Commons:Assume good faith

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This page is considered an official guideline on Wikimedia Commons. It illustrates standards or behaviors which most editors agree with in principle and generally follow. Feel free to update the page as needed, but please use the discussion page to propose major changes.

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This page in a nutshell:

Unless there is clear evidence to the contrary, assume that people who work on the project are trying to help it, not hurt it.
If criticism is needed, discuss editors' actions, but avoid accusing others of harmful motives without clear evidence.

If at all possible, assume good faith for the intentions of others, and try to help them or resolve disputes with them on that basis.

Good faith and newcomersEdit

It is important to be patient with newcomers, who will be unfamiliar with Commons' culture and rules, but may nonetheless turn out to be valuable contributors.

A newcomer's behavior probably seems appropriate to them, and a problem in that regard usually indicates unawareness or misunderstanding of Commons' culture rather than malicious intentions. Many new users who lack an intuitive grasp of Commons' customs are gradually brought around, once the logic behind these customs becomes clearer to them.

Good faith and copyrightEdit

When dealing with possible copyright violations, good faith means assuming that editors intend to comply with site policy and the law. That is different from assuming they have actually complied with either. Editors should do their best to document the files they upload, and material may be deleted if the documentation is incorrect or inadequate. Good faith corrective action includes informing editors of problems and helping them improve their practices.

Good faith and languagesEdit

Wikimedia Commons is an international and multilingual project, and its editors use many different languages to communicate. When using a second language, people can sometimes express themselves in ways that convey a different tone or message than the one intended.^[1] To avoid false assumptions about the intentions of other editors, keep in mind that language barriers can cause misunderstandings. Editors who use a language other than their own usually do so out of courtesy to others.

NotesEdit

↑ One common example is "demand", which French speakers sometimes use when they really mean "request".

External linksEdit

Links to similar good faith guidelines on other Wikimedia projects can be found in the sidebar.

[1] One common example is "demand", which French speakers sometimes use when they really mean "request".

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