Wrythe Convention
The Wrythe Convention is an intermicronational treaty which condemns sockpuppeting, identity theft, and false claims within micronationalism. Signatories to the Convention pledge to not enter into relations with any entities engaged in fabrications and falsehoods, and by signing the treaty reserve the right to suspend or revoke recognition of any entities found to have engaged in such behaviour.
The Convention singles out and condemns James Klaassen-White (the individual whose false online claims "inspired" the drafting of the treaty) as "one of the very few engaged in sockpuppeting, identity theft, false claims, and other fabrications who has not had the decency to cease such behaviour after it has been exposed."
Signatories do not simply by signing the Convention extend any recognition to co-signatories, due to the "collective desire to ensure trust and honesty in the community" transcending any diplomatic differences between micronations.
Background
James Klaassen-White of the Kingdom of Catan was well-known in the micronational community for his absurd claims and hostile behavior toward anyone who questioned him, having infamously claimed to have gained recognition from the UK and USA via photoshopped letters, spent £30 million on a navy, and creating a fake social media account with stock photos which he later “killed off” by falsely claiming it to have been a victim of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
The Wrythe Convention’s first four signatures were made by representatives of Austenasia, Adammia, Flandrensis, and the GUM (the Chairman of the latter signing on behalf of the organisation of 22 members). Adammia had aided in the fight against online deception by Catan before, having previously informed a person claimed by Klassen-White to have been Catan’s “Prime Minister” that the latter had stolen his name and photographs from social media, much to the surprise of the individual involved, who of course had no knowledge of Klassen-White’s claims.
The convention was viewed as a way for the community to discourage others from creating false identities while promoting fictional narratives about their micronations.
Signatory nations
The Wrythe Convention was signed in person by representatives from several micronations at Wrythe on 15 September 2018, namely:
- Grand Unified Micronational
- Empire of Adammia
- Empire of Austenasia
- Grand Duchy of Flandrensis
- Imperial Grand Duchy of Lundenwic
- Republic of New Westphalia
- Sakasarian Federation (today the Kingdom of the Iceni)
- Principality of Wildflower Meadows
Since entering into force, nearly 130 additional nations have also signed the treaty, including Westarctica in 2018.