 | This is anessay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one ofWikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not beenthoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Using a portion of the rules ina literal manner that goes against the rule'sintended message (usually with the intent to "win" an editing dispute) is frowned upon by the Wikipedia community. |
Wikilawyering is a critical term which describes various practices to be avoided in Wikipedia. Editors who "wikilawyer" apply a portion of a policy or guideline with the motive to achieve an objective that goes against theintended message of that policy or guideline, particularly when doing so in a way that is stricter, more categorical or more literal than the norm. They abide by the letter of apolicy or guideline while violating its spirit or underlying principles. Sometimes they assert that the technical interpretation of the policies and guidelines should override theunderlying principles they express. Wikilawyers can alsowillfully misinterpret policy or rely on technicalities to justify inappropriate actions, or weaponize policies, guidelines, noticeboards and other Wikipedia systems with the goal of deprecating an editor rather than to resolve a problem.
The term may also be used in other cases, e.g., when a person superficially judges other editors and their actions by jumping to conclusions and slapping labels while brandishing Wikipedia policies as a tool for defeating other Wikipedians rather than resolving a conflict or finding a mutually agreeable solution.
Wikipedia policies and procedures should be interpreted withcommon sense to achieve thepurpose of the policy, or help with dispute resolution. Typically, wikilawyering raises procedural or evidentiary points in a manner analogous to that used in formal legal proceedings, often using ill-founded legal reasoning. It can serve to evade an issue or obstruct the crafting of a workable solution. In thelegal field, lawyers may usetechnicalities to win a case. "Wikilawyering" can refer to emulating legal practices that may win a court case, but are likely not helpful forresolving disputes on Wikipedia, which isnot a bureaucracy.
As another example, thethree-revert rule is intended to preventedit warring. An editor who reverts the same article three times day after day is violatingthe spirit, if not the letter, of the rule, and can thus be sanctioned for edit warring.
Wikipedia's policies and guidelines are written in a manner that usually is more fuzzy and open to interpretation than laws are. They create certain rules and principles which are applicable in many situations but are not a "how to write a good article" instruction, nor do they replace good decision making. So, the "rules" and guidelines are just a part of the decision making process, and there is usually latitude on how they are interpreted or to what degree they influence a broader decision.
Also, without even getting into secondary sets of rules, there are about 73 official policy pages and about 280 official guideline pages, many that are obscure, unknown, overlapping or with wording that is not carefully written. So whatever you are trying to do (such as win a debate or battle), you can probably find or interpret rules to help you win the battle even though enforcing that rule is not per se the concern of yours. In those cases, your objective isn't to enforce the rule, but instead use the rule to achieve a different purpose or outcome. In short, you are using technicalities to achieve a different objective than what the rule was designed to restrict or enforce. While not a good thing, this is not some horrible rare behavior, it is a common practice and the most common meaning of "wikilawyering".
All editors are expected to follow Wikipedia'spolicies and guidelines (P&G). Civil, succinct, and relevant analysis of P&G is not wikilawyering, but is the best way to mutually resolve disputes. On the other hand, when editors use irrelevant P&G technicalities to try to win a content dispute,WP:Consensus andWP:Disruption might apply. When editors use inappropriate P&G argumentation to drive other editors away from a discussion or perhaps even the project itself,WP:Bullying andWP:Harassment may be in play.
Types of wikilawyering vary in severity. At the mild end of the spectrum is just using technicalities to try to win on a content decision that is unrelated to the raised technicality. At the severe end of the spectrum is "weaponizing" the Wikipedia system to try to "get", deprecate, or eliminate the presence of an editor for objectives related to personal or content battles rather than to resolve the issue raised.
Some Wikipedians allege that the charge of wikilawyering is used, particularly by Wikipedians more influential than they, to avoid giving careful attention to their claims. It is also said that newer users tend to believe nuanced complex policy (particularlyWP:Neutral point of view) conforms to their own point of view, and will repeatedly refer to policy rather than provide rationale for their edits.
The wordwikilawyering typically has negative connotations, sometimes mild, sometimes more severe. Those utilizing the term should take care that they are not violating behavioral guidelines such asWP:No personal attacks andWP:Civility. Most importantly, they should use the term to discuss specific actions and not editors.
The types of wikilawyering vary from mild, commonplace, even inadvertent behavior to quite severe, deliberate misuse of the Wikipedia policies, guidelines, and systems. It can also be about a specific action or a broader characterization of the individual. So an assertion that it is occurring is not necessarily a strong accusation.
As with any critical term, care should be taken to, at most, criticize the practice or action and not attack the person. For example, the message, "Therefore, I conclude that you are stretching theWP:What Wikipedia is not policy here beyondcommon sense, i.e., you arewikilawyering", while aggressive, is not an insult, but rather a pointer to an identifiable wikibehavioral pattern. Similarly, "This proposal is wikilawyering a bit, because ..." is a comment on the content or nature of the proposal, not on the personality or motives of its author or supporters.
Because reasoned arguments in a debate necessarily include both elements of fact and references to principles, disputants who lack such an argument sometimes try to undermine arguments they cannot otherwise overcome by just tossing out the naked accusation that their opponent is a wikilawyer. This is not a good-faith tactic and does not foster a collegial, consensus-seeking atmosphere. Therefore, any accusation of wikilawyering should include a brief explanation justifying use of the term.
Occasionally, editors who engage insemantic discussions about the language of a policy or guideline, or propose minor changes in the wording of a policy or guideline, will be accused of wikilawyering. In such cases, it may make sense instead toassume good faith and engage in the discussion productively rather than tar those editors with the wikilawyering brush. And simply being a stickler about Wikipediapolicies/guidelines andprocess does not make an editor a wikilawyer; remember that Wikipedia has anArbitration Committee closely modelled on a court of law, a system ofelections of administrators and bureaucrats,Featured Article andGood Article review procedures, and various other formal processes.
Another example of misuse of the term is when it is known that an editor is actually a lawyer. Sometimes editors who are also lawyers are accused of wikilawyering simply because of how they explain their positions. However, simply being a lawyer does not mean that one is wikilawyering whenever participating in discussion.