Consumer Rights Wiki - User contributions [en]

Category talk:Legislation in Africa

2025-08-16T20:24:14Z

Mikadago: /* Response to Mika */ Reply

Hi,

I'm Mika from Madagascar. Got here from Louis Rossman's youtube videos. I'm new to this wiki / contributing thing, and would like to ask a few question before doing anything wrong :D

1- i would like to add the legislation document of my country (Madagascar) concerning consumer protection, available here https://www.assemblee-nationale.mg/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Loi-n%C2%B02015-014-sur-la-garantie-et-la-protection-du-consommateur.pdf but i don't know if i should just put the link, re-copy the content, or by other mean?

2- as the document is in French (2nd official language but main language for administrative documents in Madagascar), if i copy the document, i don't know if i should translate it in english or keep it in french? And if i need to translate it, how do i do that without the risk of altering the content (i don't trust google or AI translate to keep a legitimately similar content, and i can't afford to hire a professional translator).

3- how else can i contribute? There are definitely shady practices with the local industries / enterprises / service providers here, and again, i don't want to just spread rumours or point randomly to said practices. What's the best way to get those kind of informations?

Thank you for the good work and waking people from this consumerism slumber. Also, sorry if my english is a bit clumsy, not my native language, and i didn't want chatGpt to write it for me :D

Mika.

==Response to Mika==

Hi Mika, great to see you here! @[[User:Mikadago|Mikadago]]

The first thing to mention quickly is that the category pages are not for adding content to - they simply act as a directory that links together mainspace articles on the wiki. So if you wanted to add information, you wouldn't do it here, instead you'd make an article (probably using the blank template as we don't have a template for this kind of thing yet) called 'consumer protection legislation in madagascar', or something like that. It would be best to write it as an explainer, rather than simply quoting the text of the law. You can take inspiration from articles on Wikipedia about laws, such as this page on the US constitution: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_States. Obviously that's a very long and detailed article, but the main point is that it does not just quote the law, it is primarily focused on explaining the background and effects of the law.

Regarding sources, it's best to leave them in their original language, and just link to them. The text in the Wiki article should all be English, and should basically just present the information found in original sources. In terms of laws, editors should not do their own legal interpretation. What this means is that instead of linking to the law and saying 'these practices are allowed, these ones aren't', it is best practice to link to a legal scholar's interpretation of the law when saying what the law does and does not allow, as then the reader can verify that someone with the relevant expertise has interpreted the law, rather than the editor of the article.

When contributing, it's probably best to start off with those shady practices that have been documented by journalists and covered extensively, as these will be the best sourced, and you'll be able to make good, fleshed out articles. Reporting on obscure or unknown issues is more difficult, as we don't allow for primary research by contributors - contributors must be referencing a source.

In any case, thank you very much for coming along and offering to contribute, and I hope to see you around! [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 15:54, 16 August 2025 (UTC)

:Thanks for the clarification,
:Just removed the dummy article wrongly posted in categories.
:To be honest, i just wanted to point out that "laws" exist here, but in my opinion are seldom applied and generally ignored by the big names (who happens to be "coincidentally" close to the gov). As you can see, this legislation dates back to 2015 and has never been updated since, as far as i know. Even when the consumer's and industries' habits are not the same in 10 years.
:Just found a thesis made by a student in business law (dated 2016), i don't know if that's still relevant. I will document myself well enough first I think, and will get back here when i have something "serious" to write.
:Anyway, thanks for the openness and advice, and again, keep up the good work! You guys rock!
:Mika. [[User:Mikadago|Mikadago]] ([[User talk:Mikadago|talk]]) 20:24, 16 August 2025 (UTC)

Category:Legislation in Africa

2025-08-16T20:03:23Z

Mikadago: Removed as per request and advice from admin.

[[Category:Legislation]]

User talk:Keith

2025-08-16T11:42:50Z

Mikadago: /* Thanks and silly questions */ new section

[[User:Alexa|Alexa]] ([[User talk:Alexa|talk]]) 16 May 2025

Hello @[[User:Keith|Keith]],

I'm interested in helping with the wiki, and specifically I have real world example, but would like to check if it's a good fit here or not.

And I can't talk in discord, as it's forcing me to submit my email.

Is this a good place to start conversation on adding new company, and fitness of the case.

Thank you.

∼∼∼∼

Hi @[[User:Alexa|Alexa]]!

No problem at all - go ahead and let me know what your thought is and I'll give you my thoughts on whether/how it fits on the wiki!

