[WikiEN-l] Another "BADSITES" controversy

[Sheldon Rampton]

Fred Bauder wrote:

> This sort of thing, banning links to external sites, if done at  
> all, needs to be limited to sites that extend their activities  
> beyond criticism of Wikipedia to actions that hurt individual  
> Wikipedia users. The blog seems to focus on publicizing Will  
> Beback's real name which she got from ED. She is offended at his  
> interactions with her when she edits.

Actually, banning links to external sites should not be done AT ALL.  
I don't care if the external site in question is run by someone who  
has a personal dungeon where they flay Wikipedia users with flaming  
razors. Banning links to their site is just bad policy, no matter  
what they are doing. If they are doing something ILLEGAL that "hurts  
individual Wikipedia users," they can be prosecuted for it in an  
actual court of law, but banning links to their site just turns  
otherwise sensible Wikipedians into stupid bureaucrats and makes  
things worse. It also invites the question, "What makes Wikipedia so  
damn special?" As the essay that was recently posted here points out,  
Wikipedia has no problem linking to Nazi websites and a host of other  
sites that promote violence, hurt people and break the law. It's  
ridiculous and embarrassing to have a policy that says "we don't care  
who else you hurt as long as you don't hurt  Wikipedians." Finally,  
the question of what it means to "hurt" someone is impossible to  
define adequately for the purpose of making this policy practical --  
especially since some people can be very thin-skinned about criticism.

This is the sort of situation where I think it would be good if Jimbo  
stepped in and played God to put an end to this nonsense.

--------------------------------
|  Sheldon Rampton
|  Research director, Center for Media & Democracy (www.prwatch.org)
|  Author of books including:
|     Friends In Deed: The Story of US-Nicaragua Sister Cities
|     Toxic Sludge Is Good For You
|     Mad Cow USA
|     Trust Us, We're Experts
|     Weapons of Mass Deception
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