Following Wikimedia UK's registration as a charity last year, Tom Murdoch discusses the implications for the sector.

The recent registration of Wikimedia UK as a charity has interesting lessons for those interested in the development of “public utility” as a charitable purpose. This article considers implications for charities and other bodies involved in the dissemination of information.

Wikimedia UK is a charity established to promote “open content”, such as Wikipedia and other related facilities, for the public benefit. The promotion of open access to user-generated and user-enriched content such as Wikipedia has not, until now, been recognised as a potentially charitable purpose.

Wikimedia UK’s successful registration depended upon the Charity Commission recognising the analogy with a library or a reading room. It also depended on establishing that the provision of information for the public benefit is capable of being charitable in its own right, even where it is not educational, provided it is of sufficient public utility.

The term “public utility” derives from the “fourth head” of charity, famously proposed by Lord Macnaghten in Pemsel’s Case and, earlier, and in some ways more helpfully, by Mr Samuel Romilly (as he then was) in Morice v Bishop of Durham: “the advancement of objects of general public utility”. The Commission’s acceptance that public utility is a charitable purpose serves as a useful reminder that the list of purposes contained in the Charities Act 2006 is not exhaustive.

In practice, it was necessary to demonstrate that Wikipedia has sufficient editorial policies and safeguards to ensure that published content meets appropriate standards of accuracy and objectivity. Clearly, any other organisation seeking to demonstrate similar public utility would require equivalent content controls.