[[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 20:03, 17 May 2025 (UTC)

[[User:Alexa|Alexa]] ([[User talk:Alexa|talk]]) 06:36, 18 May 2025 (UTC)

@[[User:Keith|Keith]],

There is company in California that offers indoor skydiving, and obviously they have waiver to sign (with arbitration 😃), but it's not the issue I found there, but that part of that waiver is "consent" to "grant exclusive permission" to take photo/video, and use it in their promotional materials, and there is no way to sign the waiver without consenting to that photo/video permission, online form doesn't allow you to proceed. And even when we went to the place itself, staff said that "corporate doesn't allow them to print out forms to fill out, anymore, and all waivers need to be filled in online", means we can't opt out from that photo/video consent. So my kid ended up not taking that "flight", because we couldn't sign the waiver without consenting to photos.

Thank you.

[[User:Alexa|Alexa]] ([[User talk:Alexa|talk]]) 17 May 2025

@[[User:Alexa|Alexa]]

I think that fits the bill - although it's a smaller company, it fits within the frame of modern consumer protection and demonstrates how draconian the terms for even something like that can be.
Go for it! I'd probably say that this is a case where a company article can be created, and the TOS issue can be neatly summarised within it, as opposed to being a seperate incident article.

Edit: actually, I might have got ahead of myself - is this something which has been covered or discussed annywhere other than by yourself? If not, it may fall foul of the No Original Research rule, although a very basic page which basically just lays out the facts which can be established from their website and TOS, and does not provide any commentary beyond this, might be ok.

[[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 07:55, 18 May 2025 (UTC)

==Re: CAT Documentation==
[[User:Keith|@Keith]] I've replied to your message at [[User talk:Travis]]. Let me know if you'd like to discuss further approaches to organizing the documentation. [[User:Travis|Travis]] ([[User talk:Travis|talk]]) 14:43, 17 January 2025 (UTC)

==Delegating tasks==

Hello Keith,

You said at the meetup that you found it easy to delegate.

This interests me because when I was in business, I found it difficult delegate: did not believe people could not do a good enough job and I would be still responsible for the results.

Is this topic of interest to you?

∼∼∼∼

[[User:Janosabel|Janosabel]] ([[User talk:Janosabel|talk]]) 22:48, 10 February 2025 (UTC)

:I think that in the context of wikis or any kind of community project, one needs to be able to trust others to get anywhere (perhaps with some verification too at times).
:I'm under absolutely no illusion that I can do all or even much of this by myself, and we have some really talented and great people on the team!
:There's no way of achieving the results we'd want without spreading the workload and decision-making responsibility. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 09:33, 11 February 2025 (UTC)
::I understand what you mean.
::Just realised, I was speaking about me half a century ago; and not being able to trust delegees cost me a burnout. Without delegation even if imperfect, what must be done cannot be done.
::Unfortunately I cannot help by contributing to the Wiki for lack of academic training in the required writing style, but put on my talk page a witness account how supermarkets expanding to local areas are killing independent small traders.
::PS. What is the difference between <edit source> and using the <reply> button? [[User:Janosabel|Janosabel]] ([[User talk:Janosabel|talk]]) 20:05, 11 February 2025 (UTC)
:::I think the reply button just opens up a small window of the editor, and applies the signature to the message automatically? I'll have a look at what you mentioned, but I'm not sure it quite fits the theme of the Wiki, as we're keeping it focused on anti-consumer activities, rather than general issues with corporate behaviour.
:::And yes, I'll be careful on burnout! I want to avoid the combination of this and my day job driving me mad... [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 23:02, 14 February 2025 (UTC)

== Thanks and silly questions ==

Hi Keith,

thanks for adding me to the confirmed users. Total newbie here, i have no idea how to properly contribute. I tried to start a discussion in the Category Leagislation Africa, not sure if it was posted.

Should i ask it directly here? or keep it in that category?

Mika, Madagascar. [[User:Mikadago|Mikadago]] ([[User talk:Mikadago|talk]]) 11:42, 16 August 2025 (UTC)

Category talk:Legislation in Africa

2025-08-16T11:31:29Z

Mikadago: A discussion mostly about asking directions and help about proper contribution

Category:Legislation in Africa

2025-08-16T11:21:55Z

Mikadago: Added a link to the "law N° 2015-014" from the official website of our National Assembly. Added also a comment on how to properly contribute here, and adressing the issue with the discussion page CAPTCHA not appearing.

[[Category:Legislation]]

== Madagascar : Legislation document : Law No. 2015-014 on Guarantees and Consumer Protection ==
Available in French only on the website of our local National Assembly [https://www.assemblee-nationale.mg/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Loi-n%C2%B02015-014-sur-la-garantie-et-la-protection-du-consommateur.pdf]