[WikiEN-l] Defamation policy

[Jimmy Wales]

Sam is a great wikipedian, with a very keen mind.  I think his 
explanation of this point here is marvelous.

Sam Korn wrote:
> 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."
>