Jalexander-WMF

James Alexander

Manager, Trust & Safety, Wikimedia Foundation

"Not all those who wander are lost"
"Ensure user trust, protect user rights and mitigate legal risk through policy, advocacy and TOU enforcement"

About me

I've had an account starting on the English Wikipedia since late 2006 as Jamesofur where I made small edits correcting or updating information as I read through articles (both logged in and anonymous). In 2009 I picked up my interest again mostly because of a fascination with the community model and a desire to see the projects succeed. I worked first on enWiki again and then quickly started getting involved in global governance and anti vandalism and abuse issues. I helped to set up the Global sysops proposal and referendum and still serve as one on my volunteer account, became a Sysop, Bureaucrat and Checkuser on SimpleWikipedia as well as a sysop here on Meta and on EnWikipedia. I've also been a long time agent on OTRS especially with BLP concerns and Intellectual property (Copyright, trademarks and trade secrets mostly).

Personally I have a degree in Economics and a huge love of the law both in the United States and internationally (especially Contract and Copyright law and the international and economic side effects). After school I was looking for work in the legal field planning to go to law school in a year or two. I'm a self professed geek and anglophile who loves most of science fiction and British television, computers and technology (I've taught myself a fair bit of coding but have no formal teaching) and surfing. I enjoy taking on a challenge especially something where much of it hasn't been done before.

I began at the Foundation for the 2010 Fundraiser for outreach but ended up spending most of my time making all of the lovely banners and landing pages that everyone has come to love ;). In 2011 I got a Community Fellowship to work on new editor retention work focusing on data gathering and research (in prep for the Summer of Research) as well as WikiGuides a project trying to proactively reach out to new users which I presented on at Wikimania in Haifa (The Teahouse is taking up from where we left off!). In July 2011 I was swallowed up by the Fundraiser again to be its 'Business Analyst' working to help manage the priorities of the technical and production teams for the Fundraiser. In the late spring 2012 I became the Wikimedia Merchandise Manager, opening an online store, expanding our products to include a wide array of good quality offerings available at a reasonable price, and developing a community-driven giveaway program that recognized the contributions of individual Wikimedians.

My work

I currently manage the Trust & Safety work within the broad Community Advocacy team and the staff assigned to it. As part of that I:

Oversee and direct the staff and processes engaged in ensuring the protection of the safety and well-being of staff, users, volunteers and the public related to Wikimedia Foundation projects and affiliated sites and events.

Oversee and refine the systems surrounding protecting child safety or threats of violence to self and others on Wikimedia Foundation projects, including liaising with law enforcement officials as necessary in investigating and resolving specific incidents of same.

Provide for the assignment, return, and regular audit of staff’s use of restricted privileges.

Implement and enforce Wikimedia Foundation bans related to trust & safety.

Collaborate closely with the wider Community Advocacy team, Wikimedia Foundation’s legal team and other key Wikimedia staff or volunteers in areas related to Trust & Safety.

Disclaimer: I work for or provide services to the Wikimedia Foundation, and this is the account I try to use for edits or statements I make in that role. However, the Foundation does not vet all my activity, so edits, statements, or other contributions made by this account may not reflect the views of the Foundation.

Contact me

Email: Jalexanderwikimedia.org
On my Meta-Wiki or English Wikipedia talk page as Jalexander-WMF in a staff role.
On my Meta-Wiki or English Wikipedia talk page as Jamesofur in my volunteer role.
Gtalk: Jalexanderwikimedia.org
Twitter: Jamesofur
LinkedIn profile

User language

en-N	This user has a native understanding of English.

fr-1	Cet utilisateur dispose de connaissances de base en français.

la-1	Hic usor simplici lingua Latina conferre potest.