Wikipedia:Content disclaimer
Wikipedia's notices
We may be wrong –
Use at your own risk –
We are not doctors –
We can't help with law –
You may disagree with what we include
This page has our disclaimer notice in simple language, so that it can be understood by more people.
For our official legal version, please see the English-language Wikipedia.
Wikipedia's goal is to collect all human knowledge. Because of this, Wikipedia contains millions of articles on a wide range of subjects. A few of these subjects are frequently censored by educational, governmental, corporate, parental and other filtering schemes.
- Some Wikipedia articles discuss words or language that you may find offensive. See en:Wikipedia:Profanity for more information.
- Some articles may contain names, images, artworks or descriptions of events that some cultures restrict access to.
- Wikipedia contains many different images. These may include graphic violence or sexual content. To hide images, see here.
- Many articles contain frank discussion of controversial topics. In some countries, it may be a crime to discuss these topics. Others contain information on things that might be dangerous. (see Wikipedia:General disclaimer and Wikipedia:Risk disclaimer).
- Wikipedia contains spoilers.
- Wikipedia may contain triggers for people with post-traumatic stress disorder.
- Wikipedia may contain images and videos which can trigger epileptic seizures or other medical conditions.
- It should be noted that as Wikipedia is open to changing by the public, there may at any time be graffiti present on Wikipedia.
- Certain parts of Wikipedia may contain information that is normally given by an expert in the field, such as a doctor, or a lawyer. Wikipedia cannot make sure that the information given is correct, and it cannot replace seeking the help of such a professional. Please note: Wikipedia does not give you opinion about the law, or advice about medical.
Wikipedia's current policy is to include such content, as long as it does not break any of our policies (especially Neutral point of view) nor the laws of the state of Florida in the United States, where Wikipedia is hosted. See a list of controversial issues for some examples of articles that may contain such content. Some of these articles contain warnings, but many do not.
In any case, Wikipedia is a work in progress, and many articles may contain errors, bias, duplication, or simply need tender loving care. We encourage readers to help us fix these problems. Most of our articles are written by people who are not subject-matter experts, and may lack academic or professional credentials in the area.
Wikipedia contains obscure information that would not be covered in a conventional encyclopedia. Wikipedia's coverage of subjects is patchy, based on the whims of its volunteer contributors (in particular, subjects of interest to young technical people are likely, but not certain, to receive heavier coverage than other subjects). Readers should not judge the importance of topics based on their coverage on Wikipedia, nor think a topic is important just because it is the subject of a Wikipedia article.
See also: Wikipedia:Verifiability.