Tardis:In-universe counterparts of minors

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Revision as of 01:52, 26 August 2024 by Scrooge MacDuck (talk | contribs) (Created page with "{{mosnav|p=Naming conventions|c=Naming conventions}} {{moss|When real-world children become involved with the DWU in a limited manner which still necessitates that they be covered as in-universe individuals to some extent, their last name should be temporarily omitted from coverage for fifteen years after release, owing to privacy concerns}} {{sc|T:IU CHILDREN}} Many DWU publications have a somewhat porous fourth wall which allows fans to write or otherwise inter...")
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When real-world children become involved with the DWU in a limited manner which still necessitates that they be covered as in-universe individuals to some extent, their last name should be temporarily omitted from coverage for fifteen years after release, owing to privacy concerns

Many DWU publications have a somewhat porous fourth wall which allows fans to write or otherwise interact with fictional characters, and, in the process, be woven into a DWU narrative. For example, various publications from Doctor Who Magazine to Doctor Who Adventures have at times answered letters to the editor in character as the Doctor.

Although this is not enough to warrant coverage of the real-world individual qua real-world individual (unlike appearing as an actor on television, albeit as oneself), it does mean that our Wiki must cover the fan in question as a character who once wrote a letter to the Doctor. This is typically innocuous, but might raise privacy concerns in the short term: having one's name and age printed out in a weekly physical magazine is one thing, a metafictional character page becoming forevermore the first Google result when someone searches for your name is quite another.

While adults, and presumed adults, are held to take their own responsibilities by writing in to such DWU media publishers, we take special precautions with minors and presumed minors. Until fifteen full years have elapsed after publication of the relevant DWU source, the pages regarding young readers' in-universe counterparts should omit their last names, thus neutralising the search-engine concerns and partially obscuring the link between the real person and the character. The "Behind the scenes" section of this page should clarify that the character is the counterpart of a real person, but also omit the full name, unless the child in question happens to already warrant real-world coverage for some other reason e.g. being a child actor or competition-winner, or unless consent is explicitly given to the Wiki for the use of the full name.