Commons:Sexual content

Proposal at the time of vote — Poll — Summary of results

Note: As a great deal of text from the rejected proposal merely described existing Wikipedia policies and U.S. laws, it has been moved to Help:Sexual content. Ongoing policy proposals may be summarized here and discussed at the Talk page.

Proposal: Require assertion of consent at upload time

• Uploaders of self-produced sexual content should make an assertion that the subjects of photographs consented to the release of these images under terms compatible with the license chosen by that uploader. The provision of further evidence of consent is welcome using the OTRS process.

Proposal: Sexual content is intrinsically identifiable

• Previous discussions expressed concern that isolated photographs of sexual organs might still become identifiable, for example, by being uploaded together with other photos of a subject, or by EXIF information, or by watermarks, or by clothing or tattoos, or by legal forensic action, or (possibly) by subsequent identification by the uploader or others. The draft put up for vote proposed to treat such cropped photos according to Commons:Photographs of identifiable persons (if taken directly by Wikimedia contributors rather than from publications), even if they appeared to be anonymous.

Status quo handling of controversial content

Don't upload anything illegal

The Wikimedia Foundation is a foundation under the law of the US federal state of Florida.(see Commons:General disclaimer). As such, its must comply with the laws of Florida, US. Additionally, Wikimedia's servers are physically located in Florida and Amsterdam.

Since we are committed to complying with all laws and regulations, there are many classes of content which not permitted on Wikimedia servers.

For example, Commons does not host:

• Photographs that would be illegal to host because they constitute 'child pornography' as defined by relevant law.
• Photographs that would be illegal to host because they contain individuals under the age of majority.
• Photographs that would be illegal to host because the individual did not (or could not) give the necessary consent as required by law.
• Images that would be illegal to host because of the work's copyright status.

Don't upload 'private' photographs of identifiable people without their consent

Main Policy: Commons:Photographs of identifiable people

Commons guidelines hold that images of identifiable people sometimes require special consideration. Does the photograph unfairly demean or ridicule the subject? Was the photograph unfairly obtained? Does the photograph unreasonably intrude into the subject's private or family life?

Since controversial content may depict extremely private activities, extra care may be required in ensuring photographic subjects have consented to the use of the image. See Commons:Photographs of identifiable people for more details.

If you find a private photograph of yourself posted here without your consent, you do not need to go through the usual process to propose deletion of the file: you may contact the Wikimedia Foundation directly and request an "office action" to remove the image quickly and completely without public discussion.

Don't upload unwanted, useless content

Commons has some special policies designed to limit the uploading of some specific types of relatively-useless content. For example, Commons generally doesn't host:

• Non-notable content uploaded exclusively for purposes advertisement or promotion (COM:ADVERT)
• Highly redundant/poor quality images, such as grainy photographs taken of one's own genitals. See {{Nopenis}}.
• Content of limited appeal to a broader community, such as personal snapshots you just want to share with your friends and family. (Commons is not your personal free web host.)

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