The theme for Wikimania Paris is Liberté, Équité, Fiabilité (Freedom, Equity, Reliability).Together, let’s protect knowledge, equity and freedom.

We're celebrating 25 years since the creation of Wikipedia. Yet the world has never been so dangerous for the free encyclopedia and its entire ecosystem. How can we resist political and media attacks, increase solidarity between wikimedian communities of different languages and other digital commons, and ensure an inclusive space where wikimedians can dream the future together? Wikimania 2026 is an opportunity to take action to preserve free access to knowledge.

In an increasingly polarized world, where democratic values are losing ground, where scientific and historical consensus are regularly questioned, and online participation is increasingly locked down, Wikimedia projects are exceptions in the information landscape. They offer a space for sharing knowledge, where a balance of points of view is the rule, and where the debate of ideas and the search for consensus are a common project.

In 25 years, online communities of contributors have managed to create a digital common good that everyone can rely on, including students, journalists, scientists... but also generative AI and search engines.

Yet this resource is now threatened: political figures and organizations around the world would like to see the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikipedia being shut down, impose their militant views on it, or even train AI to identify contributors behind pseudonyms, reveal their civil identity and incite harassment. Sharing knowledge is not neutral, and this unselfish act is threatened today. These acts of intimidation, disclosure of personal data, censorship and deprivation of liberty, or worse, are the reasons why protecting the encyclopedia and the people who contribute to and support it is absolutely necessary.

We continue to have a vision of a world in which everyone, regardless of gender, origin or language, can share the sum of the world's knowledge. To achieve this dream, we need to ensure a secure, inclusive, multilingual sharing space for Wikimedia and their partners. Wikimania Paris will therefore focus on three fundamental values of the Wikimedia ecosystem: Freedom, Equity and Reliability.

Our conference aims to explore the fundamental freedoms that underlie Wikimedia projects, with a focus on universal participation and breaking down knowledge barriers. We firmly believe that everyone should have the opportunity to share their knowledge freely. Freedom of participation and freedom of expression are essential to maintaining healthy and open spaces for debate, allowing every voice to be heard and respected. These freedoms are crucial to ensuring that all perspectives are represented and that discussions are constructive and inclusive.

Another crucial aspect of our conference is the freedom to edit, reproduce and distribute content, made possible by free licenses. These licenses facilitate collaboration and innovation, allowing everyone to contribute to and benefit from educational and cultural resources. Freedom of pseudonymity is also a central theme, as it allows everyone to participate without fear of unjustified prosecution or threats, thus protecting the identity of contributors and ensuring their safety.

Finally, we will highlight freedom of association and self-government, as well as freedom of information and access to quality content. We believe that everyone should have access to high-quality educational and cultural resources. Freedom of innovation will also be discussed, as it allows for the creation of tools that facilitate knowledge sharing, ensuring that Wikimedia projects remain on top of innovation and continue to provide free access to knowledge for everyone on the planet.

While equality aims to provide equal opportunities for all, equity aims at providing equitable means for all people according to their individual needs.

We will focus on issues of justice and accessibility, which ensure an environment in which each person has the technical and social means necessary to participate in collective knowledge building.

Ensuring a truly universal shared knowledge, which is also representative of human diversity, requires that equity is placed at the centre of knowledge production and consumption. We believe that only a multicultural and inclusive practice, in a healthy and safe environment, can lead to neutral views and correct the biases still present today in our projects and within our communities.

Particular attention will be paid to the verifiability, factuality and neutrality of content shared on Wikimedia projects. We will insist on what this implies in terms of sources, at a time when scientific reliability and the credibility of journalistic work are increasingly under attack. We will also question our responsibility as a universal movement capable of producing reliable and freely accessible knowledge, created and verified by humans.

We will also discuss our role in the global information space and how our movement contributes to it, and must continue to contribute to it. We need to ask ourselves the question of the sustainability and integrity of the Wikimedia movement.

We hope to leave this Wikimania with renewed confidence in these values, greater cohesion, stronger solidarity, and greater resilience to political and media attacks, so that we can continue to share reliable, neutral and independent information.

• Wikimania 2026