Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Badlydrawnjeff

Most of this page has been blanked as a courtesy. The committee's decision is still in effect, and can be found in the page history.

Case Opened on 18:35, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Case Closed on 17:03, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

Principles

Biographies of living persons

1) Wikipedia articles that present material about living people can affect their subjects' lives. Wikipedia editors who deal with these articles have a responsibility to consider the legal and ethical implications of their actions when doing so.

Passed 11 to 0 at 17:03, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

Basic human dignity

2) Implicit in the policy on biographies of living people is the understanding that Wikipedia articles should respect the basic human dignity of their subjects. Wikipedia aims to be a reputable encyclopedia, not a tabloid. Our articles must not serve primarily to mock or disparage their subjects, whether directly or indirectly. This is of particularly profound importance when dealing with individuals whose notability stems largely from their being victims of another's actions. Wikipedia editors must not act, intentionally or otherwise, in a way that amounts to participating in or prolonging the victimization.

Passed 11 to 0 at 17:03, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

Do no harm

3) In cases where the appropriateness of material regarding a living person is questioned, the rule of thumb should be "do no harm." In practice, this means that such material should be removed until a decision to include it is reached, rather than being included until a decision to remove it is reached.

Passed 9 to 2 at 17:03, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

Summary deletion of BLPs

4) Any administrator, acting on their own judgment, may delete an article that is substantially a biography of a living person if they believe that it (and every previous version of it) significantly violates any aspect of the relevant policy. This deletion may be contested via the usual means; however, the article must not be restored, whether through undeletion or otherwise, without an actual consensus to do so. The burden of proof is on those who wish to retain the article to demonstrate that it is compliant with every aspect of the policy.

Passed 9 to 1 at 17:03, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

Administrators

6) Wikipedia administrators are trusted members of the community and are expected to follow Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. Occasional lapses may be overlooked, but consistently poor judgement may result in desysopping.

Passed 7 to 0 at 17:03, 2 July 2007 (UTC)