Wikimedia Foundation/Legal/Update to banner and logo policies
This page documents the Wikimedia Foundation Legal department's initiative to review and make recommendations on updates to policies and procedures governing decisions to run project banners or make temporary logo changes.
The initiative is primarily concerned with actions that commemorate, advocate for, or comment on events or positions that are “external” to the Wikimedia movement. External topics are ones that are not confined to Wikimedia projects and spaces, in contrast to “internal” topics that are specifically about the Wikimedia projects.
Examples of internal topics that may lead to a special banner or temporary logo change include project content milestones, photo contests, and community events (such as conferences and edit-a-thons). Examples of external topics include current events in the news, proposed legislation, and non-Wikimedia events and anniversaries.
Purpose and goals
[edit]This initiative seeks to establish global policies and procedures to ensure that individual projects are applying a shared movement-wide set of values, expectations, and processes when making decisions about running banners and temporarily changing logos. These policies will be informed by community practices on projects, primarily aiming to encode existing community expectations about when and how to comment on external events, and the process for doing so.
Currently, each Wikimedia project has autonomy in determining when to run banners (or other special notices and pages, including blackouts) or temporarily change logos. While this autonomy is generally valued, decisions involving Wikimedia’s shared brands have broader implications. These decisions may require documentation and potentially Wikimedia Foundation involvement.
Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia brands are a shared resource that represent our movement and values to the world. The meaning of these brands is built from the accumulation of all community (and Foundation) decisions. Decisions to associate Wikipedia with an external cause or position are particularly impactful, and affect the entirety of the Wikimedia movement. For that reason, it is crucial that these decisions are aligned with a common set of movement-wide values.
Additionally, there may be legal considerations to running banners or changing logos in order to take a position on an external topic. Under United States law, the Wikimedia Foundation has obligations to track and report activity that relates to particular legislation (“lobbying”), and is prohibited from supporting or opposing political candidates (“political campaign activity”). Therefore, it is essential to ensure that project community decisions about banners and logos do not violate these legal restrictions.
This initiative is being led by Chuck Roslof, Principal Legal Counsel at the Wikimedia Foundation, with support from others in the Advancement, Communications, and Legal departments.
Timeline
[edit]2025-09-03 Update: The timeline has been adjusted to accommodate staff availability and movement communications coordination.
This initiative will have three phases:
- Phase 1: December 2024 – April 2025
- Collecting examples of past community discussions about banners and logo changes (including examples when the proposed project actions were not approved)
- Community submission of examples
- Phase 2: July – October 2025
- Internal review of phase 1 discovery
- Community discussion around findings and possible recommendations (September 11 – October 9)
- Phase 3: October – November 2025
- Foundation adoption and rollout of finalized recommendations
Phase 2: Policy proposals
[edit]Overview
[edit]The proposed new and revised policies below are designed to have minimal impact on the most common and popular actions that Wikimedia communities take in response to external events, while placing new restrictions on actions that are likely to be more controversial—both within Wikimedia and in the eyes of the broader public.
The most significant new rules would be:
- Limit the initial duration of any actions: one month (31 days) for banners, and 7 days for most logo changes.
- A project community must renew its approval of a banner for it to continue to run past the one-month mark.
- Logo changes may only be used to celebrate project milestones (anniversaries, numbers of articles, etc.) or holidays.
- Communities should avoid commemorating holidays that are primarily political, national, or religious.
- Banners and logos should avoid using political symbols, such as the colors of a national flag.
- Banners on external topics must use CentralNotice instead of Sitenotice (and therefore such banners must comply with CentralNotice policies and procedures).
Under the proposed policy changes, project communities would still have fairly wide latitude to decide for themselves when to run a banner or temporarily change the project logo. The new restrictions help to ensure that any actions continue to have consensus for their duration, and that other communities (and the Foundation) are aware of any actions.
Questions and feedback
[edit]If you have any feedback on the policy proposals below, please share it on the talk page by October 9. If you prefer, you may also send your feedback privately to croslof
wikimedia.org.
In particular, input is requested on the following:
- If the proposed policies are implemented, would they provide sufficient notice and opportunity for community comment before actions are taken? In particular, would they help project communities be more aware of actions other project communities have proposed?
- What new problems or opportunities might arise from shifting all banners on external topics to using CentralNotice instead of Sitenotice?
- Is the guidance on avoiding political, national, or religious symbols and holidays sufficiently clear? What practical challenges might arise in trying to follow the guidance?
