Picture Controversy rocks Wikipedia
- By Wikizach, 5 February 2006
Earlier last week, the Muhammad cartoons controversy, was posted on the main page. Almost immediately after it was made, edit wars began. Many editors believe that the picture on the top should leave, while others say Wikipedia is not censored. Jimbo Wales came straight into the argument when he explained, "I've blanked this talk page momentarily because although there is some good discussion here, there's a lot of very bad discussion. This is not the appropriate place for a general philosophical discussion about Islam, freedom of speech, terrorism, religious tolerance, etc. Not only is this talk page not the right place for it, Wikipedia is not the right place for it. Here, we are polite, thoughtful, smart, geeky people, trying only to do something which is undoubtably good in the world: write and give away a free encyclopedia." He also urged for users to stick directly and purely to the question.
In the days that followed people began deleting and reverting many pictures on the article. The main dispute is whether or not the picture should even be on that page in the first place. While the arguments ran on, some people demanded mediation and compromise. One user placed on the talk page, a list of to-do things instead of fighting. Jimbo then reacted saying, "I see no reason for me to intervene in the normal dialogue, except to say that Wikipedia isn't really the place for abstract philosophical debates about religious tolerance and the freedom of speech, and to ask people to please enter the discussion with a very strong assumption of good faith about everyone else in the discussion. Voting is evil, though, and likely to give a false impression of what the best route forward is"
The current (as of 20:27, 4 February 2006 (UTC)) poll stands at:
202: Keep the picture
26: Delete the Picture
19: Move pictures to a seperate page