Wikipedia:No sorcery threats

This is a humorous essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors and is made to be humorous. This page is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. This essay isn't meant to be taken seriously.

Shortcuts WP:SORCERY WP:NST WP:NOSORCERY WP:JUJU WP:NOJUJU

As global Internet access continues its relentless expansion into the most remote corners of the world, by 2020, less than half of all people online are from the WEIRD ("Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic") world. Usually, when trolls living in predominantly white middle-class suburbs get angry, they resort to standard four-letter obscenities or sometimes legal threats. But as participation expands from around the world, angry trolls may come from places where legal systems are practically non-functional or even non-existent. As a result, they may resort to bizarre means of harassment such as threats of involving African spirits summoned by village sorcerers.

While traditional African religions and animistic traditions are by large peaceful and involve benevolent spirits, certain disgruntled Wikipedia editors may attempt to invoke malevolent spirits in order to gain an upper hand.

While this may seem bizarre and at best comical to the average person from a developed industrialized society, threats involving witchcraft, witch doctors, juju, sangoma, black magic, and other scientifically questionable phenomena may be distressful to people from societies where witchcraft is literally still widely practiced and feared, such as parts of rural Papua New Guinea, Nigeria, or India. Some Pentecostal Christians or New Age sect practitioners may also find such messages to be unsettling. These stories are nothing to fear, but should be considered at a more serious level only if they venture outside the fictitious supernatural realm and contain threats of, for example, libel, outing, or physical violence. In such cases, please refer to Wikipedia:How to deal with harassment and Wikipedia:Responding to threats of harm.