[Foundation-l] "Filtering" ourselves is pointless

[David Levy]

Mike Godwin wrote:

> The hidden assumption here -- an incorrect assumption, in my view -- is that
> there is some universe of possibilities in which Fox News would not have
> cited Jimbo's *inaction* as validation that it was correct. I infer from
> this comment that you imagine that if Jimbo had not intervened as he did,
> there would be no such story from Fox News.  My response is, if you think
> this, then you don't know Fox News.

No, that isn't my assumption at all.  I'm quite certain that Fox News
would have attempted to spin any response (or lack thereof) in a
manner injurious to the Wikimedia Foundation's reputation.

The key difference is that in the other scenario, it would have
continued to be their word vs. ours (with an opportunity to reach out
to responsible media and explain our position).

Instead, Jimbo has essentially announced to the world that Fox News
was correct.  And until we purge our servers of every "graphic image,"
we knowingly retain our self-acknowledged state of indecency.

David Levy