Wikipedia:Responding to threats of harm
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If you feel you may physically harm yourself, or others: Click here for a list of crisis support resources
 | This page documents an English Wikipedia behavioral guideline. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense, and occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page. |
If you see a threat of physical harm (including self-harm):
1. Treat all claims seriously
- Many threats are empty, but leave that evaluation to Wikimedia Foundation staff.
- If you are in immediate danger, call your local emergency services.
2. Contact the Wikimedia Foundation
Immediately email emergency with details of the threat.
wikimedia.org
- Alternatively, if you have an account with email enabled, you can click here to contact the Wikimedia Foundation.
- This address is for threats of physical harm (including self-harm) only. For other concerns, see Wikipedia:Contact us.
- Include the name of the page where you saw the threat (or a URL or diff).
- This address is monitored around the clock. Staff will typically acknowledge your email immediately. (Check your junk folder.)
- Do not email other addresses or telephone the Wikimedia Foundation, as this creates confusion.
- Staff will take appropriate action, such as tracing locations and contacting authorities.
3. Contact administrators
In addition to emailing the Wikimedia Foundation as above, notify Wikipedia administrators privately.
- Even if you are an administrator, notify other administrators.
- Use email, IRC, Discord, or other low-visibility methods, not high-traffic noticeboards or popular talk pages.
- If in doubt, the primary method is to join #wikipedia-en-revdel connect. Click the green connect button to launch web-based IRC.
Advice for administrators
- Threats of suicide or other self-harm require discretion on the question of blocking but generally, specific threats should be removed (with a thoughtfully worded edit summary) and revision deleted, pending oversight.
- Threats against others should be met with blocking (generally including removal of talk page access) and possibly blocking email as well. Such threats should be blanked; consider applying revdel as well.
- Request oversight (suppression) of any post containing personal information.
- If in doubt, email the office at
emergency; stay off high-traffic noticeboards.
wikimedia.org
External links
- A behind the scenes look at the Wikimedia Foundation’s emergency response system, User:Mdennis (WMF), September 22, 2014
- Threats of harm - global guidance from Meta