User:Vassyana/BLP
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This is an essay; it contains the advice and/or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. It is not a policy or guideline, and editors are not obliged to follow it. |
Some thoughts about the ongoing BLP debate.
- There is no such thing as "semi-notability". Someone is either notable or they are not. Our living persons policy does not change the rules of notability. However, it does hold our standards very strictly on such articles and gives appropriate consideration to private persons.
- There are public and private persons. The expressions "public person" and "private person" are legal and ethical terms of art. The separation of the legal and ethical considerations is unnatural, as the legal distinction is founded upon the ethical distinction. Additionally, it could be very harmful to the project to invade the privacy of non-public individuals, both in terms of reputation and legal repercussions. If there is doubt about whether a subject is a private or public person, it is best to err on the side of caution.
- Notability does not forgo the right to privacy. Notability should not be an excuse to provide unreasonable exposure for private persons. However, being a private person does not exclude someone from inclusion based upon notability. The two sides must be weighed and balanced in ethical consideration of a right to privacy and legal consideration of invasion of privacy.
- Private persons are given considerable legal protection from defamation and invasion of privacy. Public persons are held to a distinctly lower standard in regards to defamation and privacy. In the case of private persons, good faith or intentions are not a defense against invasion of privacy or defamation. In the case of the former, accuracy is not a defense. In much of the English-speaking world, accuracy is not a self-sufficient defense for the latter.
- Neutral point of issue is a Foundation issue and should be weighed accordingly. If the sources available can not produce a balanced article for a subject, then the article should not exist. A complete biography is not necessary, but having enough sources to produce an encyclopedic article is absolutely required.
