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{{short description|Wikimedia policy page prohibiting legal threats}}
{{dablink|"WP:LEGAL" redirects here. You may be looking for ].}}
<noinclude>{{pp-semi-indef}}</noinclude><noinclude>{{pp-move-indef}}</noinclude>
{{dablink|"WP:THREAT" redirects here. You may be looking for ].}}
{{dablink|"WP:LEGAL" redirects here. You may be looking for other uses at ], ] or the ]. For the WikiProject about law and other legal topics, see ].}}
⚫ {{shortcut|WP:NLT|WP:LEGAL|WP:THREAT|WP:LAWSUIT}}
{{dablink|"WP:THREAT" redirects here. You may be looking for ] or {{Section link|Misplaced Pages:Arguments to avoid in edit wars#Threats and intimidation}} (shortcut ]). For existential threats to Misplaced Pages, see ].}}
{{legal policy}}
⚫ {{legal policy|WP:NLT|WP:LEGAL|WP:THREAT}}
{{Policy in a nutshell|If you have a dispute with the community or its members, use ]. If you do choose to use legal action or threats of legal action to resolve disputes, you will not be allowed to continue editing until it is resolved and your user account or ] may be ]. A polite report of a legal ''problem'' such as defamation or copyright infringement is not a threat and will be acted on quickly.}} {{Policy in a nutshell|If you post a legal threat on Misplaced Pages, you are likely to be ] indefinitely. A polite report of a legal problem, such as defamation or copyright infringement, is not a threat and will be acted on quickly.}}
{{legal policy list}} {{legal policy list}}
] rather than legal threats!]]


'''Do not post ]s on Misplaced Pages.''' A legal threat, in this context, is a threat to engage in an ''off-wiki'' ("real life") legal or other governmental process that would target other editors or Misplaced Pages itself. It does not refer to any dispute-resolution process within Misplaced Pages. Legal threats should be reported to ] or elsewhere to an ]. Users who post legal threats are typically ] while the threats are outstanding.
Rather than immediately threatening to employ ], you should always first attempt to resolve disputes using Misplaced Pages's ] procedures.


Instead of making legal threats, consider using one of Misplaced Pages's ]. If your issue involves Misplaced Pages itself, ].
If you must take legal action, we cannot prevent you from doing so. However, it is required that you do not edit Misplaced Pages ''until the legal matter has been resolved'' to ensure that all legal processes happen via proper legal channels. You should instead '''contact the person or people involved directly''', by ] or through any other contact methods the user provides. If your issue involves Misplaced Pages itself, you should contact Misplaced Pages's parent organization, the ]. Do not issue legal threats on Misplaced Pages pages.


The existence of a legal dispute between users, whether as a result of incidents on Misplaced Pages or elsewhere, is not a valid reason to block, as long as no legal threats are made on Misplaced Pages. Editors involved in a legal dispute should not edit articles about parties to the dispute, given the ].
If you make legal threats or take legal action over a Misplaced Pages dispute, you may be ] from editing so that the matter is not exacerbated through other channels. Users who make legal threats will typically be blocked from editing while legal threats are outstanding.

Legal threats should be reported to ] or an ].


==What is not a legal threat== ==What is not a legal threat==
===Copyright===
'''A ], coherent complaint in cases of copyright infringement or attacks''' is not a "]".
⚫ Complaints of copyright infringement is not a legal threat. If you are the owner of copyrighted material that has been added to Misplaced Pages, a statement about whether it is licensed for such use is welcome. You may contact the ] or the Wikimedia Foundation's ], or use the procedures at ].


===Defamation===
⚫ If you are the owner of copyrighted material which has been inappropriately added to Misplaced Pages, a clear statement about whether it is licensed for such use is welcome and appropriate. You may ], contact the Wikimedia Foundation's ], or use the procedures at ].
{{further|Misplaced Pages:Libel}}
A discussion as to whether material is ] is not a legal threat. ] is to delete libel as soon as it is identified. If you believe that you are the subject of a libelous statement, email info-en-q{{@}}wikipedia.org.


===Conflict of interest===
] is to immediately delete ] when it has been identified. If you believe that you are the subject of a libelous statement on Misplaced Pages, please contact the information team at {{NoSpamEmail|info-en|wikimedia.org}}.
{{further|Misplaced Pages:Paid-contribution disclosure|Misplaced Pages:Conflict of interest#covert}}
Making paid editors aware of the requirements of the Wikimedia Foundation's ], or laws against undisclosed advertising, is not a legal threat.


