Editing Incubator escapee wiki:Protection policy (section)

==== Content disputes<span class="anchor" id="full-dispute"></span><!--former tag allows section referencing while accommodating section name changes. DO NOT REMOVE IT.--> ====
{{See also|Wikipedia:Stable version}}
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While content disputes and [[Wikipedia:Edit war|edit warring]] can be addressed with user [[Wikipedia:Blocking policy|blocks]] issued by [[WP:UNINVOLVED|uninvolved]] administrators, allowing normal page editing by other editors at the same time, the protection policy provides an alternative approach as administrators have the discretion to temporarily fully protect an article to end an ongoing edit war. This approach may better suit multi-party disputes and contentious content, as it makes talk page [[Wikipedia:Consensus|consensus]] a requirement for implementation of [[Wikipedia:Edit requests|requested edits]].
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When protecting a page because of a content dispute, administrators have a duty to avoid protecting a version that contains policy-violating content, such as [[WP:Vandalism|vandalism]], [[WP:COPYVIO|copyright violations]], [[WP:Libel|defamation]], or [[WP:BLP|poor-quality coverage of living people]]. Administrators are deemed to remain uninvolved when exercising discretion on whether to apply protection to the current version of an article, or to an older, [[WP:STABLE|stable]], or pre-edit-war version.

Fully protected pages may not be edited except to make changes that are uncontroversial or for which there is clear consensus. Editors convinced that the protected version of an article contains policy-violating content, or that protection has rewarded edit warring or disruption by establishing a contentious revision, may identify a stable version ''prior to'' the edit war and [[Wikipedia:Edit requests|request]] reversion to that version. Before making such a request, editors should consider how independent editors might view the suggestion and recognize that continuing an edit war is grounds for being blocked.

Administrators who have made substantive content changes to an article are considered [[WP:INVOLVED|involved]] and must not use their advanced permissions to further their own positions. When involved in a dispute, it is almost always wisest to respect the editing policies that bind all editors and call for input from an uninvolved administrator, rather than to invite controversy by acting unilaterally.