[Wikipedia-l] Censorship and bowdlerization

Wed Nov 13 17:14:39 UTC 2002

It's much easier just to delete the pages you don't like or which don't suit
your agenda, though, isn't it Magnus?

Steve Callaway

----- Original Message -----
From: "Magnus Manske" <magnus.manske at epost.de>
To: <wikipedia-l at wikipedia.org>; "sifter-l" <sifter-l at nupedia.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 5:06 PM
Subject: Re: [Wikipedia-l] Censorship and bowdlerization

> Poor, Edmund W wrote:
>
> >I like the idea expressed by Anthere and others of finding a way to
shield tender eyes from "adult" stuff. A significant minority of users
believe that young people of a certain age should not be exposed to certain
materials.
> >
> >This is totally without prejudice to the debate over whether sexuality is
"sinful", just a reflection of the desire of many parents and educators to
introduce some subjects step by step, keyed to the maturity level of the
learner.
> >
> >Someday, we plan to make the Wikipedia available on CD-ROM for schools
and libraries that don't have T-1 lines (or the patience to tolerate the
"lag" problem). It would be very useful to allow a parent or educator to
filter out a few articles such as [[****-piercing]] or [[fisting]] or
whatever.
> >
> >
> Basically, I agree that articles might (should?) be tagged as "adult",
> as long as the default access for everyone is "no filter".
> Likewise, as I have suggested long, long ago, and as has been suggested
> again several times, articles might also be tagged with "categories"
> (philosophy, biology, etc.), and by type (biography, city, etc.).
> But, if I look at our current interface, it is already loaded with links
> and information *about* the article, not to mention the article itself.
>
> Adding filters, categories, and types might be just too much for the
> average user who passes through our humble site. The "hard core" of
> users/writers would no doubt manage, though.
>
> But, the three options above might be just perfect for the "stable"
> wikipedia version that Larry proposed. Contents there will be controlled
> and checked anyway, so a little categorization on the side will be
> managable to the reviewers. The readers there would see categories and
> filters, but things like editing, talk, and all the tons of links needed
> for an "editable" encyclopedia will not be there, so there's plenty of
room.
> Beside, we wouldn't want to give a CD-ROM with a current wikipedia dump
> to a school anyway. The reviewed version would be perfect for that.
>
> Magnus
>
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