Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2020 January 29

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January 29

Judge Jury and executioner

Are there any instances where a decision to box a question (or otherwise stop any further discussion) on the reference desk has been overturned following discussion on the talk page. If so, I would be curious to know the percentage both ways. I ask as it appears to me that Wikipedia has a prevailing tendency to curb the freedom of speech of the questioners. I may be wrong and hope to be proven wrong. Thanks. Anton 81.131.40.58 (talk) 09:52, 29 January 2020 (UTC)

I don't know, but you should have posted this question on the ref desk talk page. It would be better if you could delete your question (and this reply) and repost it over there. --Viennese Waltz 10:06, 29 January 2020 (UTC)

Please note that no where on Wikipedia do you have freedom of speech. It is not a concept that exists here. What we have are standards and guidelines for what is an appropriate topic of discussion in this specific forum, and what is not. The idea that you should be able to say anything, anywhere, at any time, and that everyone there has to accept what you say uncritically, and also has to allow you to continue to say anything regardless of what you say; that is not a concept that exists anywhere in the world, less of all at this forum, which as stated at the top, is designed to handle certain types of questions, and not others. If you ask a question which is not of the type this forum is designed to handle, we will direct you to a different place to ask it. That is not censorship, and it is not a violation of any freedom you thought you may be entitled to. Because you aren't. --Jayron32 12:37, 29 January 2020 (UTC)

There is no constitutional right to edit Wikipedia. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:19, 29 January 2020 (UTC)

You might not have noticed it, but Wikipedia is not a public service. It is a product provided by an individual foundation. The Wikimedia foundation can set its own rules regarding what is accepted here. JIP | Talk 13:42, 29 January 2020 (UTC)

Are you able to answer the question? Are there any instances where a decision to box a question (or otherwise stop any further discussion) on the reference desk has been overturned? Anton 81.131.40.58 (talk) 14:52, 29 January 2020 (UTC)

It depends what you mean by a "decision". We had a user some time back who would box up things that appeared to be rules violations, and sometimes they would stay boxed up, and other times they would be unboxed, and then sometimes reboxed. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:05, 29 January 2020 (UTC)

The answer is yes, at least once in history, a discussion which was initially closed was later re-opened. --Jayron32 17:01, 29 January 2020 (UTC)

Agree with the point made by Viennese Waltz that this question would be more appropriate on Wikipedia talk:Reference desk. Bus stop (talk) 17:26, 29 January 2020 (UTC)

To answer your first question, it's certainly happened in both directions. People make mistakes and consensus on the talk page hopefully corrects the mistakes. But I doubt anyone is keeping statistics on it. If you need an exact count, You'll have to go through the archives yourself and count them up.

That'll be a project, but it's entirely doable. Good luck. ApLundell (talk) 22:37, 31 January 2020 (UTC)