Bhubaneswar, Sept. 24: People can now freely use contents from the state government's social media.

Following a request by the Odia Wikipedia community, eight of the state government's social media accounts have been freely licensed, allowing individuals to use their content with minimal restrictions. Earlier, a user was not allowed to use the data and media shared by these sites without permission.

The state government has released all of its social media posts under a free Creative Commons licence, allowing people from around the world to freely re-use the government's content in projects such as Wikipedia. A Creative Commons licence is one of several public copyright licences that enable free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted work.

The pilot project, which covers eight of the state government's accounts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, releases a veritable treasure trove of public interest photos and media.

'This has already had an impact. For instance, volunteers have added government images to articles about rath yatra, Konark Sun Temple and others on Wikipedia. This content release should serve as a model for governments around the world,' said Asaf Bartov, senior program officer at the Wikimedia Foundation. 'Releasing the Odisha government's content under a free licence will allow anyone to use, share and build upon their work,' he added.

Earlier this year, the Odia language Wikipedia community collaborated with the state's youth and sports services department to re-license the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships' website. By doing so, nearly 350 images were added to articles in 35 language Wikipedias.

'When the Wikipedia members met us, we had no hesitation to partner and share our content with one of the largest information hubs in the web space. We firmly believe that information is power, and that power must be vested with people. Government programmes must reach to people, and knowledge through information can solve many last-mile issues. We look forward to stronger information partnerships in the future,' said sources from the chief minister's office.

'In general, you don't have permission to use a work unless you are given it, such as under a Creative Commons liscence. But now, that barrier is gone,' he said.

Gold medals

Talented rural students supported by Jindal Steel and Power Limited recently bagged six gold medals in the state level sub-junior boxing championship jointly organised by Boxing Orissa and Khurda District Amateur Boxing Association in Bhubaneswar. In the girls' category, Manju Munda, Arti Gope and Jashoda Purty won gold medals while in the boys' category Rajesh Munda, Kishore Pradhan and Sajeeb Naik won medals.