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WP:libel

{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}

{{Short description|Wikipedia policy with legal considerations}}

{{legal policy|WP:LIBEL|WP:LBL}}

{{nutshell|Delete libelous material when it has been identified.}}

{{Wiktionary|libel}}

{{legal policy list}}

The goal of Wikipedia is to create an encyclopedic information source adhering to a neutral point of view, with referenced information through the citation of reliable published sources, so as to maintain a standard of verifiability.{{cite web |title=Article Basics - Editing Wikipedia - Guides at Middlebury College |url=https://middlebury.libguides.com/wikipedia/articlebasics |website=Middlebury Libraries |publisher=Middlebury College |access-date= February 16, 2025}}

It is the responsibility of all contributors to ensure that the material posted on Wikipedia is not defamatory.

It is a Wikipedia policy to immediately delete libelous material when it has been identified. Page revisions containing libelous content should also be removed from the page history. Libelous material (otherwise known as defamation) is reasonably likely to damage a person or company's reputation and could expose Wikipedia to legal consequences.

Contact instructions for subjects of libel

If you believe that you are the subject of a libelous statement on Wikipedia, please:

  • Send an email to info-en-q@wikipedia.org with details of the article and situation.

See also

=Policies=

=Other related pages=

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite web

| url = http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2006-May/046440.html

| title = [WikiEN-l] Zero information is preferred to misleading or false information

| last = Wales

| first = Jimmy

| authorlink = Jimmy Wales

| work = lists.wikimedia.org

| publisher = WikiEN-l

| date = 2006-05-16

| accessdate = 2019-07-17

| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110406110126/http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2006-May/046440.html

| archivedate = 2011-04-06

| url-status = live

| quote = It should be removed, aggressively, unless it can be sourced. This is true of all information, but it is particularly true of negative information about living persons...This is not a policy statement, just a statement of attitude and frustration.

}}

}}

External links

{{Update section|date=November 2024|reason=most resources in this section have not been updated in over a decade or two}}

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20081010222530/http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A1183394 How to avoid libel and defamation] (2004)—Information from the BBC for contributors to its defunct community website, Action Network, based on the English law of libel (which differs considerably from U.S. law).
  • [http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1219/p02s01-usju.html "Once it's on the Web, whose law applies?"] (2002) from CSMonitor
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20150215035831/http://www.internetpolicy.net/jurisdiction/ Internet policy – Jurisdiction] (2002) by the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT)
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20140124073645/http://chillingeffects.org/defamation/faq.cgi Defamation FAQ at Chilling Effects Clearinghouse] (2002) at the University of San Francisco
  • [https://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/FS_Reputation_ENG.pdf "Protection of Reputation" Factsheet] (March 2024) by European Court on Human Rights

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Category:Wikipedia legal policies