Wikimedia Foundation
The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (WMF) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, and registered there as a charitable foundation. It is the host of Wikipedia, the tenth most visited website in the world. It also hosts fourteen related open collaboration projects, and supports the development of MediaWiki, the wiki software which underpins them all. The foundation was established in 2003 in St. Petersburg, Florida by Jimmy Wales, as a non-profit way to fund Wikipedia and other wiki projects which had previously been hosted by Bomis, Wales' for-profit company.
| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2003-06-20 |
| Legal Structure | Non-profit |
| Industry | Information Technology |
| Official website | https://wikimediafoundation.org/ |
Consumer-impact summary
The Wikimedia Foundation is generally pro-consumer and privacy first, despite having some notable incidents.
Various courts have successfully sued the company into censoring certain articles. These articles have a warning notice when viewed from Wikipedia so you at least know you aren't getting what you want.
- User freedom: Open source project
- User privacy: Accounts are private, no known data breaches
- Business model: Funding entirely through donations, including corporate donations
- Market competition: Some, including Encyclopedia Britannica.
Incidents
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the Wikimedia Foundation category.
UK Online Safety Act lawsuit (2025-present)
- Main article: Implementation_of_the_UK_Online_Safety_Act#Wikipedia
The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) sued the United Kingdom to prevent them from forcing age checks on their websites. The WMF made a statement that being forced to comply with this act would compromise the privacy of its editors and the neutrality of the encyclopedia. On August 11, 2025, the London High Court denied the WMF's reasoning, but didn't necessarily force age checks for the website.[1][2]
Asian News International vs. Wikimedia Foundation (2024-present)
The news agency Asian News International sued the Wikimedia Foundation in July 2024 in India. They alleged defamation and forced the WMF to censor its "Asian News International vs. Wikimedia Foundation" article from October 2024 until May 2025 upon appeal by the WMF.[3]
Caesar DePaço lawsuit (2021-present)
Portuguese businessman Caesar DePaço sued the Wikimedia Foundation in 2021 demanding removal of certain information in the Wikipedia article about him. In August 2025 the WMF complied with the decision by the Portuguese court and partially censored the article. Today, this article is censored and unable to be in compliance with Wikipedia's Neutral Point of View guideline.[4][5]
References
- ↑ Castro, Chiara (August 12, 2025). "Case dismissed – Wikipedia loses UK Online Safety Act legal challenge, but it may still be safe from age checks".
- ↑ "Wikimedia Foundation Challenges UK Online Safety Act Regulations". 11 August 2025.
- ↑ "Drawing a line in the sand: SC judgment reaffirms right to free speech".
- ↑ "Wikipedia Fighting Overseas SLAPP Suit Because Someone Didn't Like The Factual Info Posted About Them".
- ↑ "Office action: Removals on the article Caesar DePaço". English Wikipedia. 4 August 2025.