 | Below are answers to frequently asked questions about the corresponding page Star Wars Kid. They address concerns, questions, and misconceptions which have repeatedly arisen on the talk page. Please feel free to change this material in light of new discussion. |
Q1: Why does this article not contain the name of the Star Wars Kid?
A1: This article is about an internet meme. The person associated with that meme has no independent notability, and as the article records he successfully sued the original perpetrators of the meme for the damage they caused. The Biographies of living persons policy (BLP) weighs strongly against use of the individual's name in this case. In particular: "Wikipedia articles about living people can affect their subjects' lives. Editors who deal with these articles have a responsibility to consider the legal and ethical implications of their actions when doing so.... When writing about a person notable only for one or two events, including every detail can lead to problems, even when the material is well-sourced....This is of profound importance when dealing with individuals whose notability stems largely from their being victims of another's actions. Wikipedia editors must not act, intentionally or otherwise, in a way that amounts to participating in or prolonging the victimization."
Q2: The Star Wars Kid's name is in many of the references. Why does Wikipedia use those references?
A2: Wikipedia has to rely on external sources that have different content standards and a different approach to individual privacy. Using those references is a compromise between the verifiability policy and the presumption of privacy in the Biographies of living persons policy (BLP).
Q3: If this article isn't a biography, and is only about the meme, why does the Biographies of living persons policy (BLP) apply?
A3: The BLP applies to all writing about living persons anywhere on Wikipedia.
Q4: Doesn't Wikipedia is not censored (WP:CENSOR) apply here?
A4: The Biographies of living persons policy (BLP) overrides all other policies. The limitations of WP:CENSOR are fully explained in that policy.
Q5: This article is high in the rankings of search engine results returned when you enter his real name. Why is that and what can be done to stop it?
A5: Search engines have their own mechanisms for ranking search results. As Wikipedia is a popular website with many links to it, it's nearly always near the top of almost any search. Some search engines may rank an item high because of common phrases contained in articles linked from that item, or contained in articles that link to the article, even though the article itself does not contain those particular phrases. There are also techniques such as google bombing that are used to manipulate search engine rankings. Since you'd need to know the name to type it into a search engine, this quirk of search engines has minimal capacity to do harm, and if Wikipedia's high quality article is near the top of the rankings, that's a good thing.