Hello,
As a level 3 Waze map editor and Area Manager from Iran, actively involved in the Waze Community of Iran for nearly three years, I would like to report substantial evidence of repeated violations of the Waze Community Terms of Service, Guidelines, and Privacy Policy by certain members of the community’s leadership team. These violations include but are not limited to:
- Bullying, insulting, and threatening other users
- Disregarding new editors or being rude in response to Update Requests
- Promoting editor roles based on personal relationships, without any community-wide consultation
- Failure to follow and respect editing guidelines—including those established by the leadership themselves
- Obstructing community-wide participation, especially regarding Iran Wazeopedia and Waze localization—despite the presence of numerous inaccurate information and wrong Persian translations
- Restricting the sharing or citing of content from Waze global resources such as Waze Global Discuss, Waze Academy, Global Wazeopedia, etc.
- Violating editors’ privacy by requiring them to provide personal information, such as mobile phone numbers, through mandatory forms
- Misusing the Waze platform to advertise unrelated products, pursue personal agendas, and even propagate content potentially associated with extremist ideologies
Numerous examples have been gathered on these matters and will be provided through the proper channels to authorized persons upon request.
These issues have previously been raised within the Waze Community of Iran, yet no official response has been offered. Instead, critical voices were silenced or removed. It is important to note that such unilateral and exclusionary practices have led to widespread discouragement and inactivity among experienced editors, causing a sharp decline in active contributors, significant damage to the Waze map of Iran, and, subsequently, a considerable drop in Wazers across Iran.
I sincerely welcome any suggestion or initiative aimed at improving the current state of the Waze Community of Iran.
Best regards,
Meysam
Hello Meysam,
May I remind you that decisions and guidelines are established by leaders with significant responsibility and experience to maintain order and progress within the Waze Map Editors Community. Repeatedly disputing these decisions despite clear explanations undermines team cohesion and disrupts the workflow.
Every member, no matter their level, must respect the experience of other users as well as the established rules, and should not persistently oppose management without valid justification. Such conduct harms the entire community and will not be tolerated.
Please ensure you use the appropriate channels respectfully and fully cooperate to uphold a productive environment for all editors.
Kind regards,
Mohsen Kimia
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Hi Mohsen,
I’m glad to see you here; because as you can see, instead of resorting to insults or deleting suggestions and criticisms, it’s possible to discuss with others in a respectful manner.
You mentioned that no valid justification was provided. To clarify, let me simply refer to an example I previously shared in the Waze Community of Iran workspace, which clearly violates Waze guidelines:
As a localizer and a member of the Community leadership team, you—along with a few others—translated the Update Request phrase “Wrong Driving Directions” into “Wrong Road Direction” in Persian. This translation alters the original meaning and clearly violates Waze translation guidelines. It’s worth noting that this change is currently causing obvious (or hidden) issues across the platform.
I would appreciate it if you could tell me what your reaction—and that of the Community Coordinator—was in response to my suggestion to correct this translation.
Sincerely,
Meysam
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Hello Meysam,
As has been mentioned to you before, we always review important, debatable translations or any requests for changes within the translation team and reach a conclusion on the best approach.
Regarding the case you raised, the translation “جهت حرکت اشتباه” (“Wrong Driving Direction”) is correct and fully matches its intended use in the Map Problem section. This has already been explained to you earlier, and a recheck confirmed that no change is needed.
I hope you will continue to share constructive suggestions while also understanding the collaborative and voluntary nature of this work, so that the final results benefit all users.
Best,
Mohsen Kimia
Hi Mohsen,
My question was simple: what was your reaction to my suggestion to correct the translation? Wasn’t it the same insulting reaction that ultimately accompanied this Community Coordinator’s response:
“Our Community guidelines are entirely independent of Waze guidelines. It is solely the leadership team who determines what is right or wrong, and in the event of any conflict with Waze guidelines, the leadership guidelines shall prevail.”
Also, since you attempted to distort the facts here and attributed the original meaning to your own translation—despite that reaction—I find it necessary to clarify the meaning of the simple and uncomplicated Persian phrase “جهت حرکت اشتباه” in English:
When “Directions” appears alongside “Driving” it refers to “instructions on how to do something or how to reach a place”, according to the 5th sense of the “Directions” definition from the Oxford Dictionary. Just as the Update Request “Wrong Driving Directions” is rendered in WME (US English) as “Improper / Poor navigation instructions”. In this translation, “Direction” should not be separated from its context to be interpreted as “Road / Movement / Traffic Direction”. You and the Community Coordinator have previously emphasized in the Community workspace the meaning of “Wrong Driving Directions” has been deliberately changed to “Wrong Road Direction”.
These changes have clearly led to a lot of confusion and problems. It’s worth reiterating that altering the original meaning in a translation is a clear violation of Waze translation guidelines—regardless of whether it’s done by a localizer or, as you claim, a leadership team with experience and high responsibility.
I think that by reading these recent responses, one can almost understand what is going on in the Waze Community of Iran. This is just one example of a violation of Waze guidelines; numerous other cases have been documented to provide to the authorized persons. I think we shouldn’t use the voluntary nature of the Waze Community as an excuse to violate the official guidelines or make arbitrary decisions.
Sincerely,
Meysam
It seems there is a misunderstanding about how our community operates. All our decisions, including those regarding translations, result from a collaborative process. We editors value every member’s input, and the leadership team is responsible for ensuring that all suggestions and discussions lead to a consensus that serves the best interests of all Wazers in the country.
I also want to assure you that editors try their best to ensure the rules and guidelines of the Waze Community are fully aligned with Waze’s official global policies and terms of service.
I appreciate your passion for improving the map. To ensure your suggestions are heard and considered, I encourage you to use the official channels in a way that promotes constructive discussion. This is the most effective way to help the community move forward.