-----Original Message-----
From: Ron Ritzman [mailto:ritzman@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2007 07:03 PM
To: fredbaud(a)waterwiki.info, 'English Wikipedia'
Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] Out of process deletions
On 3/25/07, Fred Bauder <fredbaud(a)waterwiki.info> wrote:
No, that's why we have BLP. Malicious
material may be reverted and deleted without limit > by any user.
And if it's deleted for that reason and no other admin restores it then fine.
Quoting BLB 3
"Administrators encountering biographies that are unsourced and
controversial in tone, where there is no NPOV version to revert to,
should delete the article without discussion"
I'm assuming that admins are reasonable people, otherwise they
shouldn't be admins. Therefore, if admin Foo, speedy deletes a bio
because he feels that there is no NPOV version to revert to and that
deletion is reverted by admin BAR, then admin BAR reasonably believes
that the bio can be made NPOV.
At this point what would be better, to discuss the deletion "in
process" or have wheel war with the article being deleted and restored
over and over again?
Yes, discussion is appropriate, if it does not spread libelous or malicious material to
another page, which it is extremely likely to do.
Bottom line, the user, whether they are an ordinary user or an administrator, may revert
or delete libelous or malicious material without limit, for which they will receive,
"Well done". Considerable slack will be cut if they make a mistake or are overly
conservative. Users, whether they are an ordinary user or an administrator, who restore or
repeatedly insert libelous or malicious material may be be blocked or desysopped. Little
slack will be cut if there are obvious problems with the material. If you find yourself in
such a "wheelwar", you would be well advised to let the deletion stand if the
claim that the material is libelous or malicious is at least colorable. To take an obvious
example, if someone has removed a statement that John Siegenthaler played a role in the
Kennedy assassination, unless you have multiple reliable sources that the statement is
sound, don't put that sort of information back in the article.
As to administrators being presumed to be reasonable, reasonable is as reasonable does.
Repeated insertion of libelous or malicious material into a Wikipedia article is not
reasonable. Nor are actions taken to block or otherwise discipline users or other
administrators who are doing their duty by removing or deleting it.
Fred