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The Special Case argument is used by editors to justify deletions or protection of text that may be against normal Wikipedia policy or convention. Topics where such rationales are frequently used include sex, politics and religion. There are no situations where a topic or genre is automatically treated as a "special case" as an exception to standard Wikipedia policies. Current policies and processes are sufficient to handle controversial news items and potentially offensive text and images.
Where there may be a case
editAny editor may propose a deviation on the guidelines for any article. Processes such as article talk page discussion, requests for comment and project talk pages are potential ways that a consensus for such a deviation may be demonstrated. Past examples include:
- Adding specific commercial links to an article that would often be deleted in accordance with ELNO.
- Agreeing special layout and style conventions for a particular article.