Training modules/Dealing with online harassment/slides/some-common-forms-of-harassment-on-our-projects

Basics: Some common forms of harassment on our projects

Harassment comes in many shapes and sizes. Some of it is childish and may seem easy to shrug off – throwaway insults by vandals, for example. But while it can be easy for an administrator or vandalism patroller to brush this treatment aside, newcomers to the movement can be discouraged or offended by it. They might also be goaded into breaking rules by entering into petty edit wars or meeting name-calling with name-calling.

Some vandals can become focused on the pursuit of one or a group of editors. This pursuit may take subtle forms, like "wikihounding" – the practice of "stalking" someone's edits to constantly revert or oppose them. Being wikihounded can result in the editor becoming disillusioned, upset, or frustrated. Wikihounding can also lead to more general online stalking in places like email, social media, and personal blogs. Harassers may collect personal information from these sources and use the release, or threat of release, of this information to intimidate contributors.

Another form of harassment is direct threats against an editor or editors. Threats to life and limb must be considered as serious and should be referred to the Wikimedia Foundation Trust and Safety team through the emergency@wikimedia.org email address. Legal threats are not uncommon and can be used to "force" editors to delete content or censor articles. Even if these threats are not plausible, they can be distressing.