[WikiEN-l] Threats made on Wikipedia

[doc]

Rjd0060 - wrote:
> People have used internet sites to say things they plan, thats obvious.  I
> know in one of the emails on this thread there was a link to an article
> where it had happened.  I don't think we need to be playing detective.  Lets
> leave that to the detectives (or police in general).  Specifically speaking
> on the issue that I started this thread with (the posts at AN), at the *very
> least*, the school should have been immediately contacted.  If somebody
> called 911 and said the things that were posted on the article, they would
> take it seriously, and we should too.
> 
If someone wants to contact the authorities, fine. Worst case scenario, 
you get laughed at. But caution here:

I've seen dozens of pieces of vandalism with of BLPs with "I'm going to 
kill him" or "this scumbag should die" etc. We, by practice, revert and 
ignore - indeed sometimes a bot does it for us. Now, this next assertion 
is based only my gut, but I suspect we get hundreds of edits a day (or 
certainly in a month) that *could* be interpreted as a threat of 
violence. There is simply no way we can, or should report them all. We'd 
need a whole wikiproject just for the purpose.

As I say, someone wants to quietly phone one instance in, fine. Indeed, 
if it troubles you that it *might* be genuine, perhaps that's the only 
decent response. But let's not have a policy, essay, statement or 
re-education programe here - WP:BEANS and WP:DON'T FEED apply.

If people think they can set off the fire alarm with impunity we'll have 
schoolboy socks from unidentifiable school IP's threatening all sorts 
just to get us to phone the feds or the headteacher.

No harm in a phone call, but a sense of proportion is required. An 
anonymous threat by some individual to hunt down and kill in an 
unspecified way, ALL the pupils in the whole school - an Australian 
school that is actually (I'm told) closed for the Summer holidays - is 
certainly a hypothetical threat. But?

Doc