Wikipedia:Linking to external harassment
 | The arbitration committee has proposed that the community is encouraged to develop a policy compliant with Wikipedia's core policies regarding the circumstances, if any, under which "attack sites" may be linked. It is intended that this proposal will become that policy. If you can help, please do. |
 | The following is a proposed Wikipedia policy, guideline, or process. The proposal may still be in development, under discussion, or in the process of gathering consensus for adoption. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Links that serve no encyclopedic purpose, and harass, may not be posted and will be removed. Links that serve the encyclopedia may not be removed under any circumstances |
All Wikipedia editors deserve a healthy working environment, free from intimidation, aggression and harassment. Wikipedia is also uncensored, and has a high profile. When external web sites post information that would be contrary to our policies and guidelines, care must be taken in referencing that material within Wikipedia. Suppression of information is undesirable, but sensitive handling of it is vital to our well-being. The following rules are intended to help editors strike the correct balance.
- Links to an external web page of no encyclopedic value that reveals the personal identifying information of a Wikipedia editor who chooses to edit anonymously and whose real-life identity is not generally known, or which expressly or implicitly calls for any editor to be harassed in real life or otherwise, or that contains statements clearly hurtful to any editor, are strictly prohibited. Deliberate addition of such links is grounds for blocking, and removal of such links is not subject to the three-revert rule.
- Links to pages of web sites that routinely engage in harassment, but not to a page containing offending material, are discouraged for articles. It is worth noting that in general, a site that engages in these practices is unlikely to qualify as a reliable source. Linking those pages in talk pages is allowed when they are relevant for the discussion in place.
- Otherwise appropriate links to web sites that do not usually engage in harassment should generally not be removed if the website becomes engaged in an isolated or specific dispute with a Wikipedia editor, except in circumstances of extreme harassment or violation of privacy.
- If a web site or page discussing Wikipedia or its editors meets the reliable source criteria, then it is considered criticism and not harassment, even if it includes statements or quotations that are hurtful or that violate the personal privacy of Wikipedia editors. For example, if a news magazine publishes an article stating the full identity of a widely respected and previously anonymous editor, then linking to, quoting, and discussing that article are permitted in articles and on talk pages. If you are in doubt about whether a source is considered reliable, you may ask on the reliable sources noticeboard; please do not repeat any potentially harmful information until the reliability of the source has been ascertained by uninvolved editors.
- Links to calls for harassment which do not violate editors' privacy and are not clearly hurtful may be included in discussions about them on talk and project pages, but not for other purposes or in articles. Removal of such links from talk or project page discussions about them is discouraged, especially if they can help to contain their impact (e.g., with semi-protection.) In this case, editors should follow the usual talk page guidelines unless such links are being included to harass or disturb.
- Politely raising good-faith concerns based on information found within external harassment is not considered harassment. Repeating, linking to, or including additional rude or hurtful statements when raising such concerns is harassment and is forbidden. Repeating, linking to, or adding private personal information is also forbidden unless doing so is unavoidably necessary to explain the concerns. Violations may be removed without the restriction of the three-revert rule, and violators may be blocked.
This policy applies only to web pages or sites that engage in privacy violations ("outing"), call for the harassment of editors, or clearly try to hurt or embarrass editors. It does not apply to sites that simply offer criticism of Wikipedia or its editors (whether or not the criticism has merit) or that tease or taunt editors without calling for their harassment, violating their privacy, or trying to hurt or embarrass them.
Factors to consider when evaluating links
| Criteria | Reliability | Notability | Violation of privacy | Frequency | Intention |
| Relative importance | ← Increasing importance | Decreasing importance → | |||
| Links to include | Highly reliable | Highly notable | Completely respectful of privacy | Isolated event | Good-faith criticism |
| ↕ | ↕ | ↕ | ↕ | ↕ | |
| Links to exclude | Unreliable | Non-notable | Extreme privacy violation | Systemic campaign | Intentional harassment |
| Relevant authorities | WP:RS and WP:SPS | WP:NOTABILITY and WP:EL | WP:BLP and WP:NPA | WP:HARASS and WP:CIVIL | WP:HARASS and WP:NPA |
If you are harassed
If feel you are being harassed, the first step may be to try to talk about the issues involved with your attacker. Some good advice for such circumstances is in "Staying cool when the editing gets hot." In many cases it is be unhelpful, unwise, or simply impossible to discuss things with your attacker.
Even when personal attacks are being made against you, it is very important to remain civil with everyone. Staying civil may be very difficult, but your negotiations and requests are far more likely to be successful if they are calm, clear, and polite rather than abusive, frantic, terse, or sarcastic.
If you are being harassed outside Wikipedia, you could inadvertently bring more unwanted attention to the harassment if you report it, and Wikipedia administrators will probably not be able to do anything about it. If on the other hand, harassment against you or your personal information is included, discussed, or linked in Wikipedia, or your private personal information appears anywhere in Wikipedia against your wishes, then you should bring that to the attention of Wikipedia administrators as soon as possible, on:
Administrators may be able to erase all traces of the edits in question. In some cases, administrators may prevent outside links to certain sites from being included anywhere on Wikipedia.
If derogatory or defamatory statements about you appear anywhere in Wikipedia without a reliable source, please report those issues on the biographies of living persons noticeboard. If private personal information about you has been included in Wikipedia against your wishes, you should report it to the Administrators' noticeboard instead.