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#REDIRECT [[Wikipedia:Protection policy#Semi-protection]]
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'''Important Note from Jimbo to news media:''' I see that some news media have picked this story up as if it is important. Please please please don't do that. This is one of many changes to the software which are coming soon, including the ability to put pages into a 'validated' state (better name should be determined) and so on. Treating this as a major policy change is therefore a huge huge error being made by people who have no understanding of how Wikipedia works.--[[User:Jimbo Wales|Jimbo Wales]] 16:00, 17 December 2005 (UTC)
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|'''Note: This policy is now official but it has yet to be implemented, so it is too soon to request that pages be semi-protected.'''
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'''Semi-protection''' of a page prevents the newest ''X''% of registered users and all unregistered users from editing that page.
Semi-protection is only applied if the page in question is facing a serious vandalism problem. It is not an appropriate solution to editorial disputes of any kind since it may restrict some editors and not others. Administrators apply semi-protection in the same manner as current full protection against vandalism is applied — either on their own initiative or following an alert on an article's talk page, [[WP:RFPP|requests for page protection]], [[WP:AN/I|the administrators' noticeboard]], or some other relevant page.
Semi-protection is only to be applied as a ''response'' to serious vandalism and not as a ''pre-emptive'' measure against the threat or probability of vandalism, such as when certain pages suddenly become high profile due to current events such or being linked from a high-traffic website. Only when there is evidence of a serious problem of vandalism should semi-protection be applied.
To request that semi-protection of an article be lifted, a simple note on the article's talk page or the [[WP:AN/I|the administrators' noticeboard]] should be sufficient, but the [[WP:RFPP|requests for protection page]] can be used if necessary. Requests to lift semi-protection should generally be unnecessary in the same way that unprotection after simple vandalism at present is generally swiftly seen to by either the protecting admin or another.
Articles that are semi-protected are indicated with {{tl|sprotected}} and listed at [[WP:PP]] in the same way as protections are at present.
Semi-protection:
*Is '''''not''''' intended to prohibit anonymous editing.
*Is '''''not''''' intended for pre-emptive protection of articles that ''might'' get vandalized.
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'''Template added to semi-protected pages:'''
{{sprotected}}
==Rationale==
Many users have noticed and complained about the level of vandalism in high-profile articles, such as [[George W. Bush]]. Instead of the text and images one would expect from a reputable encyclopedia, the reader discovers vulgarities and either incorrect or deliberately distasteful writing. Vandalized versions are displayed for several hours a day to readers and editors alike. Many edits to these high-profile articles are reversions of vandalism. In the worst case articles receive few good edits; instead, they have turned into battlegrounds in which virtually every edit is either one by a vandal or one reverting vandalism. So much time is wasted that nothing substantive can be done to improve the material or quality of information in these articles. This situation tarnishes the reputation of Wikipedia and hampers the efforts of reputable editors to improve article content quality.
The idea behind semi-protection is very simple. It works like regular [[Wikipedia:Protection policy|protection]] does now, except non-admins may edit a page, provided their account is not amongst the very newest, much like with moving a page. There is one additional level of protection:
: 0. Open
:1. Moves Prohibited
:'''2. Editable only by registered users not in the newest ''X''% of accounts'''
:3. Full protection (Editable only by administrators)
The barrier should be low enough that editors who wish to contribute constructively need only wait a short time (on en.wikipedia, the newest 1% of accounts last about 4 days) to be fully active.
==The End==
Democracy will end with a whimper, not a bang.
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*''Discussion at the '''[[Wikipedia talk:Semi-protection policy|talk page]].'''''
*'''There has been a [[straw poll]] which received about a 96% support ratio out of a total of 110 Wikipedians. See [[Wikipedia talk:Semi-protection policy/Archive3#Semi-protection proposal v.02 straw poll|here]] for details.
*'''Jimbo has also expressed his support.''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&curid=50703&diff=31670664&oldid=31668190]'''
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