[WikiEN-l] Defamation policy

[Sam Korn]

On 8/18/06, stevertigo <vertigosteve at yahoo.com> wrote:
> In the context of WP:OFFICE, as well as more recently, Jimbo and others have
> written somethings about "hurt feelings," as if it was a policy ( WP:CODDLE
> maybe) which could circumvent even important policy ( WP:NPOV maybe). Could
> you explain this?

No. No no no no no.  That is not the aim at all.  NPOV can never be
compromised.  All that is different between a biography of a living
person and, for example, an article on the geography of southern
Brazil is that it is more likely that the article on the living person
will have potentially defamatory information added.  This may or may
not lead to legal action, but it most certainly is likely to lead to
bad press for Wikipedia.

All that is required is a more *rigourous* application of our
verifibility policy for these more sensitive articles.  That is not a
bad thing; indeed it is the real essence of NPOV.

We don't live in some cloud-cuckoo land where our mistakes don't have
consequences.  They do.  The answer is to make sure that our mistakes
are quickly corrected and that the damage does not continue.

> I agree with the idea of treating bios with care, but that does not necessarily
> necessitate the use of an entirely different methodology than any other wiki
> page - including censoring talk pages.

No, an "entirely different methodology" is not needed.  All that is
needed is a more rigourous application of our current policies.  These
rely upon (yes, rely upon, not just use as a bonus) the use of common
sense.  Most unsourced claims do not need to be blitzed into oblivion.
 Yet some do, and it is this balance that WP:LIVING must attempt to
measure.  It is better to be cautious in this area, because it is
reckless and thoroughly unacceptable to say "Oh, don't blame us that
our encylopaedia accuses you of being a repeat sex offender, it just
happens because of the wiki process.  It's your problem you're getting
so upset."

-- 
Sam