Wikipedia's Balancing Act: A Tool for Collective Intelligence or Mass Surveillance?
Simon Liu

TL;DR
This paper examines Wikipedia's role in balancing collective knowledge sharing with concerns over mass surveillance, highlighting challenges and proposing future research directions for policy and societal safeguards.
Contribution
It analyzes Wikipedia's position within surveillance debates and suggests frameworks for protecting privacy while maintaining open contribution.
Findings
Wikipedia faces tensions between openness and privacy concerns.
Case studies reveal surveillance practices impact online communities.
Policy recommendations aim to safeguard individual contributions.
Abstract
Wikipedia has evolved beyond its original function as an online encyclopedia in an increasingly complex data-driven society. The social platform is met with a balancing act between collective intelligence and mass surveillance; processes need to be developed to protect individuals and the community from government mass surveillance without sacrificing the important contributions made through prohibited anonymous communication software. Case studies are provided from NSA government surveillance practices, the anti-SOPA legislation movement, and research that covers Wikipedia's involvement with participatory journalism, disinformation, self-censorship, and the use of Tor. This paper proposes that a common ground can be developed between individuals, public and private institutions through future research in socio-cultural anthropology and policy frameworks around data retention and…
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Taxonomy
TopicsWikis in Education and Collaboration · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Social Media and Politics
