Legal:Wikimedia Foundation Country and Territory Protection List

Transparency is a cornerstone of the Wikimedia movement — as such, we care a lot about what data we release and how we release it. In line with our Data Publication Guidelines, our goal is to provide accurate information about our projects without exacerbating the privacy and other safety risks that our communities may face for contributing to our projects.

The Country and Territory Protection List Policy aims to enhance the Wikimedia Foundation's ability to publish information and protect contributors' personal information, while preserving everyone's ability to contribute safely to our projects online, consistent with the Foundation's commitment to upholding Wikimedians' rights to privacy as laid out in its Human Rights Policy. Publishing exact values of high-level, seemingly anonymous statistics exposes contributors to data re-identification or reconstruction risks. To that end, this update of the Country and Territory Protection List Policy takes into account the ability of differential privacy to statistically mask individual contributors and contributions. This update will allow for more flexibility and nuance without compromising the safety of our communities, and will thus allow us to release more data and better meet communities' needs.

Process

The Wikimedia Foundation relies on the judgments of respected international human rights NGOs to assess potential risk to Wikimedia users. Every year, Reporters Without Borders produces an annual score for hundreds of countries and territories (based on a review of political, economic, legislative, social, and security factors) that signifies journalistic safety in each place. Similarly, Freedom House produces an annual internet freedom score for nearly 80 countries and territories (based on a questionnaire that evaluates obstacles to access, limits on content, and violations of user rights).

These signals are highly-credible and dynamic, with updates every year provided by panels of subject matter experts. Relying on this independent data allows our own models to iterate and provides every person with access to sensitive data with a built-in set of guidelines around risk minimization. They also give the Wikimedia Foundation a sense of the relative risk of government or other parties' actions against Wikimedia community members for their on-platform behaviors (e.g. editing and reading). Where possible, we average the two scores together and subtract them from 100 to get a composite risk score, where 0 is the least likely and 100 is the most likely to take action against community members for on-platform behavior.

Based on the composite score, we then sort each country or territory into one of four categories:

• 0 to 60 — lower risk: These countries and territories are at lower risk of action being taken against Wikimedia community members for on-platform activities. The Wikimedia Foundation can publish aggregated data about them as long as it is in line with the minimum thresholds set out in the Data Publication Guidelines.
• 60 to 67.5 — medium risk: These countries and territories are at medium risk of action being taken against Wikimedia community members for on-platform activities. The Wikimedia Foundation can publish aggregated data about them only using differential privacy such that any consumer of the data will be (in the worst case) at most 5% more certain about a data subject's presence or absence in the dataset.
• 67.5 to 75 — higher risk: These countries and territories are at higher risk of action being taken against Wikimedia community members for on-platform activities. The Wikimedia Foundation can publish aggregated data about them only using differential privacy such that any consumer of the data will be (in the worst case) at most 2.5% more certain about a data subject's presence or absence in the dataset.
• 75 to 100 — not published: These countries and territories are at the highest risk of action being taken against Wikimedia community members for on-platform activities. For reasons of user and editor safety, the Wikimedia Foundation does not publish aggregated data about them.

Some countries and territories are not included in the Country and Territory Protection List because they do not have sufficient associated scores from our data sources; in these cases, privacy and human rights experts may decide their risk category.

Country and territory protection list designations

In 2024, the country and territory protection list is as follows:

Medium risk

There are twenty countries and territories deemed medium risk of action being taken against community members for on-platform activities: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Honduras, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Laos, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Sudan, Tajikistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and Yemen.

Higher risk

There are eight countries and territories deemed higher risk of action being taken against community members for on-platform activities: Bahrain, Belarus, Egypt, Eritrea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Turkmenistan.

Not published

There are nine countries and territories deemed highest risk of action being taken against community members for on-platform activities, and that are, as a result, too risky to publish data about: China, Hong Kong, Cuba, Iran, Macau, Myanmar, North Korea, Syria, and Vietnam.