New policy: Use of Wikimedia sites for advocacy purposes
[edit]Purpose
[edit]Wikimedia project communities and the Wikimedia Foundation sometimes wish to use the Wikimedia projects to call attention to an issue or take a position in a way that is visible to all visitors (including readers who are not logged into an account). These actions usually take the form of a banner, a blackout, or a temporary change to the project’s logo. This policy describes the procedures necessary to approve such actions, and the rules the actions must follow.
Scope
[edit]This policy applies to the use of Wikimedia website assets for the purpose of advocacy about external topics.
Wikimedia website assets are all the parts of the Wikimedia project pages that are not directly related to project content, such as the header and footer, sidebar, and logo. These are the primary ways that website assets may be used for advocacy:
- Banners: temporary notices displayed at the top of project pages. Banners are usually implemented using CentralNotice or Sitenotice. Banners are used for many purposes, including promoting events, promoting contribution campaigns, and fundraising.
- Logo Changes: temporary alteration of the logo displayed at the top of project pages. Logo changes are most commonly used to commemorate project milestones (anniversaries, number of articles) or to commemorate holidays.
- Blackouts: replacing or obscuring project content with an important notice. These usually relate to significant legislative or political developments, and usually prompt readers to take action.
Project content is not within scope of this policy. Editorial decisions about what is appropriate to include on content pages are governed by project policies, such as w:en:WP:PROMOTION.
Advocacy is the attempt to influence public policy or public opinion on a topic. Some, but not all, advocacy would also count as public policy advocacy. Raising awareness about an issue, soliciting support for an aid organization, and supporting or opposing legislation are all types of advocacy.
An external topic is one that is not confined to Wikimedia projects and spaces. Some examples:
| Internal | External |
|---|---|
| Asking for input on a proposed change to a project copyright policy | Asking readers to contact their government representatives about a proposed change to copyright law |
| Soliciting donations to a Wikimedia entity | Soliciting donations to a non-Wikimedia charity |
| Commemorating a Wikimedia project anniversary or content milestone | Commemorating a national holiday |
| Asking volunteers to vote to elect stewards | Asking readers to vote in their local election |
| Promoting a local edit-a-thon or regional Wikimedia conference | Promoting a local non-Wikimedia cultural event |
Requirements and restrictions
[edit]General
[edit]- Projects must use their standard processes for obtaining consensus approval in order to use Wikimedia website assets for the purpose of advocacy about external topics.
- Supporting or opposing a candidate for public office, or a political party, is not permitted.
Banners
[edit]- All banners containing advocacy about external topics must use CentralNotice (not Sitenotice or other methods), and comply with the CentralNotice usage guidelines.
- Advocacy banners may initially run for at most 31 days. This duration may be extended by additional periods of up to 31 days, but only if it receives renewed community consensus approval.
- Please notify the Wikimedia Foundation by emailing globaladvocacy
wikimedia.org at least 21 days in advance of running an advocacy banner.
Logo changes
[edit]- Project logos may only be changed temporarily to commemorate internal milestones or to commemorate holidays.
- Projects should avoid using logo changes to commemorate holidays that are primarily religious or political (such as national days).
- Logo designs should avoid deliberately referencing national flags or other symbols that represent a political organization (such as a government or political party).
- In most cases, logos should not be changed for longer than 7 days. The only exception is if the logo change is meant to commemorate an event or celebration that lasts longer than 7 days, such as a heritage month.
- Any changes to project logos must comply with the trademark policy.
Blackouts
[edit]- Blackouts may last no longer than 24 hours.
- Please notify the Wikimedia Foundation of any planned blackouts by emailing globaladvocacywikimedia.org.
Addition to CentralNotice usage guidelines
[edit]This would be a new entry under the "Special Kind of Banners" section.
Advocacy
[edit]In light of the “Use of Wikimedia Sites for Advocacy Purposes” policy from the Wikimedia Foundation, any banner requests that could be considered “advocacy on an external topic” need to notify the Wikimedia Foundation of the community consensus to run such banners.
In order to notify the Foundation, contact globaladvocacywikimedia.org.
The main point of contact for this process is Ziski Putz.
What counts as advocacy on an external topic?
Banners that qualify as “advocacy on an external topic” include any banner alerting readers to a proposed law or policy change, that may or may not include a request that they take action. More detail about the definition of an external topic can be found in the policy on use of Wikimedia sites for advocacy purposes.
Limitations for banners that include advocacy on an external topic
- It is recommended that all external advocacy banners spend at least 21 days in community review which is longer than the standard time used for Central Notice Usage Guidelines.
- If there is an urgent need to evaluate the banner because of rapid changes in current events, notify globaladvocacywikimedia.org that a review of the request is "URGENT", and the Wikimedia Foundation will do its best to expedite review if the banner falls within the scope of the policy.
