Godwin's Law

(English) This is an essay. It expresses the opinions and ideas of some Wikimedians but may not have wide support. This is not policy on Meta, but it may be a policy or guideline on other Wikimedia projects. Feel free to update this page as needed, or use the discussion page to propose major changes.

Godwin's Law is an internet adage created in 1990 by Mike Godwin, who served as General Counsel for the Wikimedia Foundation between 2007 and 2010. For a list of his contributions to Wikimedia, see his SUL profile on CentralAuth (Meta: contribs, logs; Commons: profile, contribs, logs; English Wikipedia: profile, contribs, logs). It was intentionally created as a response to common logical fallacies invoking Hitler or the Holocaust, and has since spawned a variety of corollaries, derivatives and internet memes. The law in its entirety states:

“ As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1. ” — Mike Godwin