Board Thread:Consensus Track/@comment-3485828-20140722174414/@comment-26474238-20140722180044

Elchzard wrote:

GarouxBloodline wrote:

Elchzard wrote:

GarouxBloodline wrote: We are legally obligated to ban underage users. Many do not take COPPA seriously, but the fact of the matter is that if there is a wiki that refuses to acknowledge COPPA laws, or modifies it in any way to impede the law's intended purpose, then the wiki is opening up channels for legal action should a minor's personal information ever be revealed. Will legal action be taken against this wiki specifically? No; Wikia will take the brunt of that. But I hope everyone realizes that should legal actions ever be taken because this wiki failed to abide by COPPA, then there is always the strong possibility that this wiki will be taken down. Temporarily or permanently is up for whatever particular situation arises. I'm afraid you're wrong on that one. We're not legally obliged to do anything. You should read this blog on community central. Local bans do not enforce COPPA, and therefore there is no legal obligation to any local administrator. Wikia does not want us to police their ToU for them. You are failing to understand me: we are not legally responsible, but we are legally obligated. If Wikia comes under fire from COPPA laws, then actions have to be taken to make sure the situation is contained until the matter has been thoroughly resolved. Just because a wiki is protected by its host, does not mean it will not suffer from legal remifications. If you honestly do not believe this wiki will be either temporarily or permanently shut down should a minor's personal information ever be revealed, then you are sorely mistaken on how serious COPPA laws are treated world-wide.

I don't think you read the blog I linked. A Wikia member of staff explicitly states that "a local block does not enforce COPPA" and "we do not ask admins to police our terms of use". The only thing we are obligated to do is use Special:Contact and inform Wikia staff about underage users, when there is proof that they're underage (ie they have edited pages saying so).

But that is not what this thread is about. Your input is definitely appreciated, but this is about our local policy about minors - the Terms of Use are a very different thing, which has been covered at length in other forums across this site, with clear endpoints that I've made clear here. 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.