Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/User:A3RO/Threats and Violence




 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the miscellaneous page below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the page's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result of the discussion was  Keep.  Some of the arguments for deletion have been addressed. There is now not a strong enough argument for deletion to outweigh the keeps. delldot  &nabla;.  22:25, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

User:A3RO/Threats and Violence
This template makes very serious threats to potential vandals and had been stuck on some pages by the apparently now-retired user (which is the reason I'm MfDing and not messaging him). It misrepresents the job of sysops and merges their abilities with that of CUs (saying that admins have access to personal information and whatnot). Unless this is some weird, twisted, wicked new WP:HUMOR, I vote Delete. —Mr. E. Sánchez (that's me!)What I Do / What I Say 06:46, 26 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Keep I see nothing in this sub page that is against policy. Additionally, A3RO is on a break until December 16th and not "retired". @Kate   (talk)  06:51, 26 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm confused; his talk page reflects retirement, while his userpage reflects what you mention. —Mr. E. Sánchez (that's me!)What I Do / What I Say 08:59, 26 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I apologise, I didn't notice the banner on his talk page until you pointed it out. Perhaps he is undecided? @Kate   (talk)  09:01, 26 November 2009 (UTC)
 * The wikibreak notice on his userpage is from a while ago, before he decided to retire. He just hasn't update his userpage in a while. Equazcion   (talk)  09:09, 26 Nov 2009 (UTC)


 * Keep. People who make threats of violence on Wikipedia should receive dire warnings that they may be reported to the police. Someone who likes being a cyberbully, but does not intend to commit violence in real life and wants to stay out of jail, might react to this by deleting their threats, apologizing, and/or promising not to do it again, which might mitigate the damage of their original threat. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 07:04, 26 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Comment: Our job isn't to use scare tactics in hopes they'll stop. Any vandal with a little experience will know that we don't randomly select a vandal and turn all his information in to his/her ISP or campus technologist. —Mr. E. Sánchez (that's me!)What I Do / What I Say 08:59, 26 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Delete - As the nominator mentioned, the wording in this template is a little troubling. It implies administrators have powers and access they don't actually have. It also makes a rather meaningless threat: "If you post ill meaning, harmful or violent messages to any user on Wikipedia, even anonymous users who edit without registering, you can face real life actions and consequences if the threat is pursued" (emphasis added) Of course if someone attempts to commit real-life harm to another person they'll face consequences, but those have nothing to do with Wikipedia, nor with the threat that was made via Wikipedia. Equazcion   (talk)  07:23, 26 Nov 2009 (UTC)
 * Keep The "threat" is not directed at any person in any way other than it insists that certain acts can have consequences. If this is to be deleted, a great many guidelines etc. which carry such "threats" in any form also should be. Collect (talk) 11:39, 26 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Keep I agree with Metropolitan90's reasoning in full. Hopefully the changes I've made (see below) have resolved at least a couple of Equazcion's concerns. I disagree with ESanchez013's characterization of the use of this template as "scare tactics." This is not a template that is used for everyday vandals; it is clearly for potentially criminal cases of harassment, stalking, etc. only. A Stop at Willoughby (talk) 20:18, 26 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Comment I've made a few changes to the template, among them correcting the misrepresentation of administrators' capabilities. A Stop at Willoughby (talk) 20:18, 26 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I've made a few, too. Just FWIW. —Mr. E. Sánchez (that's me!)What I Do / What I Say 20:47, 26 November 2009 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the page's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.