- If there is an urgent need to evaluate the banner because of rapid changes in current events, notify globaladvocacy
- The maximum initial duration for external advocacy banners is 31 days
- This duration can be extended, with community consensus. To extend the duration of the banner, you must submit a request at least 7 days before the banner is set to expire.
- Text in the banner and landing page should make it clear that it's not all of “Wikipedia” or the “Wikimedia Foundation” which are pursuing the external advocacy initiative, instead it is the contributor community or affiliate proposing the banner (i.e. “The [LANGUAGE] Wikipedia Community asks you to….”).
- Banners may not support or oppose individual political candidates, or political parties.
What might require additional review from the Wikimedia Foundation?
If on internal review, the Wikimedia Foundation believes that the banner requested may create a misrepresentation of the Wikipedia brand or the Wikimedia Foundation’s position on a policy, the Wikimedia Foundation may recommend changes to language or framing for the request. After these changes are addressed, Central Notice Admins are welcome to proceed with requests in light of standard consensus making processes.
Addition to Requesting wiki configuration changes
[edit]Proposed added language is highlighted.
Changing a wiki's logo
[edit]In addition to all of the above, there is specific guidance and a better workflow if you want to change your wiki's logo, whether temporarily or permanently.
- Upload your logo to Wikimedia Commons in SVG format. In most cases it should be a square (see documentation on mediawiki.org for exact sizing details).
- Use the logo-test tool to check that it displays as expected.
- File a request in the "Wikimedia-Site-Requests" Phabricator project using this form, with the following information:
- Wiki this request is for
- Link to new logo on Wikimedia Commons in SVG format
- Link to view logo using https://logo-test.toolforge.org/
- When logo should be enabled
- When logo should be changed back (if temporary)
- The maximum duration is usually 7 days, per the “Use of Wikimedia Sites for Advocacy Purposes” policy.
- Link to community discussion
- Email the trademark review team at trademarkswikimedia.org with a link to the request on Phabricator. Approval from the trademark review team is not a prerequisite to proceeding with the logo change, but the team may have questions about the design or the reasons for the planned change.
- Sysadmins will process your request, converting the logo into the proper formats in Gerrit. It is recommended you file a request at least a week in advance of wanting to change logos. Even if you don't know exactly when it should be enabled (e.g. waiting for the millionth article to be created), giving sysadmins a heads-up to prepare will help speed up your request when it is time.
Phase 1: Collecting precedents (Research and discovery)
[edit]In order to develop policy proposals, we need to know how communities have previously made decisions about running banners or temporarily changing project logos. There is a brief list of some significant examples on the Project-wide protests page, but having more examples, from as many different projects as possible, will improve the resulting policies. If you know of an example, please add it to the table below, mention it on the initiative's talk page, or email it to croslofwikimedia.org.
| Topic (with link to discussion) | Project | Approved (locally) | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Media law in Italy | Italian Wikipedia | Yes | October 4, 2011 | October 6, 2011 |
| Copyright law in the United States (SOPA) | English Wikipedia | Yes | January 18, 2012 | January 18, 2012 |
| Dutch Wikipedia support of anti-SOPA blackout | Dutch Wikipedia | No | January 17, 2012 | January 18, 2012 |
| Internet censorship law in Russia | Russian Wikipedia | Yes | July 10, 2012 | July 10, 2012 |
| Cybercrime law in the Philippines | Tagalog Wikipedia | No | 2012 | 2012 |
| Freedom of Panorama in the European Union | Multiple Wikipedias | Yes | 2015 | 2015 |
| Block of Wikipedia in Turkey | Italian Wikipedia | Yes | May 1, 2017 | May 31, 2017 |
| Copyright law in Australia | English Wikipedia | Yes | May 22, 2017 | June 19, 2017 |
| Upload filter campaign: Thanks, but no thanks | German Wikipedia | No | May 2, 2018 | May 4, 2018 |
| Copyright in the European Union 1 | Multiple Wikipedias | Yes | June 29, 2018 | July 4, 2018 |
| European Election | Multiple Wikipedias | Yes | May 23, 2019 | May 26, 2019 |
| Copyright in the European Union 2 | Multiple Wikipedias | Yes | March 21, 2019 | March 25, 2019 |
| Copyright in the European Union | Estonian Wikipedia | No | March 21, 2019 | March 24, 2019 |
| Copyright in the European Union | Catalan Wikipedia | No | March 24, 2019 | March 25, 2019 |
