WordPress.org Removes Russian Pro-War Plugin From Directory
After considerable pushback from the Plugin Review team, WordPress.org has removed a plugin called Zamir, which was created by a Russian developer to display the Z symbol in support of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The plugin gained attention after Gravity Forms founder and CEO Carl Hancock noticed that it was listed under the “New” list of plugins for WordPress.com customers. Hancock contacted WordPress’ plugin team to request its removal but was met with a defense for its inclusion based on what the representative deemed to be a lack of violation of the guidelines. The representative told Hancock via email that “it is permitted as long as it does not devolve into hate speech or encouraging violence.” Outrage over the plugin being hosted on WordPress.org sparked heated conversations on Twitter, Post Status Slack, and in WordPress’ #pluginreview Slack channel where project contributors work in the open. Mika Epstein responded to discussion in the #pluginreview channel to confirm that the plugin was allowed to be in the directory: This is an annoying, but allowable, thing at this time. We have no restrictions about plugins that are for ‘support’, as long as they avoid hate speech, encouraging violence, and raising money for…
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