Wikipedia:BLP Admin

Overview and Rationale

The policy Wikipedia Biographies of Living Persons is essential to the future of the Wikipedia project in every regard and must be taken very, very seriously in all respects. While Wikipedia social policies have begun to evolve in this regard since approximately the turn of 2006, much in response to well-published news reports on Wikipedia biographies, the Wikipedia community must do more. The Foundation daily receives calls and emails from subjects concerned about the contents of their Wikipedia biographies.

While creation of the Biographies of living persons/Noticeboard has been an important step in Wikipedia's social evolution as regards BLPs, it requires active posting by Wikipedian editors with above-average knowledge of the Project's inner-workings. Relying on it, problems too often only become noticeable, and administrators only become involved, after matters have already reached a particularly problematic state. To help avoid potential future litigation, and as a defense during any such potential court action, the Wikipedian community must demonstrate a more proactive, organized approach by creating a specialized category of administrator.

Biography of Living Persons Administrators ("BLP Admins") carry out a specialized, narrowly tailored administrative role within Wikipedia to ensure proactive enforcement of biography of living persons policy. They do not wait for problems to find them but pro-actively search for them. They supplement but do not replace or equate in scope with general administrators, although their specialized knowledge may be deferred to.

Responsibilities

• Consistent perusing of Category:Living people. BLP admins are encouraged to organize their efforts in these regards so as to not needlessly duplicate efforts.
• Removal of potentially litigious content with power to enforce the removal. The BLP admin shall have power to remove and rapidly enforce his or her removal of potentially litigious content from BLPs, even when this may be contrary to page editors' consensus.
• Arbitration between persons and their biographies. In cases where it is apparent that the person who is the subject of a biography has become involved in a content dispute, the BLP Admin shall function as an impartial arbitrator to the subject and/or his or her designee(s). In the course of such arbitration, the BLP Admin shall use plain language, not "Wikipedian", to rapidly arbitrate the subject to successful resolution of his or her content concerns, while also informing the subject of further steps (ability to solicit for WP:OFFICE) should the subject yet feel his or her concerns have been inadequately addressed.

Limit of scope, recourses, right of recall

Limit of scope

Biography of Living Person Administrators supplement, but do not replace or equate in scope with, general administrators. BLP Admins make Category:Living_people their administrative focus. It is not expected, lest required, that they be involved in any other administrative responsibilities. BLP Admins who find their focus changing should promptly resign from the position and/or seek installment as a general administrator.

Recourses

All BLP Admin actions are reversible, and there is a separate process for dealing with conflicts with or abuse by administrators.

Right of recall

BLP Admins may be recalled from their position at anytime through a 75% supermajority of votes by general administrators and BLP administrators, collected over seven days.

Appointment requirements and process

Requirements

• Exceptional policy knowledge. BLP Admins must demonstrate exceptional knowledge of the Wikipedia policy on biographies of living persons and all policies appertaining, particularly verifiability, neutrality and avoiding original research.

This must be demonstrated by:

• Primary authorship of at least two exemplary biographies of living persons. In cases where the live versions of articles have degraded from an exemplary state, this may be demonstrated by links to article histories.
• Sophisticated responses to questions on applications of policies proposed during the BLP Admin appointment process.

• Maturity and education. Because of the sensitive nature of this positions, BLP Admins must affirm but not prove that they are at least twenty-five years of age and hold a bachelor's degree or higher. This requirement may be waived on a case-by-case basis by recommendation of a Wikipedia bureaucrat.

Process

The appointment process is identical to Wikipedia:Requests for adminship under subsections "Nomination standards" and "Decision process".