[WikiEN-l] When Websites Attack

[Ray Saintonge]

Risker wrote:
> I have no trouble at all with the concept of removing links being used
> specifically for the purpose of making a personal attack against a
> wikipedian.  
The inevitable difficulty with this has less to do with removing attack 
links, and everything to do with identifying them.  The more 
thick-skinned among us will happily laugh off comments that others see 
as grossly offensive.  When I make a sarcastic comment I know that I 
leave myself open to comparable comments from my target.  If I react to 
someone else's unseemly innuendo I certainly don't do so with the intent 
that third-party supporters of either side will expand the issue into 
something more than it ever was or should be.
> What I do have problems with is removing ALL links to a site,
> regardless of the reason for the link's presence.  Particularly when those
> links are used as references or are part of a relevant encyclopedia article,
> deleting these links actually increases the drama and spreads the
> hypothetical attack against the editor, because other editors will question
> the reason for removal.
>   
Exactly.  These other editors seldom enter the lists as partisan to a 
combatant.  They often do so out of respect for the view that NPOV 
demands recognition that both sides have a valid point to make.
> The section on external links currently embedded in NPA is inappropriate, as
> most of these links are NOT personal attacks.  It should be replaced with a
> prohibition on using any links for the purpose of making a personal attack.
>   
That would be far more acceptable.

Ec