Should Wikimedia support internet freedom by accepting Bitcoin donations?

    Date: 
    29 June 2012

    In their annual donation drive to attain $29.5 million for 2012, the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation and its largest project, Wikipedia, will accept donations in four of the 12 ‘Enemies of the Internet’ currencies. Far from bastions of liberty, these are regimes noted for their egregious censorship and systematic repression of Internet users — Bahrain, China, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam. Of course, it’s great to get donations from the suffering and violated netizens of those regimes. But just don’t try to donate safely in bitcoin — it’s not accepted.