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As a Croatian-American who speaks Croatian, you never want to go to the Croatian version of Wikipedia. Anyways, a lot of this pressure being put on Wikipedia/Wi

As a Croatian-American who speaks Croatian, you never want to go to the Croatian version of Wikipedia. Anyways, a lot of this pressure being put on Wikipedia/Wikimedia is through the investigative journalism organization, Balkan Insight (see links below that I referenced). The reason why people do this stuff is because not only do they want war—-they want to commit genocide again. Here is what I wrote about it a couple of months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26788882 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26788882 It [Wikipedia] does have power over what it allows to be published, although it does not have the staff to enforce violations. As a Croatian-American who speaks Croatian, it is best to avoid the Croatian language Wikipedia pages about wars, with some more recent than others. It is quite hateful, xenophobic, and nationalistic. The news source I provided is investigative journalism for Balkan countries funded via European Union. > "Wikimedia Foundation Inc, the US-based non-profit charitable NGO, is the owner of the Croatian version of Wikipedia." [1] > "However, the Wikimedia Foundation is not the founder of the Croatian version, nor does it accept that it is responsible for the accuracy of its articles. It insists that it does not have any power over Croatian-language Wikipedia entries." [1] Other reads are provided for reference [2][3][4]. [1] Wikipedia Not Responding to Inquiries on Croatian Entries: https://balkaninsight.com/2018/04/23/wikipedia-not-replying-to-inquires-on-croatian-entries-04-20-2018/ https://balkaninsight.com/2018/04/23/wikipedia-not-replying-... [2] Croatian Wikipedia Removes ‘Polish Genocide of Germans’ Claim: https://balkaninsight.com/2018/03/29/croatian-wikipedia-removed-claims-on-polish-genocide-over-germans-03-29-2018/ https://balkaninsight.com/2018/03/29/croatian-wikipedia-remo... [3] How Croatian Wikipedia Made a Concentration Camp Disappear: https://balkaninsight.com/2018/03/26/how-croatian-wikipedia-made-a-concentration-camp-disappear-03-23-2018/ https://balkaninsight.com/2018/03/26/how-croatian-wikipedia-... [4] Croatia Wikipedia Alters Jasenovac Camp Entry Again: https://balkaninsight.com/2018/08/29/croatia-wikipedia-further-disputes-research-on-jasenovac-camp-08-29-2018/ https://balkaninsight.com/2018/08/29/croatia-wikipedia-furth...

zozbot234 5y ago
This is not "pressure being put on Wikimedia", it's the Wikimedia folks trying to re-establish/enforce the underlying principles of their projects, which have existed since these projects got started.
- disabled 5y ago
  There has been a lot of international pressure that has been put on Wikimedia over the years about this issue.
- input_sh 5y ago
  This ain't new, people tried to convince Wikipedia to do this for years. Wikimedia always claimed that there's nothing they can do about it. Turns out that was bullshit, as all of us knew. And Balkan Insight is really fucking good at getting English speakers to care about problems in the Balkans.
DyslexicAtheist 5y ago
I second your recommendation of Balkan Insight as a reliable source. I've lived in Croatia for ~5 years training local LEA's in modern cyber and intel techniques (OSINT being a large part of it). The older population is still deeply divided over the horrors of the war with many veterans living on government money (some of them have never seen a fight). I have a lot of trust in the younger people who are sick of it all, want change and believe in integration, free movement (within EU) and modern values. But if you go out for drinks in a less touristy bar that you'll find yourself amidst a celebration of war criminals and/or people who benefited from the spoils of war (and organized crime that goes hand in hand there). Fun facts: the owner of Rimac is building his car company on his fathers criminal empire, the hooligans supporting the local Zagreb club (some of them Neo Nazi's) are being celebrated for enforcing the law in places where the police has no power or helping with local community efforts (rebuilding the city after the earthquake), ... There is a saying in Croatia "Where were you in '92" that is reserved for the older population. You never know who you are befriending and what crimes they got into during the war. Among the most horrible people that stem from the place are the modern elite. Anyone who shows their money and who often no longer live there. The owner of "Konzum", a huge grocery chain where the owner built his empire on war money and extracts the revenues via off-shore companies while sitting comfortably in his flat in London while his employees scrape by with shit working condition and terrible pay. There is also the puppet-mayor of Zagreb who peddles most of his contracts to the Bosnian mob and who is unable to speak up. It really pisses off the older Croatians. The top lawyer of the country is in the mob, as are several judges. The Hack club "Mama" in Zagreb is constantly harassed by the local criminals who want them to vacate the premises so they can rent it out for higher prices, despite a long term contract being in place. Many of the trendy cafe's are run by the mobsters wifes, GF's and sisters. You can get a great deal there in the middle of the town for lease for your new restaurant or club idea and once you're in - BOOM! the rent double or triples. People wonder why restaurants and clubs never survive there more than 2-3 years and often shut down while they are at the peak of their popularity. It's not because Zagreb constantly plays with new ideas, it's because otherwise you might lose a couple of fingers, or worse. Also cops are useless there (unless you pay them) ... in fact I got some of my best weed of a corrupt cop in Zagreb. There is also the question of Dubravka Šuica who is now in the Vice-President of the European Commission, a corrupt individual who got rich as a teacher moving into politics and supporting the local "construction projects" and benefited from pork-barrel projects in her home region Dubrovnik.

