The Wikimedia Foundation Inc., the nonprofit organization that runs the website Wikipedia, says it’s about to introduce new codes of conduct to reduce harassment and toxic behavior by some of its volunteers.

The new standards, which will fall under a “Community Culture Statement” written by volunteers, will be finalized by the end of the year. Those who break the rules may have limited access to the site, be sanctioned or banned.

“Harassment, toxic behavior, and incivility in the Wikimedia movement are contrary to our shared values and detrimental to our vision and mission,” said the Wikimedia board in a statement Friday. “The board does not believe we have made enough progress toward creating welcoming, inclusive, harassment-free spaces in which people can contribute productively and debate constructively.”

The new standards will be a much more formal and hands-on approach, with the board saying that the new policy will mean more interaction with community functionaries. From now on, there will be a refined review process for those who have made complaints.

In recent years, there have reports stating that women and members of the LGBTQ community has faced harassment from editors and administrators, and it seems now that Wikimedia has made good on a promise last year to create update standards to protect the bullied.

It was reported last year that one disagreement over information provided on a page can cause a tsunami of rage at the back end of the website where the article is discussed. “Sometimes it can be so aggressive that you give up and run away from the article,” one Wikipedian told the New York Times.

Women in the recent past have said they felt bullied by male editors, while transgender and gay volunteers have also said they felt threatened.

Things came to a head last year when a well-respected admin got himself a permanent ban. The admin in question was said to be thorough and not many people denied that, but volunteers said his method of editing was often rude and obnoxious.

The issue remained a contentious one with many Wikipedians, which is perhaps one of the reasons the foundation has now imposed a more formal set of moderating guidelines.

Photo: Shou-Hui Wang/Flickr