Full country and territory list

Country and territory protection list (full list)

Country Score Protected? (Yes/No) Risk Designation Afghanistan 60.25 Yes Medium risk Albania 42.14 No Lower risk Algeria 54.26 No Lower risk Andorra 24.95 No Lower risk Angola 46.35 No Lower risk Anguilla (OECS) 41.64 No Lower risk Antigua and Barbuda (OECS) 41.64 No Lower risk Argentina 26.82 No Lower risk Armenia 28.70 No Lower risk Australia 22.88 No Lower risk Austria 22.70 No Lower risk Azerbaijan 61.54 Yes Medium risk Bahrain 70.71 Yes Higher risk Bangladesh 61.85 Yes Medium risk Belarus 68.92 Yes Higher risk Belgium 23.53 No Lower risk Belize 29.51 No Lower risk Benin 47.56 No Lower risk Bhutan 40.75 No Lower risk Bolivia 48.91 No Lower risk Bosnia and Herzegovina 34.57 No Lower risk Botswana 35.39 No Lower risk Brazil 38.67 No Lower risk British Virgin Islands (OECS) 41.64 No Lower risk Brunei 55.80 No Lower risk Bulgaria 37.02 No Lower risk Burkina Faso 32.36 No Lower risk Burundi 47.86 No Lower risk Cape Verde 24.28 No Lower risk Cambodia 56.99 No Lower risk Cameroon 54.42 No Lower risk Canada 14.24 No Lower risk Central African Republic 42.44 No Lower risk Chad 46.27 No Lower risk Chile 39.91 No Lower risk People's Republic of China 84.02 Yes Not published Colombia 44.89 No Lower risk Comoros 37.75 No Lower risk Republic of the Congo 39.58 No Lower risk Costa Rica 17.40 No Lower risk Ivory Coast 31.17 No Lower risk Croatia 28.05 No Lower risk Cuba 75.50 Yes Not published Cyprus 31.38 No Lower risk Czech Republic 16.42 No Lower risk Denmark 10.52 No Lower risk Djibouti 64.13 Yes Medium risk Dominica (OECS) 41.64 No Lower risk Dominican Republic 28.12 No Lower risk Democratic Republic of the Congo 51.45 No Lower risk East Timor 15.51 No Lower risk Ecuador 37.75 No Lower risk Egypt 69.32 Yes Higher risk El Salvador 48.64 No Lower risk Equatorial Guinea 49.65 No Lower risk Eritrea 72.14 Yes Higher risk Estonia 10.85 No Lower risk Eswatini 47.34 No Lower risk Ethiopia 63.15 Yes Medium risk Fiji 40.73 No Lower risk Finland 12.06 No Lower risk France 22.64 No Lower risk Gabon 41.88 No Lower risk The Gambia 36.47 No Lower risk Georgia 31.16 No Lower risk Germany 20.55 No Lower risk Ghana 34.54 No Lower risk Greece 44.80 No Lower risk Grenada (OECS) 41.64 No Lower risk Guadeloupe (OECS) 41.64 No Lower risk Guatemala 51.88 No Lower risk Guinea 40.49 No Lower risk Guinea-Bissau 38.43 No Lower risk Guyana 32.50 No Lower risk Haiti 42.62 No Lower risk Honduras 67.35 Yes Medium risk Hong Kong 55.14 Yes Not published Hungary 34.02 No Lower risk Iceland 11.41 No Lower risk India 56.69 No Lower risk Indonesia 49.09 No Lower risk Iran 82.10 Yes Not published Iraq 62.03 Yes Medium risk Ireland 10.09 No Lower risk Israel 42.43 No Lower risk Italy 26.48 No Lower risk Jamaica 24.11 No Lower risk Japan 29.53 No Lower risk Jordan 55.11 No Lower risk Kazakhstan 60.07 Yes Medium risk Kenya 41.43 No Lower risk Kosovo 31.62 No Lower risk Kuwait 61.16 Yes Medium risk Kyrgyzstan 49.05 No Lower risk Laos 63.34 Yes Medium risk Latvia 16.73 No Lower risk Lebanon 49.77 No Lower risk Lesotho 35.71 No Lower risk Liberia 35.66 No