remove "responding" header, as this also applies to functionaries
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Revision as of 02:35, 4 April 2014
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# Treat all claims seriously.
# Treat all claims seriously.
# Email the [[Wikimedia Foundation]] with details so they can contact the relevant authorities: {{nospam|emergency|wikimedia.org}}
# Email the [[Wikimedia Foundation]] with details so they can contact the relevant authorities: {{nospam|emergency|wikimedia.org}}
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# Contact an administrator privately to remove the revision from public view and have the user blocked.
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# Contact a functionary privately, such as via [[Special:EmailUser]], to remove the revision from public view.
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# ''Administrators:'' Consider blocking users making active threats of harm to others and removing the talkpage and email access. If in doubt, contact the office.
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# ''Functionaries:'' Consider blocking users making active threats of harm to others with their talkpage and email access removed. If in doubt, contact the office.
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The [[Wikimedia Foundation]] is a nonprofit organization created for the purpose of supporting the [[Wikimedia movement]] to advance the sum of all human knowledge, and hosts various wiki projects and websites to that end. However, it is not a mental health or support institution, and as such cannot offer or replace professional advice, medical or otherwise, to its readers and reusers. Individual wiki communities of the Foundation-hosted projects are mainly comprised of volunteers focused on building content for their individual wiki; but these volunteers are generally ill-equipped, and do not have any of the necessary formal training, to deal with complex situations involving real-life emergencies or '''threats of harm'''. This concept differs from real-life forms of {{w|Project:Harassment|harassment}}, including {{w|Project:Harassment#Posting of personal information|outing}}, on individual wiki projects; whereas harassment usually results from one's activities as a Wikimedian, threats of harm, including self-harm or suicide, occur when one real-life entity publicly announces the intention to cause harm to another. This page serves to outline and document the procedure for dealing with such issues, and complement the Foundation's [[Legal and Community Advocacy/Legal Policies|legal policies]] addressing them.
The [[Wikimedia Foundation]] is a nonprofit organization created for the purpose of supporting the [[Wikimedia movement]] to advance the sum of all human knowledge, and hosts various wiki projects and websites to that end. However, it is not a mental health or support institution, and as such cannot offer or replace professional advice, medical or otherwise, to its readers and reusers. Individual wiki communities of the Foundation-hosted projects are mainly comprised of volunteers focused on building content for their individual wiki; but these volunteers are generally ill-equipped, and do not have any of the necessary formal training, to deal with complex situations involving real-life emergencies or '''threats of harm'''. This concept differs from real-life forms of {{w|Project:Harassment|harassment}}, including {{w|Project:Harassment#Posting of personal information|outing}}, on individual wiki projects; whereas harassment usually results from one's activities as a Wikimedian, threats of harm, including self-harm or suicide, occur when one real-life entity publicly announces the intention to cause harm to another. This page serves to outline and document the procedure for dealing with such issues, and complement the Foundation's [[Legal and Community Advocacy/Legal Policies|legal policies]] addressing them.
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==Responding==
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==Treat all claims seriously==
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Some of these responses require administrator permissions. In all cases, administrators ''should'' be notified, including cases where an administrator is the first responder. Non-admins may still respond even though they may not have all the tools.
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===Treat all claims seriously===
The first thing you should do when you witness a threat is to ''treat all claims seriously''. Do not simply dismiss the threat out of hand, as a "joke" or an "attempt to troll". While it might be tempting to dismiss it as a childish cry for attention; if the threat turns out to be false, the worse that would happen is a little bit of time was wasted responding to it, and if the threat turns out to be true, you might well have saved some lives. Simply put, it is {{w|wikt:better safe than sorry|better to be safe than sorry}}.
The first thing you should do when you witness a threat is to ''treat all claims seriously''. Do not simply dismiss the threat out of hand, as a "joke" or an "attempt to troll". While it might be tempting to dismiss it as a childish cry for attention; if the threat turns out to be false, the worse that would happen is a little bit of time was wasted responding to it, and if the threat turns out to be true, you might well have saved some lives. Simply put, it is {{w|wikt:better safe than sorry|better to be safe than sorry}}.
In addition, although individuals who discuss suicide may not be actively suicidal, some of those people may ''become'' actively suicidal. The same can go for claims or threats of violence. Such claims may well be empty threats or hoaxes; however, Wikimedians generally are not properly trained to determine if they are true or verifiable, and should ''always'' assume the worst possible scenario. ''Treat all claims seriously'' and act as you would in a real emergency.
In addition, although individuals who discuss suicide may not be actively suicidal, some of those people may ''become'' actively suicidal. The same can go for claims or threats of violence. Such claims may well be empty threats or hoaxes; however, Wikimedians generally are not properly trained to determine if they are true or verifiable, and should ''always'' assume the worst possible scenario. ''Treat all claims seriously'' and act as you would in a real emergency.
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===Contact the Wikimedia Foundation===
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==Contact the Wikimedia Foundation==
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As soon as you see a claim or threat of harm, immediately ''contact the Wikimedia Foundation'' office staff at this special email address: {{nospam|emergency|wikimedia.org}}, which automatically forwards to a trained team of staff members available to respond to these incidents even outside of normal business hours. The Wikimedia Foundation has [[Legal and Community Advocacy/Legal Policies#Office Actions|internal policies]] allowing them to take office actions, the "On-Wiki Threat Protocol", which applies both domestically in the United States and internationally. Emails sent to other addresses or Foundation staff may not be received in a timely manner, or response might be delayed; thus this email address is the preferred contact point for such incidents and will produce a near-immediate acknowledgement reply.
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As soon as you see a claim or threat of harm, immediately ''contact the Wikimedia Foundation'' office staff at this special email address: {{nospam|emergency|wikimedia.org}}, which automatically forwards to a trained team of staff members available to respond to these incidents even outside of normal business hours. The Wikimedia Foundation has [[Legal and Community Advocacy/Legal Policies#Office Actions|internal policies]] for office actions, such as the "On-Wiki Threat Protocol", which applies both domestically in the United States and internationally. Emails sent to other addresses or Foundation staff may not be received in a timely manner, or response might be delayed; thus this email address is the preferred contact point for such incidents and will produce a near-immediate reply of acknowledgement.
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===Contact administrators===
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==Contact administrators==
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Anyone who observes potentially suicidal or violent behavior (frequently made in discussion or announcements on talk or user pages) should notify Wikimedia administrators quickly. Possible venues for prompt attention include:
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Except for edge cases such as where an administrator is the source of a threat, and you should contact the administrator or other designated functionary Anyone who observes potentially suicidal or violent behavior (frequently made in discussion or announcements on talk or user pages) should notify Wikimedia administrators quickly. Possible venues for prompt attention include:
* Contacting an administrator privately via Email, [[IRC]], or other methods.
* Contacting an administrator privately via Email, [[IRC]], or other methods.
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Once noticeboard threads have been responded to by appropriate parties, consider blanking them, possibly leaving a link to the last version of the thread for reference as needed.
Once noticeboard threads have been responded to by appropriate parties, consider blanking them, possibly leaving a link to the last version of the thread for reference as needed.
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===Administrator action===
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==Administrator action==
Threats of violence to others should be met with blocking, generally including user talk pages. Threats or claims should be removed from any relevant pages, and are frequently deleted from page history. Use of revision deletion may be appropriate.
Threats of violence to others should be met with blocking, generally including user talk pages. Threats or claims should be removed from any relevant pages, and are frequently deleted from page history. Use of revision deletion may be appropriate.