On 12/15/05, Anthony DiPierro <wikilegal(a)inbox.org> wrote:
I'd respond to slimvirgin that
Wikipedia:Verifiability already gives editors the power to move
unsubstantiated information to the talk page (at least after a good
faith effort to locate a source).
Hi Anthony, it's not only a question of claims that have no source,
but also claims that have a poor source. The example I mentioned
earlier of the man who feels he was defamed: the source was a
satirical paper that doesn't mind publishing libels. When he and I
tried to remove the claim, a group of people associated with the paper
turned up as Wikipedia editors and started edit warring over it,
including having the subject RfC-ed and blocked for 3RR. There was
nothing I could do about it as an admin, because those edit warring to
keep it in weren't in violation of any of our behavior policies, and
we can't block over content disputes; and anyway, once I'd edited the
page, I couldn't take admin action. So the only thing the subject and
I could do was spend hours explaining the content policies ad nauseam,
and monitoring every change. It was very, very time-consuming.
Something needs to change to make it easier to remove claims that
damage people and that potentially damage Wikipedia.
Sarah