[WikiEN-l] Re: Objectionable material

[Jimmy Wales]

Skyring wrote:
> We should have some mechanism in place where Jimbo can get up on a
> talk show and say "We thought of that already, and you have to do
> this, this and that to see all the objectionable material, so it's
> manageable, and control is in the hands of parents, teachers, school
> boards and so on."

If you know my personal opinions (which, by the way, I do not think
should be controlling policy on these matters) on the issue of
censorship and what kids should be looking at, you'll know how extremely
unlikely it would be that I would be on a talk show saying anything of
the sort.

I prefer to be able to say: "We thought of that already, and we have
gone through a long and difficult process of editorial judgment to treat
delicate topics in a respectful and educational manner.  Nothing in
Wikipedia is intentionally offensive, but of course there will always be
people who are offended by something.  We do our best to take a serious
and thoughtful approach to these matters."

I have at times been supportive of the idea of tagging, and if that is
the best way to treat delicate topics in a respectful and educational
manner, then fine.  But I think the default view of Wikipedia should not
be affected by such measures, so I would never be saying "oh, but you
have to do this, this, and that to see this stuff".

--Jimbo