| Public money, public good | German Wikipedia | No | April 20, 2020 | April 30, 2020 |
| Black Lives Matter | English Wikipedia | No | June 2020 | |
| Russian invasion of Ukraine | Ukrainian Wikipedia | Yes | 2022 | ongoing |
| Russian invasion of Ukraine | Georgian Wikipedia | Yes | March 6, 2022 | June 18, 2022 |
| 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes | Azerbaijani Wikipedia | No | February 10, 2023 | |
| Israel–Hamas war | Arabic Wikipedia | Yes | December 23, 2023 | January 19, 2025 |
| Israel–Hamas war | Hebrew Wikipedia | No | 2024 | |
| Defamation law in Ukraine | Ukrainian Wikipedia | Yes | October 1, 2012 | October 2, 2012 |
| Anti-protest laws in Ukraine | Ukrainian Wikipedia | Yes | January 21, 2014 | January 21, 2014 |
| Russian invasion of Ukraine | Ukrainian Wikisource | Yes | March 2, 2022 | ??? |
| Detention of Bassel Khartabil | Multiple Wikipedias | No | November 29, 2015 | December 6, 2015 |
| 1st anniversary of Russian invasion of Ukraine | Russian Wikipedia | No | February 24, 2023 | February 24, 2023 |
| LGBTQ pride month | Phabricator | Yes | June 1, 2023 | July 1, 2023 |
| LGBTQ pride | Developer Portal | No | 2024 | |
| Annual New Year celebration (Discussion in 2024) | Russian Wikipedia | Yes | December 28, 2024 | January 3, 2025 (recurring annually) |
| Annual Lunar New Year celebration (Chinese Discussion in 2025, Vietnamese Discussion in 2025) | Chinese Wikipedia Vietnamese Wikipedia |
Yes | January 28, 2025 | February 13, 2025 (Different every year) |
| 500,000 articles milestone at Romanian Wikipedia | Romanian Wikipedia | Yes | October 23, 2024 | October 27, 2024 |
| Persian Wikipedia logos (+; +) | Persian Wikipedia | Yes | 2008 | |
| Copyright law in the United States (SOPA) | Russian Wikipedia | Yes | January 18, 2012 | January 18, 2012 |
| Public broadcast licensing in Germany | German Wikipedia | No | April 20, 2020 | April 30, 2020 |
| National Security Law in China | Chinese Wikipedia | No | 2020 | |
| 2019 Hong Kong extradition bill | Chinese Wikipedia | No | 2019 | |
| Block of Wikipedia in Russia | Russian Wikipedia | Yes | August 24, 2015 | August 25, 2015 |
| New Year logo changes | Russian Wikipedia | Yes | 2006 | |
| 10th anniversary of the blocking of Wikipedia in China | Chinese Wikipedia | No | May 2025 |
Summary and analysis
[edit](This section was primarily prepared by Chuck Roslof. Feel free to suggest additional insights on the talk page.)
- The types of actions that the projects have taken can be grouped into four categories:
- Banners or blackouts to protest a proposed law that may affect Wikimedia project content, such as:
- 2012: SOPA
- 2019: EU copyright reform
- Banners responding to country-wide blocks of Wikipedia, such as:
- 2015: Russia
- 2017: Turkey
- Logo changes to celebrate holidays (or similar), such as:
- Annual: new year celebrations by Chinese, Russian, and Persian Wikipedias
- 2023: LGBTQ pride month celebration on Phabricator
- Banners and logo changes responding to war (and supporting one side), such as:
- 2022–present: Russian invasion of Ukraine
- 2023–present: Gaza war
- Banners or blackouts to protest a proposed law that may affect Wikimedia project content, such as:
- Approved actions are usually short in duration.
- Actions taken related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Gaza war are the only ones that continued for longer than one month.
- Blackouts are approved very rarely, and only in response to legislation that is seen as a direct threat to Wikipedia.
- Also, there are few examples of blackouts approved in the past decade. A couple Wikipedias blacked out in 2019 in response to an EU copyright law, but that is all.
- Many of the proposed actions that did not receive consensus approval from local project communities reflect individual projects coming to a different consensus than others (such as about a particular proposed copyright law). For several others, volunteers cited concerns about whether the subjects of the proposed actions are sufficiently relevant to the Wikimedia projects, as well as the desired impact/outcomes of the actions. For example:
- 2015: Proposed banner campaign supporting the release of Bassel Khartabil
- 2020: Proposed blackout in support of Black Lives Matter
- 2023: Proposed logo change in response to an earthquake in Turkey and Syria
Relevant existing policies and procedures
[edit]The policies and procedures listed below are relevant to this initiative. Not all of them will necessarily require updates, and new policies may need to be written, but they provide an outline of the existing structures and guidelines.
- Wikimedia Foundation Policy and Political Association Guideline
- Wikimedia Foundation Trademark Policy
- CentralNotice usage guidelines
- Requesting wiki configuration changes