Wikipedia:Do not start hoaxes
 | This page is a guideline on the Simple English Wikipedia. Many editors agree with the ideas on this page. It is a good idea to follow it, but it is not policy. You can change the page as needed, but please use the talk page to make sure that other editors agree with any big changes. |
A hoax is something in Wikipedia that is trying to make readers think it is correct when it is not. This is not what should go on Wikipedia. According to our five pillars, Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, meaning everything on this website has to be accurate (or correct), with good sources on pages to prove what we put on articles is true and not just made up.
On Wikipedia and other MediaWiki websites, starting hoaxes, especially when done over and over again, is considered to be disruptive changing. Users who continue to add hoaxes to Wikipedia can be blocked or banned from Wikipedia for breaking our rules.
Instead of adding wrong information to Wikipedia, a more useful thing to do is to try to find wrong things already in Wikipedia and correct them. You can do this the same way you help clean up vandalism. If you find a page that you think is a hoax, see if you can revert it to the last good version, without the hoax(es). If you cannot do this, you can ask the page to be deleted. If the hoax is very obvious, it can be quickly deleted by adding {{Qd-hoax}} to the page. Otherwise, it can be listed at the RfD page.