Board Thread:Consensus Track/@comment-3485828-20140722174414/@comment-26474238-20140722184454

Elchzard wrote:

GarouxBloodline wrote:

I do not need to read the blog you linked - I have personal knowledge on how COPPA works, and how much collateral damage it causes.

Does a local block enforce COPPA inherently? No; I never made that claim. But removing minors pre-maturely from a wiki helps remove the chance that their personal information will be revealed. Well, it makes clear Wikia's standpoint on the matter. Blocking for violating COPPA doesn't do anything to reduce the collateral damage to us, so there's no point in trying - we use Special:Contact if there's proof that someone is below the age of 13. This is the best we can do in terms of things that actually have an impact.

Anyway - what do you think about the questions raised in the original post? It is an understandable point - Wikia cannot force its independent communities to abide by its ToU. But when it comes to legal matters, it really is in the best interests of every Wikia wiki to do what it can to prevent incidents before Wikia themselves are forced to handle matters.

As for your questions:

1. Yes - if a user did not read the ToU before creating an account, and then publicly states they are underage, then that means they lack fundamental skills needed to be a truly constructive editor.

2. That should be enough. If they screw up, then they have to learn that there are consequences for their actions.

3. That really depends on the context. If it is public knowledge that a user is one age, and they jokingly say they are another age in chat, then there should be no issue. But if some relatively unknown user just jumps into chat or on a blog and states they are underage, then that should be taken into account.