View source for Wikipedia:Assume good faith

==About good faith==

Everyone makes mistakes, both behavioral (such as [[Wikipedia:No personal attacks|personal attacks]]) and content-based (such as adding [[WP:No original research|original research]]). Most of the time, we can correct such mistakes with simple reminders. However, there will be disagreements on Wikipedia for which no policy or guideline has an easy answer. When disagreements happen, ill intent may not be involved. Keep a [[Wikipedia:Staying cool when the editing gets hot|cool head]], and consider [[Wikipedia:Dispute resolution|dispute resolution]] if disagreements seem intractable; many of them are not.

Violation of policies—such as engaging in [[WP:Sockpuppetry|sockpuppetry]], violating [[WP:Consensus|consensus]], and so on—may be perpetrated in either good or bad faith. There are processes for dealing with all of these, and [[WP:Blocking policy|sanctions]] for repeated violation of policy will apply regardless of whether bad faith was involved or not.

===Good faith and newcomers===
{{main|Wikipedia:Please do not bite the newcomers}}
[[File:Badam milk spilled.jpg|thumb|It's a big mess now, but remember: The editor who spilled this probably wasn't ''trying'' to make a mess for you to clean up.]]

It is important to be patient with newcomers, who will be unfamiliar with Wikipedia's 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 Wikipedian culture. It is not uncommon for a newcomer to believe that an unfamiliar policy should be changed to match their notion of how things should function, especially if they notice that there is already some level of disagreement over the policy in question. Similarly, many newcomers want to have their contributions to articles accepted without question, especially those which pertain to subjects on which they have extensive knowledge. Behaviors arising from these perspectives, while possibly misguided, are usually not malicious and should not be treated as such. Many new users who lack an intuitive grasp of Wikipedia customs are gradually brought around, once the logic behind these customs becomes clearer to them.

===Good faith and copyright===
{{main|Wikipedia:Copyright violations}}
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[[File:Fortune cookie broken 20040628 223252 1.jpg|thumb|The editor who broke this was probably just trying to get information out.  It's still a problem, but their goal was to help.]]
When dealing with possible copyright violations, good faith means assuming that editors {{em|intend}} to comply with site policy and the law. That is different from assuming they have {{em|actually}} complied with either. Editors have a proactive obligation to document image uploads, etc. 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 administrative action===
When dealing with potential breaches of policy, administrators should not assume editors have breached policy in bad faith absent evidence to that effect.