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Wikimedia Commons seems to have a shortage of imagery of recent events in the Strait of Hormuz which are from organizations other than the US Navy. Additionally, it would be informative if the gallery could include one or more photos or videos of recent UAV activities in the Strait. Can anyone suggest a source for these photos or videos which would have a Commons-compatible license? ↠Pine (✉) 02:39, 7 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I've heard flickr has a large library of Creative Commons licenced photos, but I think you may need an account. Other than that, I'd expect images from other sources to potentially be unbalanced, especially considering factors such as press freedom in some countries in the region. Google also allows you to filter images by usage licence, under the "tools" dropdown. You may want to check out Wikipedia:Finding images tutorial for more guidance. Mitchsavl (talk) 09:21, 7 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

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Just yesterday user:Your Friendly Neighborhood Sociologist published Wikipedia:Contentious populations and asked at the submissions desk for approval to run it.

I have it staged as an essay, as it is a newly published essay, but this is one that should get review from other Signpost editors. Bluerasberry (talk) 16:42, 5 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Just read about halfway down and found a couple of dubious things.

1. Persons of color being barred from discussing some topic. Assuming the analysis is correct, how would this ever be enforceable? Also the related table was presented as a dichotomy between "POC" and "White" which I don't think (for reasons) is a true dichotomy, so I edited the headings.
2. "There are no bans on 'Western Europe' or the 'United States'". Uh, unless I'm mis-reading this, don't some of our most contentious contentious-topics cover just this? I.e. WP:Contentious topics/The Troubles, WP:Contentious topics/American politics?
3. "For straight men" vs "straight men". Again, assuming the analysis is correct, isn't the category of banned editors supposed to be more expansive, for example, trans men, or maybe intersex? Not to mention the obvious problem with considering straight/non-straight as a binary, which many informed people see as erroneous.

For discussion? I don't want to limit the essayist's voice, but I think we do owe it to both the author and the readers to point out clear category or logical errors. ☆ Bri (talk) 20:04, 5 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for reviewing! Appreciated the fixes and good questions, hopefully these answers suffice:

• 1) The same way any ban is enforceable. It can be enforced for anyone, but hits POC harder than white people. Imagine an editor says "I have experienced racist bias on Wikipedia" or writes an essay about it. That would almost certainly be said by a POC; the White editor would never have structural reason to say that. They would be equally banned from discussing racism they've experienced onwiki, but that's not really as applicable to the white editor.
• 2) I think misreading or imprecise language on my end, as those to me are explicit examples of the double-standard - those are very narrow carveouts that most groups are not generally afforded.
  • "South Asia", "Horn of Africa" - huge geographic regions - all art, culture, history, politics, food, etc is banned
  • "Kurds and Kurdistan" - nationality and country - similarly total all-encompassing ban
  • "Western Europe" or "United States" - no ban on "United states, broadly construed" or "Western Europe broadly, construed" - but carve-outs instead:
    • NOT "United states, broadly construed", but just post 1992 politics / political figures
    • NOT "Western Europe, broadly construed", but "The Troubles, Irish nationalism, and British nationalism in relation to Ireland"
      • A specific time-period - roughly 1960s to 2000, nationalism in 2 countries (and notably, Irish nationalism is a broader than "British nationalism in relation to Ireland").
• 3) There's an adjective I'd like to toss in to make it "for REDACTED straight men" v "for everyone else", but my hands are tied. The broader point is that GENSEX is interpreted to mean LGBT topics + feminism + onwiki efforts to counter sexism. While all categories are porous, I think the point stands that one can be banned from all content and discussions of LGBT people or gender bias (including bans from their own experiences as editors who are women/LGBT) - but there is not similar ban on "All straight men broadly construed".
  • LGBT editors and straight editors are equally able to be banned from discussing homophobia they've experienced onwiki. That only applies to the former.
  • Women and men are equally able to be banned from discussing sexism they've experienced onwiki. That only really applies to the former.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Sociologist ⚧ Ⓐ (talk) 21:19, 5 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

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Have we already reported about this post in a previous issue? It's a nice (and kind of worrying) breakdown of recent drops in page traffic by topic, and I think it would make for a pretty interesting lead story. Oltrepier (talk) 20:16, 5 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

