BLP Task Force/Scope

Remit

Here is a list of possible activities for the BLP Task Force:

Achieve a consensus on what the challenges are for biographies
- Defining which class(es) of articles should be considered to be BLPs, noting that many articles have at least some connection to a Living Person. (--Philosopher ^{Let us reason together.} 04:26, 13 September 2009 (UTC))[reply]
Make recommendations for technical changes to implement in accordance with those challenges
Make recommendations for cultural changes to influence and actionable ways in to meet those challenges
Advise on strategies for interacting with subjects of biographies
- Defining the usual roadmaps of our OTRS correspondence
Advise to the Board of Directors on resolutions or other actions they should take in order to facilitate changes that meet the challenges
Make recommendations to Wikimedia staff on strategies to meet the challenges
Work in conjunction with potentially related Strategic Plan project groups

The BLP Task Force should not be encumbered with fixing individual biographies, but to determine the issues surrounding BLP. Initial focus of the BLP task force will be the English Wikipedia, although this will expand to include other language projects later.

Statement of problem

Unsourced BLPs

Unsourced BLPs and unsourced content within BLPs are problematic for several reasons:

Even seemingly innocuous content may be libelous, particularly from the point of view of the subject. It is unreasonable to expect any editor to be able to properly judge what may or may not be problematic content to the subject.
Allowing some unsourced content encourages an attitude of "a little more won't hurt", particularly among anonymous or new editors.
Retaining any unsourced content makes it impossible to ensure that an article maintains a neutral point of view.

Consequences

Negative false information may prove to have real world consequences for the subject.