Lower risk Libya 58.89 No Lower risk Liechtenstein 15.53 No Lower risk Lithuania 13.21 No Lower risk Luxembourg 18.02 No Lower risk Macau n/a Yes Not published Madagascar 43.34 No Lower risk Malawi 39.83 No Lower risk Malaysia 38.09 No Lower risk Maldives 43.07 No Lower risk Mali 47.71 No Lower risk Malta 40.24 No Lower risk Martinique (OECS) 41.64 No Lower risk Mauritania 40.55 No Lower risk Mauritius 34.44 No Lower risk Mexico 45.01 No Lower risk Moldova 22.38 No Lower risk Mongolia 40.67 No Lower risk Montenegro 25.72 No Lower risk Montserrat (OECS) 41.64 No Lower risk Morocco 51.66 No Lower risk Mozambique 43.87 No Lower risk Myanmar 80.87 Yes Not published Namibia 19.09 No Lower risk Nepal 42.11 No Lower risk Netherlands 13.00 No Lower risk New Zealand 15.77 No Lower risk Nicaragua 60.46 Yes Medium risk Niger 33.16 No Lower risk Nigeria 45.22 No Lower risk North Korea 78.28 Yes Not published North Macedonia 25.65 No Lower risk Norway 4.82 No Lower risk Oman 62.13 Yes Medium risk Pakistan 67.03 Yes Medium risk State of Palestine 62.14 Yes Medium risk Panama 36.33 No Lower risk Papua New Guinea 32.38 No Lower risk Paraguay 44.04 No Lower risk Peru 47.26 No Lower risk Philippines 46.40 No Lower risk Poland 32.34 No Lower risk Portugal 15.40 No Lower risk Qatar 44.72 No Lower risk Romania 30.96 No Lower risk Russia 72.12 Yes Higher risk Rwanda 58.21 No Lower risk Saint Kitts and Nevis (OECS) 41.64 No Lower risk Saint Lucia (OECS) 41.64 No Lower risk Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (OECS) 41.64 No Lower risk Samoa 17.85 No Lower risk Saudi Arabia 71.29 Yes Higher risk Senegal 44.18 No Lower risk Serbia 34.92 No Lower risk Seychelles 24.29 No Lower risk Sierra Leone 37.45 No Lower risk Singapore 49.06 No Lower risk Slovakia 16.78 No Lower risk Slovenia 29.41 No Lower risk Somalia 55.76 No Lower risk South Africa 24.20 No Lower risk South Korea 31.09 No Lower risk South Sudan 49.38 No Lower risk Spain 24.63 No Lower risk Sri Lanka 51.08 No Lower risk Sudan 64.59 Yes Medium risk Suriname 29.38 No Lower risk Sweden 11.85 No Lower risk Switzerland 15.60 No Lower risk Syria 77.89 Yes Not published Taiwan Island 23.23 No Lower risk Tajikistan 60.94 Yes Medium risk Tanzania 55.98 No Lower risk Thailand 52.88 No Lower risk Togo 36.94 No Lower risk Tonga 28.71 No Lower risk Trinidad and Tobago 23.46 No Lower risk Tunisia 45.45 No Lower risk Turkey 68.02 Yes Higher risk Turkmenistan 74.18 Yes Higher risk Uganda 51.46 No Lower risk Ukraine 39.91 No Lower risk United Arab Emirates 63.51 Yes Medium risk United Kingdom 21.25 No Lower risk United States of America 26.39 No Lower risk Uruguay 29.67 No Lower risk Uzbekistan 64.64 Yes Medium risk Venezuela 67.01 Yes Medium risk Vietnam 76.71 Yes Not published Western Sahara 51.66 No Lower risk Yemen 67.22 Yes Medium risk Zambia 40.80 No Lower risk Zimbabwe 50.42 No Lower risk

Usage

The list can be accessed programmatically (for a data pipeline or a data analysis, for example) in two ways:

• The canonical_data.countries table in the Data Lake.
• The source file hosted on GitLab. The data dictionary is available in the same repository.