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@Bri and Bri.public: would this event be appropriate to mention in the notes section of N&N? The US Census Bureau is running this. The event is scheduled slightly before the Signpost publication deadline, so we may want to link to post-meeting artifacts instead of the invite. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/events/geoforum.html ↠Pine (✉) 04:00, 23 April 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Hey no problem pinging both, but you can just ping my primary account. Sorry I haven't clicked the link yet but what's the Wikipedia connection? Sorry for being lazy. Bri.public (talk) 16:14, 23 April 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Pine Will there be any specific panel involving Wikimedia projects or Creative Commons content? Oltrepier (talk) 19:23, 23 April 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Oltrepier and Bri: the event schedule shows that several sessions will be offered regarding data products that may be of great interest to people who leverage US census data, including for AI. There doesn't appear to be a specific callout for Wikimedia projects or Creative Commons. Example session titles: "Geography Division Partner Portal (GDPP)", "Geographic Update Partnership Software (GUPS) Web", "2030 Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) Overview", and "Powering Artificial Intelligence (AI) Readiness Through Strong Metadata Practices". ↠Pine (✉) 06:52, 24 April 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Pine: I do not think that event is a fit. The census event is a common format for professionals in the field, and I do not see it as particularly special. I expect that 100% of the attendees of those talks are full time paid staff being paid to go there, and paid to manage datasets, so it is a different pace than the community volunteer mood we have in Wikimedia projects.

If you did want to push Signpost in the direction of data alliances, then we could do more to cover events community tech organizations like OpenStreetMap or the former Code for America groups which still operate (CFA recently disaffiliated all the community chapters), and which almost always include Wikimedia and Creative Commons discussions. Those meetings are only like 60% people paid to engage. Bluerasberry (talk) 14:42, 27 April 2026 (UTC)[reply]

• @Bluerasberry: thanks for the comment. I like the idea of mentioning other technology events such as regarding open data which may interest readership of The Signpost, whether or not the events are targeted at paid staff. There are plenty of paid staff involved in Wikipedia/Wikimedia work, whether paid directly or indirectly by WMF, affiliates, education organizations, or people doing advocacy or promotion work. A substantial fraction of the latter may not be in compliance with Wikipedia requirements for conflict-of-interest activities, but even if they were all 100% compliant with COI, the point would remain that there are lots of paid people around who might be interested in technology events which have some relation to Wikipedia. Perhaps the N&N section could include a recurring subsection regarding technology and open data events that would potentially interest readers. ↠Pine (✉) 00:24, 7 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

• Feels like a time where less is more. NAN already has a wide gamut; I'd leave event listings to other, perhaps more focused, places. Ed ^{[talk] [OMT]} 00:47, 7 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]
• Hi The ed17, it's nice to see you here. For all: where would be the best place for a recurring "Recent and upcoming events" listing in The Signpost? ↠Pine (✉) 01:34, 7 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

  @Pine We haven't one yet, to be fair! I guess Community view could be a good slot, though, if we want to have one more regular column. Oltrepier (talk) 12:29, 7 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

• But again, surely there is another tech/open data-focused resource, page, or organization who is better placed to list and share those with dedicated audiences. Non-Wikimedia events just aren't that important for an overwhelming majority of SP readers. Ed ^{[talk] [OMT]} 19:44, 7 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I was looking through the Teahouse when I saw this question regarding a scam email. Should we include something in the brief notes section on this; even if it is not a widespread scam or anything, I think just taking the opportunity to add a note to remind Wikipedians what to look out for is a good idea. Mitchsavl-on-public-wifi (talk) 22:30, 27 April 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Mitchsavl: These things go out perhaps 1000s a day. At WP:VRT many people write in by email either to report them or to complain to Wikipedia, imagining that by writing to info@wikimedia.org they can get customer service on paid editing agreements they made. There is Wikipedia:List of paid editing companies. I do not see any news here but I certainly support including regular public service announcements warning about this problem. Bluerasberry (talk) 19:24, 4 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

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@HaeB Have you already reported about the LLMpedia project in previous issues? I don't remember coming across that, but it should be quite an eye-catching, albeit disturbing, experiment to write about. Oltrepier (talk) 14:07, 6 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

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Hi JPxG, with the closure of Wikinews, the community has released an article about it: n:Wikimedia Foundation closes Wikinews after 21 years. Would you be able to import (using Special:Import) a copy of the page to the "Special report" section for republishing? Thanks in advance. Mitchsavl (talk) 03:16, 4 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Mitchsavl Hello! I've imported manually the text of the article by myself. Now, it just needs some more copyediting!

I've also mentioned the main authors of the original article, so they can get proper credit. Oltrepier (talk) 12:45, 7 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, thanks! Should there be a hatnote at the top specifying this was originally published there, with a link to the article? Mitchsavl (talk) 12:50, 7 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Mitchsavl Oh yeah, I forgot to add it! If you want to add it yourself, go ahead. : ) Oltrepier (talk) 18:17, 7 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]