==Perceived legal threats== ==Perceived legal threats==
It is important to refrain from making comments that others may reasonably understand as legal threats, even if the comments are not intended in that fashion. For example, if you repeatedly assert that another editor's comments are "defamatory" or "libelous", that editor might interpret this as a threat to sue for defamation, even if this is not intended. To avoid this frequent misunderstanding, use less charged wording (such as “That statement about me is not true and I hope it will be corrected for the following reasons...”) to avoid the perception that you are threatening legal action for defamation. Always choose your words carefully when starting or responding to any discussions or disputes, as well as with any messages or communication with other users; you must refrain from making any comments that other editors may translate or interpret (even incorrectly) as legal threats. For example, if you assert that another editor's comments are "defamatory" or "libelous", that editor might interpret your communication as implying such a threat. Use less charged wording, such as "that statement about me is not true, and I ask that it be corrected."


⚫ ==Rationale==
Rather than blocking immediately, administrators should seek to clarify the user's meaning and make sure that a mere misunderstanding is not involved. For example, a user might assert another editor's comments are "defamatory" because they are unaware of certain policies (such as ], ], ], etc.) and require assistance in dealing with such comments. While such comments may not be per se legal threats, they may fall under the scope of the aforementioned policies and repeated or disruptive usage can result in the user being blocked.
⚫ Posting legal threats is ] behavior that causes a number of problems:
⚫ * It ], risking one side of a dispute intimidating the other and causing a ].
* It creates bad feelings and lack of trust, making it difficult to ].


Using the ] process will often lead to a positive solution without resorting to making legal threats or engaging in other unacceptable behavior.
⚫ ==Rationale for the policy==
⚫ While you may sue in a court of law, Misplaced Pages is not the place for legal disputes. Making legal threats is ] and causes a number of serious problems:

⚫ * It severely ] of pages, a concept that is absolutely necessary to ensure that Misplaced Pages remains neutral. Without this freedom, we risk one side of a dispute intimidating the other, thus causing a ] in our articles.
* It creates bad feelings and a lack of trust amongst the community, damaging our ability to proceed quickly and efficiently with an assumption of mutual good faith.
* We have had bad experiences with users who have made legal threats in the past. By making legal threats, you may damage your reputation on Misplaced Pages.

Attempting to resolve disputes using the ] procedures will often lead to a solution without resorting to the law. If the dispute resolution procedures do not resolve your problem, and you then choose to take legal action, you do so in the knowledge that you took all reasonable steps to resolve the situation amicably.


==Conclusion of legal threat== ==Conclusion of legal threat==
The Misplaced Pages community has a long-standing general principle that (almost) anyone is capable of reform. Accordingly, statements made in anger or misjudgment should not always be held against people for the rest of their lives once genuinely and credibly withdrawn. The Misplaced Pages community has a long-standing principle that people can change: statements made in anger or misjudgment should not be held against once withdrawn.


The aim is to prevent legal threats, not to keep bad content from being fixed. Editors should encourage the aggrieved user to identify errors in the article; a link to ] may be appropriate.
This policy removes an editor who makes legal threats to prevent damage or deterioration to the project. The editor is not blocked just because "it's a legal threat", but rather because:


A user threatening a legal action on their talk page is limited in disruption. They should not be prevented from using their talk page until attempts have been made to open a civil discussion. Persistent or vexatious complaints may still lead to a ban.
# It reduces scope for escalation of a bad situation,
# It reduces stress and administrative burden on the wiki,
# It reduces disruption to articles and the editorial environment,
# It prevents the difficult situation where a person is both seeking to be collaborative partner and also setting themselves up as litigious adversary (in general those two roles are mutually exclusive).

If these conflicts are in fact resolved (or a ] is reached to ] if they are resolved), then involved editors should be unblocked if there are no other issues that warrant a block.

Remember that a legal complainant may be someone who is genuinely hurt or upset. If someone is blocked for legal threats it is important to ensure that any possible factual basis for such a threat is not ignored or obscured. They should be instructed how to communicate with Misplaced Pages to correct errors, a link to ] may be appropriate. Blocking admins should watch (or get others to watch) the user's talk page and encourage the user to identify any specific, verifiable factual errors in any article at issue; assisting with such errors is part of the core mission of ] and does not equate to proxying for banned editors. Repeats of legal threats on the user's talk page have limited scope for disruption or chilling effect and the user should not be prevented from using their talk page for communication until reasonable attempts have been made to open a civil discussion. Remember that the aim of this policy is to contain the effects of legal threats, not to prevent article subjects or their representatives from having bad content fixed. As usual we ] while containing disruption. As usual, the assumption of good faith is not a suicide pact and persistent or vexatious complaints may indeed lead to the user being banned and prevented from editing their talk page, but this is a last resort.


