[WikiEN-l] The problem with flagging things with {{office}}

[Steve Bennett]

On 20/04/06, James D. Forrester <james at jdforrester.org> wrote:
> Using the {{office}} template to tag problem content is a nice idea,
> but, I would imagine, has a rather serious drawback: Wikitruth.info
> (amongst other 'helpful' critics) seems to have a sysop working for
> them. Were we to flag an article that was libellous with {{office}}, you
> can bet that they would go and dig out the deleted sections, and repost
> it to their wonderful service. Now Wikimedia has been informed that they

Presumably there are ways to totally purge/hide/protect those deleted
revisions, even from admins. And if there aren't currently, such ways
could be invented.

But that wouldn't really solve the problem. Which is that Wikipedia, a
site built purely for the free flow of information, in the real world,
occasionally needs to limit the flow of information. And in any
practical sense it simply can't. By attempting to stop people looking
at information, it simply draws attention to the fact it's missing,
and people can get it from other sources.

My only half solution is to use the office flag frequently, to throw
people off the scent of the "real" issues.

Steve