zozbot234 5y ago

This is not "pressure being put on Wikimedia", it's the Wikimedia folks trying to re-establish/enforce the underlying principles of their projects, which have existed since these projects got started.

disabled 5y ago
There has been a lot of international pressure that has been put on Wikimedia over the years about this issue.
input_sh 5y ago
This ain't new, people tried to convince Wikipedia to do this for years. Wikimedia always claimed that there's nothing they can do about it. Turns out that was bullshit, as all of us knew. And Balkan Insight is really fucking good at getting English speakers to care about problems in the Balkans.

DyslexicAtheist 5y ago

I second your recommendation of Balkan Insight as a reliable source. I've lived in Croatia for ~5 years training local LEA's in modern cyber and intel techniques (OSINT being a large part of it). The older population is still deeply divided over the horrors of the war with many veterans living on government money (some of them have never seen a fight). I have a lot of trust in the younger people who are sick of it all, want change and believe in integration, free movement (within EU) and modern values. But if you go out for drinks in a less touristy bar that you'll find yourself amidst a celebration of war criminals and/or people who benefited from the spoils of war (and organized crime that goes hand in hand there). Fun facts: the owner of Rimac is building his car company on his fathers criminal empire, the hooligans supporting the local Zagreb club (some of them Neo Nazi's) are being celebrated for enforcing the law in places where the police has no power or helping with local community efforts (rebuilding the city after the earthquake), ... There is a saying in Croatia "Where were you in '92" that is reserved for the older population. You never know who you are befriending and what crimes they got into during the war. Among the most horrible people that stem from the place are the modern elite. Anyone who shows their money and who often no longer live there. The owner of "Konzum", a huge grocery chain where the owner built his empire on war money and extracts the revenues via off-shore companies while sitting comfortably in his flat in London while his employees scrape by with shit working condition and terrible pay. There is also the puppet-mayor of Zagreb who peddles most of his contracts to the Bosnian mob and who is unable to speak up. It really pisses off the older Croatians. The top lawyer of the country is in the mob, as are several judges. The Hack club "Mama" in Zagreb is constantly harassed by the local criminals who want them to vacate the premises so they can rent it out for higher prices, despite a long term contract being in place. Many of the trendy cafe's are run by the mobsters wifes, GF's and sisters. You can get a great deal there in the middle of the town for lease for your new restaurant or club idea and once you're in - BOOM! the rent double or triples. People wonder why restaurants and clubs never survive there more than 2-3 years and often shut down while they are at the peak of their popularity. It's not because Zagreb constantly plays with new ideas, it's because otherwise you might lose a couple of fingers, or worse. Also cops are useless there (unless you pay them) ... in fact I got some of my best weed of a corrupt cop in Zagreb. There is also the question of Dubravka Šuica who is now in the Vice-President of the European Commission, a corrupt individual who got rich as a teacher moving into politics and supporting the local "construction projects" and benefited from pork-barrel projects in her home region Dubrovnik.