[WikiEN-l] Writing about sexual topics responsibly is not censorship

Sun Feb 13 22:30:38 UTC 2005

On Sun, 13 Feb 2005 13:19:28 -0800 (PST), Robert <rkscience100 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> In any case, our encyclopedia is useless if people refuse
> to read it...and thousands of schools will ban its use if
> it continues to offer pornographic images (and eventually,
> videos.)  What good is our work if few people can access
> it?

That's sloppy logic. Even if every single school in the world banned
Wikipedia, the remaining Internet users would be more than "a few".
Tens or hundreds of millions of users, as a matter of fact.

>  Even if it is not officially banned by entire schools,
> many teachers will tell their students that Wikipedia is
> not reliable or professional if we continue this course of
> extreme sexual explicitness.

They may tell their students that, but it does not make it true.

However, the point is a valid one. If we include explicit images (or
videos) then we are going to get criticism from those who feel that
they are inappropriate. I would not be at all surprised if some people
express their views in a vocal fashion and enlist the support of
school boards, church congregations or others to make as much fuss as
possible. With a sufficient level of noise and complaint from these
sort of people Wikipedia, in the mind of the general public, might
come to be equated with pornography. Although untrue, this would be
the perception, and anybody who cared to investigate need do no more
than look up Autofellatio and find a rather "in your face" image. Or,
heaven forbid, an explicit video.

Never mind that Google Images will come up with hundreds of explicit
images on the same subject and that this is easily accessible to
schoolchildren.

Although you would generally have to go looking for such material in
order to find it in Wikipedia, this point would be lost or seen as
irrelevant by those with an axe to grind and a point to push.

And the end result would be that thousands of schools would ban
Wikipedia, which would be a shame.

Is there some way that we can find a technological solution? Have a
"splash screen" that warns of explicit images? A cookie that prevents
download of "adult content"? Something that will pop up when the
casual user navigates to Autofellatio?

All we really need is some sort of hurdle that must be leapt, some
button that must be pressed, some door that must be opened.
-- 
Peter in Canberra