Wikipedia:Sealawyering

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In the context of Wikipedia, sealawyering is the practice of making frivolous requests for discussion or evidence whilst feigning civility and misapplying policies and guidelines. It is a portmanteau of "sealioning" and "wikilawyering". Many cases of sealioning involve wikiawyering, and wikilawyering often goes hand-in-hand with sealioning. In such cases, the behavior can be called sealawyering.

The "sea" in sealawyering can also be considered a reference to the fact that those who engage in such behavior often flood discussions with relentless inquiries, resulting in a sea of comments that participants have to wade through.

Explanation

Sealawyering is a form of civil POV pushing that involves engaging in sealioning and wikilawyering at the same time. Users who do so would attempt to wear down other editors through frivolous discussion and argumentation while feigning civility (sealioning) and citing policies and guidelines in such a manner as to wrongfully suggest that policy favors their proposals or justifies their behavior, or that others' responses to their actions are not justified. (wikilawyering)

For example, a user who engages in sealawyering might start a discussion to make a questionable proposal. When other editors express disagreement with the user, the user responds with long-winded arguments about how their proposal aligns with policy and relentlessly asks critics to explain exactly what is wrong with their proposal or why they don't agree with it. When called out for bludgeoning the discussion and wasting contributors' time, they might accuse those who call them out for such behavior of being uncivil and attempting to silence them for questioning other editors. When they fail to get their way, they might complain about policies being poorly enforced. When blocked for disruptive editing, they might accuse administrators of abusing their power.

Explanation

See also