[OSM-talk] Is OSM Anti-Fascist? (was: Cease use of OpenStreetMap/Antifa logo)

[Frederik Ramm]

Hi,

I agree that OSM should remain un-political where possible, just so that
political squabbles do not interfere with mapping.

At one "Local Chapters Congress" at one of the recent SotM conferences,
I remember someone from an African country saying that they already
faced difficulties setting up an OSM organisation in that country
because other people believed OSM was something subversive that would
threaten established powers and values.

And what we do is of course subversive when viewed from an authoritarian
perspective (what, everyone to make their own maps that are not
government-sanctioned, how dare you). I agree with Florian that OSM is
deeply anti-Fascist in what it does, but that is as far as it goes: The
things we do go against authoritarianism, against Fascism - we as a
group or we as and organisation do not, and we do not endorse political
organisations, be they pro or anti Fascist. Our official position should
be that we are apolitical, even if our activities might not be!

On the other hand, where governments propose or make laws that would
make it harder for us to map, I think we should oppose that in a
structured way, as an organisation - provided we have the time and
energy for that.

Bye
Frederik

-- 
Frederik Ramm  ##  eMail frederik at remote.org  ##  N49°00'09" E008°23'33"

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 488 bytes
Desc: OpenPGP digital signature
URL: <http://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/talk/attachments/20200213/e4fd1337/attachment.sig>