAE." The article's assertion is demonstrably accurate.

Following Wales's email, an addendum to the article notes that he says he "privately planned to use the UAE money to further human rights causes before receiving any criticism from Wikipedians."

The DD's comments section is now graced by Jonathan Hochman dismissing as "trolls" the Wikipedians whose criticisms and pressure drew the pledge from the cofounder in response. This is of course Misplaced Pages user Jehochman, an administrator here who dismisses human rights such as freedom of speech as "highfalutin", i.e. pretentious: "Many people aren't so concerned that their highfalutin human rights are being violated when they face the more immediate risks of starvation, lack of clean drinking water, disease, sexual violence and/or war." Writegeist (talk) 18:40, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

Irrespective of what came before, your comments certainly resemble trolling now. —David Levy 19:16, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

Just because one event followed another one does not mean the first caused the second. The headline makes an arguably technically correct statement about the sequence of events (assuming you interpret it to literally mean that the announcement of the pledge came after the criticism), but strongly implies that the second event was caused by the first, which is wildly misleading. 0x0077BE 19:17, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

You missed:

Fact: Some people are so busy assuming that Jimbo is evil that they lose sight of the obvious, that accusing Jimbo of lying about having someone already identified and in post before the award was even announced is ridiculous, tendentious and unworthy, just like most of what is written about Jimbo by people who obsessively use the term co-founder. Guy (Help!) 19:27, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

@ Levy: No. The comments set the record straight. @ Guy: (1) Use of "cofounder" ditto. (2) " . . . accusing Jimbo of lying about having someone already identified and in post before the award was even announced . . . " is a sentence that does not make sense to me. Are you accusing me of accusing the cofounder of lying? Writegeist (talk) 19:44, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

Well, I think we can safely take the Daily Dot off the reliable sources list. Seems like it's a mouthpiece for idiots. Congrats on the prize. And no, a single malcontent or two is not pressure. Personally, after that article, I'd use the money to buy the Daily Dot and then use the magazine to promote human rights and start by firing a few reporters. My new Daily Dot would start off with an article about Pakistan's latest tragedy involving education, not how UAE's awards for improving the world are wrong. --DHeyward (talk) 02:03, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

Or as it's now called..the daily dump I am not going to be forgiven for that comment am i... Lor 02:13, 18 December 2014 (UTC)\

I just think it would be the most awesome press release to say "With this award, I have bought the "Daily Dot" with the intent to use it to highlight Human Rights abuses. In the next few months as we transition to Human Rights coverage, there may be personnel changes necessary to provide the most objective views and excellence in journalism that such an endeavor requires." Then see what a Daily Dump really really looks like. In fact, future employment could be measured by the Hersey stripe in the underpants of employees. "But I'm a bomb thrower, not a Human Rights reporter!?! I just know the catchphrases, I'm not actually a 'Reporter without Borders', I never leave the San Francisco city limits." Heck, if he didn't fire anybody and just required registration and activation in 'Reporters without Borders,' he'd achieve the same effect. No reporter complains about a UAE assignment. But Pakistan, not so much. It is an incredibly hypocritical article and giving that reporter the opportunity to cover Taliban human rights violations would speak volumes of the idiotic piece in the Daily Dot. --DHeyward (talk) 04:07, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

P.S. I know he won't acknowledge this POV, but I hope he gets a chuckle about possibly being able to send the Daily Dot reporter to cover Human Rights abuses from ISIL or Peshawar province in Pakistan. My guess is that the reporter and Wrongtard aren't excited about reporting those real human rights abuses. They'd rather criticize from a country that won't threaten your life over online posting. The real heroes are those people that they are afraid to interview because it's dangerous. No one covering the Pakistan massacre is criticising a progressive movement in UAE because it isn't yet London or San Francisco. Only the western Barcolounger journalists would see the UAE's recognition as negative. Cultural and generational changes are slow. This is like criticising the Bill of Rights because slavery existed. Dipshiats. --DHeyward (talk) 04:47, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

Jimmy Wales got criticized for something Misplaced Pages related. Huh. It must be a Wednesday. Or Thursday or ... although it goes against my many mostly private wiki-principles -- nobody likes a suck-up -- in response to some of the above: Jimbo, Congratulations! It's your award, spend it on whatever you want. NE Ent 02:27, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

• I know Jimbo does't restrain comments here even by negative editors, but this section seems to be just turning into (or has already turned into long back) a personal, pointy I-got-you-down discussion that has all elements of trolling. It won't be surprising if there's an RfC on this by the same editor. I believe it is enough said on this topic already, and repetitive comments by just one editor are quite disruptive, if not anything else. Time to actually hat this discussion off. Wifione 02:56, 18 December 2014 (UTC)
  • I concur. Townlake (talk) 04:15, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

Hello Jimbo Wales, May you be surrounded by peace, success and happiness on this seasonal occasion. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Sending you a heartfelt and warm greetings for Christmas and New year 2015.
Happy editing,
The Herald : here I am 14:15, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

Spread the love by adding {{subst:Seasonal Greetings}} to user talk pages with a friendly message.