==See also== ==See also==
* ]
{{Spoken Misplaced Pages|Nolegalthreats.ogg|2007-12-09}}
*] * ]
*] * ]
⚫ * ]
*]

{{Misplaced Pages policies and guidelines}} {{Misplaced Pages policies and guidelines}}


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Latest revision as of 17:27, 18 December 2024

Wikimedia policy page prohibiting legal threats

"WP:LEGAL" redirects here. You may be looking for other uses at Misplaced Pages:Legal disclaimer, Misplaced Pages:Legal (disambiguation) or the Wikimedia Foundation's legal contact page. For the WikiProject about law and other legal topics, see Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Law. "WP:THREAT" redirects here. You may be looking for Misplaced Pages:Responding to threats of harm or Misplaced Pages:Arguments to avoid in edit wars § Threats and intimidation (shortcut WP:THREATEN). For existential threats to Misplaced Pages, see Misplaced Pages:Threats to Misplaced Pages.
This page documents a Misplaced Pages policy with legal considerations.Shortcuts
This page in a nutshell: If you post a legal threat on Misplaced Pages, you are likely to be blocked indefinitely. A polite report of a legal problem, such as defamation or copyright infringement, is not a threat and will be acted on quickly.
Legal policies

Do not post legal threats on Misplaced Pages. A legal threat, in this context, is a threat to engage in an off-wiki ("real life") legal or other governmental process that would target other editors or Misplaced Pages itself. It does not refer to any dispute-resolution process within Misplaced Pages. Legal threats should be reported to Misplaced Pages:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents or elsewhere to an administrator. Users who post legal threats are typically blocked while the threats are outstanding.

Instead of making legal threats, consider using one of Misplaced Pages's dispute resolution procedures. If your issue involves Misplaced Pages itself, contact the Wikimedia Foundation.

The existence of a legal dispute between users, whether as a result of incidents on Misplaced Pages or elsewhere, is not a valid reason to block, as long as no legal threats are made on Misplaced Pages. Editors involved in a legal dispute should not edit articles about parties to the dispute, given the potential conflict of interest.

What is not a legal threat

Copyright

Complaints of copyright infringement is not a legal threat. If you are the owner of copyrighted material that has been added to Misplaced Pages, a statement about whether it is licensed for such use is welcome. You may contact the information team or the Wikimedia Foundation's designated agent, or use the procedures at Misplaced Pages:Copyright problems.

Defamation

Further information: Misplaced Pages:Libel

A discussion as to whether material is libelous is not a legal threat. The policy on defamation is to delete libel as soon as it is identified. If you believe that you are the subject of a libelous statement, email info-en-q@wikipedia.org.

Conflict of interest

Further information: Misplaced Pages:Paid-contribution disclosure and Misplaced Pages:Conflict of interest § covert

Making paid editors aware of the requirements of the Wikimedia Foundation's terms of use, or laws against undisclosed advertising, is not a legal threat.

Perceived legal threats

Always choose your words carefully when starting or responding to any discussions or disputes, as well as with any messages or communication with other users; you must refrain from making any comments that other editors may translate or interpret (even incorrectly) as legal threats. For example, if you assert that another editor's comments are "defamatory" or "libelous", that editor might interpret your communication as implying such a threat. Use less charged wording, such as "that statement about me is not true, and I ask that it be corrected."

Rationale

Posting legal threats is uncivil behavior that causes a number of problems:

Using the dispute resolution process will often lead to a positive solution without resorting to making legal threats or engaging in other unacceptable behavior.

Conclusion of legal threat

The Misplaced Pages community has a long-standing principle that people can change: statements made in anger or misjudgment should not be held against once withdrawn.

The aim is to prevent legal threats, not to keep bad content from being fixed. Editors should encourage the aggrieved user to identify errors in the article; a link to Misplaced Pages:Contact us/Article problem/Factual error (from subject) may be appropriate.

A user threatening a legal action on their talk page is limited in disruption. They should not be prevented from using their talk page until attempts have been made to open a civil discussion. Persistent or vexatious complaints may still lead to a ban.

See also

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