[WikiEN-l] Opt out negative material in biographies

[andy.dyer9 at tiscali.co.uk]

On 10 Apr 2007 at 19:17, "Daniel R. Tobias" <dan at tobias.name> wrote:

> What would be the notability there?  Merely entering (and even 
> winning) a wet T-shirt competition doesn't seem to be sufficient 
> notability to justify an article, since there are probably 
thousands 
> of girls in a similar situation.

Precisely. If the encyclopedia allows such articles to be posted, then 
it opens the door wide open for abuse. Years later that woman or her 
husband may be standing for election or campaigning against 
environmental damage or fighting corruption or whatever. Her wealthy 
opponents can blackmail her into silence, and thereby badly damage 
democracy, by the use of Wikipedia. (Because, make no mistake, it's 
wealthy people who find ways to protect themselves from this stuff and 
dig it up against their opponents).

I'm not sure of the complete answer (and I'm sure there are others 
much better qualified to speak than me). But I'd have thought that, as 
a rule of thumb, only people truly notable, and in some "notorious" 
fashion, should have this kind of trivial material added to their 
biographies. In most cases if people ask to have their biographies 
taken down, or "titillating" material removed, then we should do so.

Otherwise, the likes of Daniel Brandt are indeed going to target 
people within Wikipedia, with equally unpredictable but harmful effects.





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