| This page documents a Wikipedia policy with legal considerations. |
| This page in a nutshell: If you post a legal threat on Wikipedia, you are likely to be blocked indefinitely. A polite report of a legal problem, such as defamation or copyright infringement, is not a threat and will be acted on quickly. |
Do not post legal threats on Wikipedia. A legal threat, in this context, is a threat to engage in an off-wiki ("real life") legal or other governmental process that would target other editors or Wikipedia itself. It does not refer to any dispute-resolution process within Wikipedia. Legal threats should be reported to Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents or elsewhere to an administrator. Users who post legal threats are typically blocked while the threats are outstanding.
Instead of threats, try to use one of the dispute resolution procedures. If your issue involves Wikipedia itself, contact the Wikimedia Foundation.
That a legal dispute exists between users, whether as a result of incidents on Wikipedia or elsewhere, is not a valid reason to block, as long as no legal threats are made on Wikipedia. Editors involved in a legal dispute should not edit articles about parties to the dispute, given the potential conflict of interest.
What is not a legal threat
Copyright
Complaints of copyright infringement is not a legal threat. If you are the owner of copyrighted material that has been added to Wikipedia, a statement about whether it is licensed for such use is welcome. You may contact the information team or the Wikimedia Foundation's designated agent, or use the procedures at Wikipedia:Copyright problems.
Defamation
A discussion as to whether material is libelous is not a legal threat. The policy on defamation is to delete libel as soon as it is identified. If you believe that you are the subject of a libelous statement, email info-en-q wikipedia.org.
Conflict of interest
Making paid editors aware of the requirements of the Wikimedia Foundation's terms of use, or laws against undisclosed advertising, is not a legal threat.
Perceived legal threats
Always choose your words carefully when starting or responding to any discussions or disputes, as well as with any messages or communication with other users; you must refrain from making any comments that other editors may translate or interpret (even incorrectly) as legal threats. For example, if you assert that another editor's comments are "defamatory" or "libelous", that editor might interpret your communication as implying such a threat. Use less charged wording, such as "that statement about me is not true, and I ask that it be corrected."
Rationale
Posting legal threats is uncivil behavior that causes a number of problems:
- It inhibits free editing, risking one side of a dispute intimidating the other and causing a systemic bias.
- It creates bad feelings and lack of trust, making it difficult to assume good faith.
Using the dispute resolution process will often lead to a positive solution without resorting to making legal threats or engaging in other unacceptable behavior.
Conclusion of legal threat
The Wikipedia community has a long-standing principle that people can change: statements made in anger or misjudgment should not be held against once withdrawn.
The aim is to prevent legal threats, not to keep bad content from being fixed. Editors should encourage the aggrieved user to identify errors in the article; a link to Wikipedia:Contact us/Article problem/Factual error (from subject) may be appropriate.
A user threatening a legal action on their talk page is limited in disruption. They should not be prevented from using their talk page until attempts have been made to open a civil discussion. Persistent or vexatious complaints may still lead to a ban.