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Wikipedia introduces new Universal Code of Conduct to fight harassment & misinformation

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Wikipedia on Tuesday unveiled a “universal code of conduct” aimed at stemming abuse, misinformation, and manipulation on the global online encyclopedia.


The new code was released by the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that administers Wikipedia, expanding on its existing policies to create a set of community standards to combat “negative behaviour,” according to a statement.
The new policy aims to thwart efforts to distort and manipulate content on Wikipedia, the largest online encyclopedia which is managed largely by volunteers using “crowdsourced” information.“Our new universal code of conduct was developed for the new Internet era, on the premise that we want our contributor communities to be positive, safe and healthy environments for everyone involved,” said Katherine Maher, chief executive of the foundation.
“This code will be a binding document for anyone that participates in our projects providing a consistent enforcement process for dealing with harassment, abuse of power, and deliberate attempts to manipulate facts.”The 1,600-word code was developed with input from some 1,500 Wikipedia volunteers representing five continents and 30 languages, and includes clear definitions of harassment and unacceptable behaviour.The code includes language aimed at preventing the abuse of power and influence to intimidate others, and the deliberate introduction of false or inaccurate content.
The move comes after Wikipedia celebrated its 20th anniversary on January 15, having become among the world’s top 15 websites with an estimated 1.7 billion visitors per month.The move comes amid heightened pressure on Internet platforms to stem manipulation and disinformation campaigns which may be used for political ends or to promote discord or violence.
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US leads Bitcoin mining as China ban takes effect

Miners earn money by creating new Bitcoins, but the computing power needed to do it consumes large amounts of energy.

They audit Bitcoin transactions in exchange for an opportunity to acquire the digital currency.

Global mining requires enormous computing power, which in turn uses huge amounts of electricity, and consequently contributes significantly to global emissions.

The CBECI, which is produced by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, tracks the geographic distribution of computing power used for mining Bitcoin – receiving data from a number of commercial Bitcoin mining pools.

The latest data, which covers the four months to the end of August, suggests that most Bitcoin mining (35.4%) is now US based, with Kazakhstan (18.1%) second and Russia (11%) third.

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