[Foundation-l] Principle and pragmatism with nudity and sexual content

Tue Apr 21 15:11:11 UTC 2009

The issue of "safe for work" browsing is a distraction, not a core problem.
I don't think we often figure explicit images prominently on mainspace
articles with unrelated or tenuously connected subjects.

More importantly, no one has argued that [[Herpes]] should be text-only.
It's tangents like this, where we get embroiled in arguments against side
ideas, that lead a serious discussion of the core problems astray. The
merest suggestion that Wikipedia should have a "safe for work" version will
doom any proposal for image handling reform, because it is a legitimate
magnet for censorship concern.

I think what we should focus on is protecting the subjects of these images,
and give the backseat to protecting readers. Readers are a self-selecting
and self driven group, by and large they are able right now to avoid viewing
content that might offend them. Image models who are minors or unwitting
subjects can be harmed by us without any conscious choice, just like BLP
subjects. That is where our primary responsibility in this area lies.

Nathan