--- Geoffrey Thomas geoffreyerffoeg@yahoo.com wrote:
I see so far three (ok, 2.5) reasons to implement filters: 1) to protect the Wikipedia from a site-wide censor, 2) to protect those who shouldn't see some content (this point is debatable), and 3) to protect those who don't want to see some content. I realize now that the first reason cannot be effectively implemented without impeding the Wikipedia's larger goals. The second, apparently, is loaded with too much POV (though I still don't see why we have to ''not'' censor content because some people might censor ''too much''...). The third I still believe should be implementable.
I wonder if there is anybody in group 3 at all. Most people find Wikipedia through some search engine, click around a bit, and maybe add it to their bookmark list. Suppose they come across an article they consider objectionable. Do you really think they would then investigate, find in some FAQ that registered users can block categories, create a user account, learn about the categories, block the proper ones, remember to log in each time they want to use Wikipedia -- all only so that they won't accidentally come across an article that they could have simply ignored?
Furthermore, after going through all this trouble, their original search engine will still present links to all Wikipedia articles, ignoring the category blocks.
Axel
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