Wikipedia:Content disclaimer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In its ambitious mission of documenting all human knowledge, Wikipedia contains millions of articles on a vast array of topics. A relatively small fraction of these topics are frequently censored by educational, governmental, corporate, parental and other filtering schemes.

• Some Wikipedia articles discuss words or language that are considered profane, vulgar or offensive by some readers. See Wikipedia:Profanity for more information.
• Some articles may contain names, images, artworks or descriptions of events that some cultures restrict access to.
• Wikipedia contains many different images, some of which are considered objectionable or offensive by some readers. For example, some articles contain graphical depictions of violence, or depictions of human anatomy.
• Many articles contain frank discussion of controversial topics. Some subjects that are discussed have criminal applications in some jurisdictions. Others contain information on dangerous or otherwise risky activities (see Wikipedia:General disclaimer and Wikipedia:Risk disclaimer).
• Wikipedia contains spoilers.
• Wikipedia may contain triggers for people with post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Wikipedia may contain images and videos which can trigger epileptic seizures and other medical conditions.
• It should be noted that as Wikipedia is open to contributions from the public, there may at any time be graffiti present on Wikipedia.
• There may be medical, legal or other information that is normally also the subject of professional opinions; Wikipedia is not a substitute for seeking the help of a professional. Please note: Wikipedia does not give legal advice or medical advice.

Wikipedia's current policy is to include such content, provided it breaches neither any of our existing policies (especially Neutral point of view) nor the laws of the state of Florida in the United States, where Wikipedia is hosted. See a list of controversial issues for some examples of articles that may contain such content. Some of these articles contain warnings, but many do not.

In any case, Wikipedia is a work in progress, and many articles contain errors, bias, duplication, or simply need tender loving care. We encourage readers to help us fix these problems. The great majority of articles are written primarily or solely by individuals who are not subject matter experts, and may lack academic or professional credentials in the area.

Wikipedia contains obscure information that would not be covered in a conventional encyclopedia. Wikipedia's coverage of subjects is patchy, based on the whims of its volunteer contributors (in particular, subjects of interest to young technical people are likely, but not certain, to receive heavier coverage than other subjects). Readers should not judge the importance of topics based on their coverage in Wikipedia, nor assume that a topic is important merely because it is the subject of a Wikipedia article.

See also: Wikipedia:Verifiability.