Requests for Comment/Minor Content Policy amendments

While unusual to open an RfC so soon after one has closed, given the importance and size of the original Content Policy reform RfC and the comments made there, there are a few minor tweaks that we would like to apply. These don't actually change the intention of the main reform but just seek to either clarify things or make it sound more professional.

Proposal initiated by: Reception123 (talk) 15:40, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

Proposal co-initiated by: Agent Isai  Talk to me! 15:46, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

Proposal 1 (Amend 7.1)
The phrase used in Clause 7.1 is changed to:
 * Wikis may not feature subdomains or sitenames which make explicit mention of content deemed 'not safe for work', lewd, and/or obscene.

Rationale: It was pointed out that explicitly mentioning things like "sexual organs, sexual fluid, sexual acts" wasn't very appropriate for a Content Policy and just calling it "NSFW" as we do for the NSFW rules should really be enough.

Support

 * 1)  Per proposal, seems unprofessional to have that mentioned so explicitly.  Agent Isai  Talk to me! 15:46, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

Proposal 2 (Amend 6)
Clause #6 of the Content Policy is appended to read:
 * Where a wiki's scope as a whole is not of a sexual nature which involves minors, references and discussions about outside content are permitted as long as they are legal under United Kingdom law.

Rationale: A concern raised on the original RfC regarding Content Policy amendments was that the proposed clause made it seem like even passing references on an encyclopedic project about certain literature which may feature that element are prohibited. That was not the intent of this clause so this amendment reflects that.

Support

 * 1)  Per proposal.  Agent Isai  Talk to me! 15:46, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

Proposal 3 (Amend 11)
Added after the section on direct forks (11)
 * Wikis with the same or a substantially similar topic to another existing Miraheze wiki are prohibited.

Wikis which share the same topic or have a very similar topic to another Miraheze wiki are prohibited. If a wiki is found to be sharing the same topic, it may be closed. If you have a valid reason to make a wiki of a similar or of the same topic, contact a Steward who will evaluate your case and grant an exemption if needed. Note that this not affect wikis which focus specifically on subtopics of a bigger topic.

If a wiki in violation of this clause is slated to be closed, Stewards will provide ample notice before closing the project and will provide an XML dump of the wiki. Stewards will evaluate each wiki on a case-by-case basis and may grant exemptions where the projects both have enough substantive content to make closing impractical and unwise, along with other grounds per Steward discretion.

Rationale: It doesn't make sense to not allow direct forks but to not also prohibit wikis that are on the exact same topic. This proposal doesn't mean that wiki creators have to be aware of all wikis on Miraheze, but if they do then they obviously shouldn't create one, and additionally this new addition can be used if such an issue is discovered later. Duplicate wikis often hurt each other as they both compete on Google and everywhere else and sometimes the user base is split. We've had plenty of users complain that a similar wiki is an issue for theirs in SEO and such and so we'd like to avoid that. Creating wikis of a similar topic is actually already de facto prohibited as one of RequestWiki's canned rejection responses is one stating that a wiki was declined because it was a duplicate of another and many wiki creators thought it was already banned in the Content Policy's no forks provision.

Support

 * 1)  Duplicate wikis are already prohibited per wiki creator convention. Users often complain about duplicates anyhow so we'd like to address that. We won't be closing projects which have similar or the same topic but both have lots of substantive content but this does seek to formally prohibit the new creations of these sorts of wikis and close inactive stubs which hurt other wikis.  Agent Isai  Talk to me! 15:46, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

Proposal 4 (Amend 11a)
The follow line is removed from 11a (provision prohibiting new Wikimedia forks):


 * Existing wikis which are in violation of this clause are exempted from this policy.

This means currently existing Wikimedia forks are now also prohibited and will be shutdown. Stewards will grant plenty of leeway where possible for valid use projects such as those archiving closed language editions of Wikipedia.

Rationale: This was discussed during our previous Miraheze Meeting. After an initial evaluation, most blatant Wikimedia forks which currently exist are deeply inactive, unmoderated, broken (templates are half imported and error out), unread, and some are vandalised with no one to revert that or monitor it. A few forks were also listed there and most agreed that there was no real reason to keep these sorts of forks around. As stated in the proposal, Stewards will grant exemptions to this for valid use projects such as archives of closed language editions of Wikimedia projects, things like Incubator Plus which is hosted here, and other valid use wikis.

Support

 * 1)  Per proposal. This was discussed a lot during our last Miraheze Meeting and we could not find any real reason to leave these forks open if they don't really contribute much and are just a headache overall to navigate and moderate.  Agent Isai  Talk to me! 15:46, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

Proposal 5 (Amend 3)
Clause 3 of the Content Policy is amended to say:


 * 3. Miraheze does not host wikis which spread unsubstantiated insult, hate or rumours against a person or group of people.

Rationale: This is a minor change which replaces "Miraheze does not host wikis with the sole purpose" to "Miraheze does not host wikis which." I can't think of a single occasion where we would allow wikis to insult people, spread hate and spread rumors only if it wasn't their main focus. It's rather silly to limit ourselves to only enforcing the clause if it's the wiki's sole purpose and in practice, we enforce it even if it isn't their sole purpose because of its nature.

Support

 * 1)  Minor wording changes, no issues there.  Agent Isai  Talk to me! 15:46, 14 November 2022 (UTC)