[WikiEN-l] When goals conflict: There is no "right" for everyone to edit Wikipedia

Mon Feb 21 02:26:46 UTC 2005

Rich Holton writes:
> It seems to me that there are two separate but related
issues
> at hand:
> 1. Banning uses who make threats; and
> 2. Banning users due to their professed beliefs or
associations.
>
> For me, the first is beyond question. We even ban users
for 
> making legal threats. If someone makes a threat to
health, 
> life, family, safety, or even to privacy, that user
should
> be dealt with swiftly and emphatically. Such behavior has
no
> place on Wikipedia.

I am in complete agreement.

> However, the second is also beyond question -- in the
> negative. There is no way to reconcile such banning of 
> contributors by POV with Wikipedia's mission and culture.
> How would we be able to claim NPOV when certain groups
> are not allowed to participate?. 

In general, I agree. For most people, in most groups, this
would be true.   Yet some people are members of groups
whose goal is that which you described in issue 1 - part of
their goal is to make such threats!  If someone is a member
of an organization whose very goal is to make threats - and
eventually carry them out - then (in these cases) wouldn't
we be obligated to ban such users?

How can we say that it is wrong to make threats, let alone
harm people - but then allow Wikipedia to be used as a
forum to help strengthen Nazis and other groups who do make
threats as policy, and who do carry out violent acts?

There is no God-given right to use a Wiki or work on an
encyclopedia.  We have a rather open-minded editorial
policy, and it does not constitute censorship.  Thus, we
should not allow "contributors" whose admitted endgoal is
to intimidate, or to incite violence.  If we scare away the
blacks, the Jews, the gays and the Catholics by opening up
this encyclopedia to violent hate groups, then what are we
left with?  We will end up limiting the free speech of the
many other people who will certainly be driven away, and we
will be damaging our own reputation for no good reason.

Robert (RK)

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