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:Linking to external harassment - Misplaced Pages

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The arbitration committee has proposed that the community is encouraged to develop a policy compliant with Misplaced Pages's core policies regarding the circumstances, if any, under which "attack sites" may be linked. It is intended that this proposal will become that policy. If you can help, please do.
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The following is a proposed Misplaced Pages policy, guideline, or process. The proposal may still be in development, under discussion, or in the process of gathering consensus for adoption.
This page in a nutshell: We must balance compassion for those who feel a link is a thorn in their side with Misplaced Pages's need for open discussion, neutral content, and accurate archives.

All Misplaced Pages editors deserve a healthy working environment, free from intimidation, aggression and harassment. However, due to Misplaced Pages's high profile, web sites occasionally post information that is contrary to our policies and guidelines. Suppression of information is undesirable, but sensitive and careful handling of such information is vital to the well-being of the encyclopedia. This policy is intended to help editors strike the correct balance.

Scope

This policy applies only to web pages that engage in privacy violations, call for the harassment of editors, or clearly try to insult, demean or embarrass editors, not to material that simply offers criticism of Misplaced Pages, or reveals editorial conflicts of interest.

Key policy points

  • No encyclopedic value - Links to an external web page of no encyclopedic value that reveals the personal identifying information of a Misplaced Pages editor who chooses to edit anonymously and has not been in violation of WP:COI and whose real-life identity is not generally known, or which expressly or implicitly calls for any editor to be harassed in real life or otherwise, are strictly prohibited. Deliberate addition of such links is grounds for blocking, and removal of such links is not subject to the three-revert rule.
  • Routinely harass - Misplaced Pages discourages links to web sites that routinely harass. Generally, a site that engages in these practices is unlikely to qualify as a reliable source.
  • Do not routinely harass - Otherwise appropriate links to web sites that do not routinely harass should generally not be removed if the website becomes engaged in an isolated or specific dispute with a Misplaced Pages editor, except in circumstances of extreme harassment or violation of privacy.
  • Sourcing policy - If a link to a page meets Misplaced Pages's article content sourcing policy (WP:V, WP:NOR, WP:NPOV) as a source for a claim on a Misplaced Pages article then even if that page also discusses Misplaced Pages or its editors or includes statements or quotations that are hurtful or that violate the personal privacy of Misplaced Pages editors, then that page is considered at most criticism and not harassment; unless it is part of an extended campaign to affect Misplaced Pages content, in which case see the next key policy point.
  • Misplaced Pages is not a battleground - Do what minimizes turning Misplaced Pages into a battleground. Ignore external harassment at first. Use email where possible to deal with it. But in cases of an extended campaign to affect Misplaced Pages content (that includes harassment techniques against Misplaced Pages editors): then any link to that site must be seriously reconsidered with respect to its overall possible detrimental effect on NPOV both in terms of the articles/policies attempting to be influenced but also on Misplaced Pages as a whole if such behavior becomes widely perceived as a successful tactic in influencing Misplaced Pages content. This does not apply to a site whose only harassing content consists of providing evidence of a conflict of interest in a good faith attempt to improve Misplaced Pages.
  • Bad-faith - Linking to external harassment for the purposes of attacking or harassing other editors is unacceptable and forbidden. Engaging in personal attacks or harassment can be grounds for blocking.
  • Good-faith - Politely raising good-faith concerns based on information found within external harassment is not harassment. Deleting good-faith-concern links in order to handicap ongoing discussion is prohibited.

Example

If a news magazine publishes an article on an encyclopedic subject stating the full identity of a previously anonymous editor, then linking to, quoting, and discussing that article is permitted in articles and on talk pages. If you are in doubt about whether a link is considered acceptable, you may ask on the relevant policy talk pages. Spreading gossip from any source may still violate WP:No personal attacks and WP:Harassment policies.

Have compassion

Remember emotions can run high - have compassion. Deleting the link and forcing people to use history to find it are discouraged while the discussion is at its most active. Deleted good-faith-concern links should not be edit warred over after normal archiving or the discussion dies down. We must balance compassion for those who feel the link is a thorn in their side with Misplaced Pages's need for open discussion, neutral content, and accurate archives.

Link assessment table

The following table should assist you in assessing the suitability of any link:

Criteria Reliability Notability Violation of privacy Frequency Intention
Relative importance ← Increasing importance Decreasing importance →
Links to include Highly reliable Highly notable Completely respectful of privacy Isolated event Good-faith criticism
↕ ↕ ↕ ↕ ↕
Links to exclude Unreliable Non-notable Extreme privacy violation Systemic campaign Intentional harassment
Relevant authorities WP:RS and WP:SPS WP:NOTABILITY and WP:EL WP:BLP and WP:NPA WP:HARASS and WP:CIVIL WP:HARASS and WP:NPA

If you are harassed

If feel you are being harassed, the first step may be to try to talk about the issues involved with your attacker. Some good advice for such circumstances is in "Staying cool when the editing gets hot." In many cases it is be unhelpful, unwise, or simply impossible to discuss things with your attacker.

Even when personal attacks are being made against you, it is very important to remain civil with everyone. Staying civil may be very difficult, but your negotiations and requests are far more likely to be successful if they are calm, clear, and polite rather than abusive, frantic, terse, or sarcastic.

If you are being harassed outside Misplaced Pages, you could inadvertently bring more unwanted attention to the harassment if you report it, and Misplaced Pages administrators will probably not be able to do anything about it.

If harassment against you or your personal information is included, discussed, or linked in Misplaced Pages, or your private personal information appears anywhere in Misplaced Pages against your wishes, then you can bring that to the attention of Misplaced Pages administrators as soon as possible in one of the following ways;

You may, of course, simply begin editing under a new username to regain your anonymity.

Administrators may be able to erase all traces of the edits in question. In some cases, administrators may prevent outside links to certain web pages from being included on Misplaced Pages; however, the use of the blacklist on web pages other than those blatantly spammed on wikipedia pages is controversial and done only under extraordinary circumstances.

If derogatory or defamatory statements about you appear anywhere in Misplaced Pages without a reliable source, please report those issues on the biographies of living persons noticeboard. If private personal information about you has been included in Misplaced Pages against your wishes, you should report it to the Administrators' noticeboard instead.

See also

Category: