Wikipedia:BLP examples for discussion: Difference between revisions
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{{nutshell|This page provides examples of situations in which editors must apply our policy governing [[Wikipedia:biographies of living persons|biographies of living persons]]. It is intended both to spark on-wiki discussion, and also as a resource for discussion at meet-ups and the like.}}▼
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== Background ==
Over the course of the past several years, conscientious Wikipedians have developed and made increased efforts to enforce our policy on [[WP:BLP|biographies of living persons]]. Without seeking to recapitulate the substantial amount that has been written on this subject, the policy attempts to address the fact that as Wikipedia pages have become ever more readily accessible in Internet searches, what we write about living individuals may have real impact on their lives.
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All manner of comments on these examples are welcome on the talkpage. I'll weigh in with my own thoughts, if there are any that don't get expressed in the discussions, in a couple of weeks. I may also add more examples in days and weeks to come.
== Sample
=== Example 1: Allegations Against an Entertainer ===▼
A well-known popular entertainer, who has and unquestionably qualifies for a lengthy
▲===Example 1: Allegations Against an Entertainer ===
▲A well-known popular entertainer, who has and unquestionably qualifies for a lengthy BLP about his professional career, is accused of sexual assault by an acquaintance. The entertainer denies that anything inappropriate happened and claims that the allegations followed his refusal to pay blackmail demanded by the accuser.
After a lengthy investigation, the district attorney finds insufficient evidence to warrant criminal charges. Civil litigation is pending. The allegations and related legal proceedings have received widespread coverage in the tabloid press and there are thousands of pages mentioning them all over the Internet. The existence of the allegations is indisputable, but the truth of what did or did not happen between these two people may never be known to anyone except the two of them.
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What, if anything, should be said about this matter in the entertainer's Wikipedia article? Should the name of the otherwise non-notable accuser be mentioned anywhere on Wikipedia?
=== Example 2: The Pop Group, the Manager, and the Hate Song ===
Several years ago, a well-known group of popular (rock or rap) musicians fired their business manager after an extremely bitter dispute. The musicians claimed that the manager had mismanaged their affairs and defrauded them. The manager has consistently denied that he did anything wrong. There is no consensus in reliable sources from which a conclusion could be drawn either way.
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What, if anything, should Wikipedia report about this matter?
=== Example 3: The Target Becomes the Plaintiff ===
A posting to an anonymous blog contains a vicious attack on a model. Much of the attack contains statements of opinion, but a few sentences of the posting could be construed as containing assertions of fact. No evidence is provided for the statements, however, and it is generally agreed that they are false. The blog posting is clearly not a reliable source, and at first no Wikipedia editors notice it, so there is no attempt to use it as the basis for any article content.
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What, if any, steps should Wikipedia take to avoid giving undue publicity to the defamatory and non-notable allegations in the original blog post, in the course of discussing the court case?
=== Example 4: The Young Crime Victim ===
A young teenager is kidnapped by a stranger and is horribly abused over a period of four days before escaping. The criminal is eventually convicted of kidnapping and sex crimes and receives a life sentence. This individual's criminal history is sufficiently egregious that he has been found sufficiently notable to warrant a
▲A young teenager is kidnapped by a stranger and is horribly abused over a period of four days before escaping. The criminal is eventually convicted of kidnapping and sex crimes and receives a life sentence. This individual's criminal history is sufficiently egregious that he has been found sufficiently notable to warrant a BLP.
Although ordinarily the names of minors who are crime victims are treated as confidential by the press in the United States, during the period in which the victim was missing, there was a massive search for him as a missing child, during which his name and photograph were widely disseminated both in print and on the Internet. The teenager has also held a press conference in which he thanked his rescuers, and has given occasional follow-up interviews, but has also expressed the wish that he be left alone to resume living a normal life once again.
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What, if any, steps should Wikipedia take to avoid further injury to this youthful victim of a horrible crime?
=== Example 5: The Silly Video and the Internet Meme ===
One day a kid wanting to have some fun throws on an outfit from a favorite science fiction movie and carries on in a silly way for a few minutes, mimicking one of the characters. Someone films him doing this and posts the video to a site like Youtube. In the unpredictable way that happens sometimes, the video becomes a wildly popular
What, if anything, should Wikipedia report about this matter? Should an effort be made to avoid mentioning the
▲One day a kid wanting to have some fun throws on an outfit from a favorite science fiction movie and carries on in a silly way for a few minutes, mimicking one of the characters. Someone films him doing this and posts the video to a site like Youtube. In the unpredictable way that happens sometimes, the video becomes a wildly popular “Internet meme,” spreading “virally” from one person to another. Within weeks, the video has hundreds of thousands of hits, and the kid’s real name is plastered everywhere online, certainly to the point that the video or the incident has arguably become “notable.” Of course, the boy had given no thought to the possibility this would happen—perhaps he did not even know a camera was running—and the absurd publicity given to a random moment of silliness is damaging his life.
== See also ==
▲What, if anything, should Wikipedia report about this matter? Should an effort be made to avoid mentioning the boy’s name, even if it is widely known elsewhere?
* [[Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons]] — official Wikipedia policy in this area
* [[Wikipedia:BLP problem]] — a discussion of the "BLP problem"
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