On 4/16/07, Slim Virgin <slimvirgin(a)gmail.com> wrote:
On 4/16/07, Tim Starling
<tstarling(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
Jeff Raymond wrote:
Newyorkbrad (Wikipedia) wrote:
I consider myself a rather conventional and
non-rouge type of editor and
administrator but it is requiring a supreme effort of willpower not to
perform an immediate IAR speedy deletion of this article on the ground
that
it represents an imminent threat to human life and safety whose
existence tends to place the project in disrepute. I have no desire to
create drama, but I am gravely troubled and would welcome comments from
other Wikipedians.
I hate to be a broken record, but not censored is not censored. It's not
u pto us to make a distinction on what may end up being "dangerous."
I mean, are you going to go after [[Self-immolation]]? [[Erotic
aspyxiation]]? Where do we draw the line?
Draw the line where good judgement dictates that it should be drawn. Don't
defend a policy on the basis that there exists no better policy that a
robot could understand -- we are not robots. Wikipedia is not a platform
for free speech, the lack of censorship does not mean we should publish
everything that can possibly be published. We need to select our material
based on more nuanced criteria.
I agree. Wikipedia is not a free-speech zone. It's a project to create
an encyclopedia, one that needs a sense of responsibility commensurate
with its popularity.
Sarah
Do you want to be "responsible" or write an informative encyclopedia?
Keep in mind, if you choose the first option, what will we exclude,
exactly? [[Suicide-by-cop]]? [[69 (sex position)]], because someone
might read it and want to do it, and then get an STD and die? Or
perhaps [[atheism]], because some think that if you don't believe, you
will go to [[hell]]? (That's surely worse than suicide.)
What I'm saying is, people can get this info from other places online
(i.e. alt.suicide.holiday). Maybe, if we write a fair, non-glorifying
article on suicide methods, then we might save someone's life. Maybe
*that* is more "responsible" than simply driving a kid to those other
places.
Just a thought.
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