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

Mon Feb 14 12:05:29 UTC 2005

Skyring wrote:

>On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 06:58:26 -0000 (GMT), Tony Sidaway
><minorityreport at bluebottle.com> wrote:
>  
>
>>Skyring said:
>>    
>>
>>>My problem is the argument that could be raised that Wikipedia is a
>>>repository for explicit images that are inappropriate for children and
>>>therefore the site should be blocked by educational institutions and
>>>concerned parents. I think we should take steps to address this before
>>>it suddenly takes top billing on talkback shows.
>>>      
>>>
>>Something of this kind cannot be avoided except by banning *all* sexually
>>explicit images--something I've seen seriously advanced. 
>>    
>>
>
>Well, no. All we need do is have some sort of flag for explicit images
>and make sure that these are handled appropriately. It could be
>completely transparent to the user through using cookies. I don't want
>to ban such images, nor do I think it is possible to stop children
>viewing them. I just want a way to stop wowsers equating Wikipedia
>with porn and demonstrating this on prime time TV.
>
>  
>
This would be possible using a new flag in the image syntax, which could
then be used to trigger appropriate behavior depending on user settings.
Unfortunately, the problem is determining what the appropriate default
behavior should be. So a technical solution to filtering does not leave
us any better off, it just pushes the argument sideways into the choice
of the default behaviour, as well as the classic "censorship flag"
argument of just where the boundaries should be set -- should the
standards of an adult encyclopedia be set by the lowest common
denominator of the easily offended, not to mention [[wowser]]s who live
to be offended on the behalf of others?

-- Neil