Editing Encyclopedia:Libel

{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
{{Short description|Wikipedia policy with legal considerations}}
{{legal policy|WP:LIBEL|WP:LBL}}
{{nutshell|Delete [[Defamation|libelous]] material when it has been identified.}}
{{Wiktionary|libel}}
{{legal policy list}}
The goal of [[Wikipedia]] is to create an [[encyclopedia|encyclopedic]] information source adhering to a [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|neutral point of view]], with [[reference]]d information through the [[citation]] of [[WP:Identifying reliable sources|reliable published sources]], so as to maintain a standard of [[Wikipedia:Verifiability|verifiability]].<ref name="Wales_2006-05-16_WikiEN-l" /><ref>{{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}}</ref>

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

It is a [[WP:List of policies|Wikipedia policy]] to immediately delete [[Defamation|libelous]] material when it has been identified. Page revisions containing libelous content should also be [[WP:RevDel|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===
*[[Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons]]
*[[Wikipedia:No legal threats]]
*[[Wikipedia:No personal attacks]]

===Other related pages===
*[[Wikipedia:Contact us]]
*[[Wikipedia:Legal disclaimer|Wikipedia does not give legal advice]]
*[[Wikipedia:An article about yourself isn't necessarily a good thing]]

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=

<!-- Order refs by Author, published, publisher -->
<ref name="Wales_2006-05-16_WikiEN-l">{{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.
 }}</ref>

}}

==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 of Human Rights|European Court on Human Rights]]

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[[Category:Wikipedia legal policies]]