Wikipedia:WikiProject Integrity/Principles

(As of this writing) these were laid out by the project's initiating editor. Some people adhere to them, some don't. You don't have to adhere to all or even most of these to belong to and/or help the project.

Basic principles

• It's not OK to edit the Wikipedia in return for financial compensation, or under the orders of any government, corporation, or similar organization. It is not against policy. But it is still detrimental to the project.
• No person is capable of accepting financial compensation from a third party while editing material affecting that third party's interests in a genuinely fair-minded manner. They may say that they are. They may think that they are. But they're not.
• A person accepting financial compensation from a third party is placing himself in the following conundrum:
  • If they are not willing and able to present the totality of properly encyclopedic material about their client, warts and all, with a truly fair-minded ability to give proper weight to material which may be inimical to their client's interests, or support the inclusion of such material when appropriate, then they should not be editing the Wikipedia.
  • And if they are, their client should fire them.
  • And in either case, they are acting unethically.
• The presence of paid editors is demoralizing to the Wikipedia community and very dangerous to the Wikipedia's reputation and long-term viability.
• Public relations is an honorable profession. Private entities in free society have the right to defend their reputations and fairly advance their interests, and practicing public relations under the ethical guidelines of the Public Relations Society of America is honorable and useful to society. Causing harm, contention, demoralization, resource waste, and disrepute to the people's encyclopedia isn't.

Some project members may hold that editing by avowed paid agents should be permitted for tactical reasons (to prevent worse offenses by convert paid agents) but closely controlled and monitored; others are opposed to it altogether. But editors who believe that paid editing is a positive good are probably not in accordance with the founding principles of this Wikiproject.

Quotes

• "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith..." - 1 Timothy 6:10
• "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair
• "It is not ok with me that anyone ever set up a service selling their services as a Wikipedia editor, administrator, bureaucrat, etc... Just imagine the disaster for our reputation. Are we free and independent scribes doing our best to record all human knowledge? Or are we paid shills. I know what I choose." - Jimmy Wales, 10 June 2009}
• "I think it is perfectly appropriate for members of the general public, including active Wikipedians, to contact companies who are funding inappropriate behavior at Wikipedia to let them know that it is not appreciated. I think such activity can and should result in public scandal for the perpetrators... we have the power to do something about this, so there is no need to despair. - Jimmy Wales, 5 January 2012}}
• "A member shall act in the best interests of the client or employer, even subordinating the member's personal interests." - Public Relations Society of America Member Code of Ethics
• "Core Principle: Avoiding real, potential or perceived conflicts of interest builds the trust of clients, employers, and the public. Intent: To build trust with the public by avoiding or ending situations that put one's personal or professional interests in conflict with society's interests." - Ethical Guidance for Public Relations Practitioners, Public Relations Society of America
• There is no such thing as ABF/AGF when it comes to PR participation, because PR is agnostic to the success or failure of the independent websites it works with. Any benefit or damage is merely incidental. -- User:CorporateM