Content Classification Guide
Snapshot
The Content Classification Guide establishes the taxonomy used to organize, label, review, and publish material on EpsteinWiki. It applies to every Person page, Organization page, Case page, Evidence page, Timeline page, property page, investigation, research resource, image, document, quotation, allegation, and source.
Classification answers several different questions:
- What kind of EpsteinWiki page is this?
- What kind of source or evidence does it contain?
- What does the source establish?
- What is the legal or procedural status of the claim?
- Does the content require a warning, privacy protection, restricted handling, or removal?
- What review is required before publication?
These questions must not be collapsed into one label. A document can be a primary source while containing an unverified allegation. A court filing can be authentic while the claims inside it remain disputed. A person can be named in a record without being accused of wrongdoing. Sensitive material can be newsworthy while still requiring redaction or restricted handling.
Use Epstein Data search, the Search Index, the full text corpus, and page classifications to locate and sort records. Always verify automated labels against the original EFTA document.
The Classification Order
Classify content in this order:
- Page type: What kind of EpsteinWiki page should contain the material?
- Subject role: How does the person or organization relate to the record?
- Evidence type: What kind of document, media, testimony, or record is the source?
- Source strength: How direct, authentic, complete, and authoritative is the source?
- Claim status: Is the statement documented, alleged, disputed, inferred, unverified, contradicted, or adjudicated?
- Legal status: Was anyone accused, charged, acquitted, convicted, found liable, dismissed, or settled?
- Sensitivity level: Can the content be published as is, published with care, restricted, or never hosted?
- Publication status: Is the page a draft, under review, published, disputed, corrected, archived, or withdrawn?
Do not begin with a dramatic conclusion and work backward to a category. Classification follows the evidence.
Page Type Classification
Every page should have one primary page type. Add related categories and tags only after the primary type is clear.
Person Page
Use for a verified individual whose biography, role, evidence appearances, legal status, or survivor account requires a dedicated page.
Follow the Person Page Template.
Organization Page
Use for a company, bank, trust, foundation, nonprofit, university, law firm, government agency, modeling agency, media organization, estate, or other institution.
Follow the Organization Page Template.
Case Page
Use for a criminal prosecution, civil lawsuit, appeal, victims’ rights action, enforcement proceeding, estate case, public records action, or other court matter.
Follow the Case Page Template.
Evidence Page
Use for an individual document, exhibit, EFTA file, court filing, email, financial record, photograph, audio file, video, flight record, address book, telephone record, property record, corporate filing, or evidence collection.
Follow the Evidence Page Template.
Timeline Page
Use for a sourced chronology focused on a person, organization, case, property, relationship, investigation, or topic.
Follow the Timeline Page Template.
Property or Location Page
Use for a residence, island, ranch, office, aircraft hangar, airport, hotel, school, modeling location, court, prison, or other place with a sustained role in the record.
The page should distinguish ownership, control, residence, travel, alleged events, evidence recovery, and later legal activity.
Investigation or Sleuth Report
Use for an evidence based analysis that connects several primary records to answer a defined research question. Clearly separate documented facts, allegations, gaps, and editorial analysis.
An investigation is not a substitute for individual Evidence pages. Link the receipts.
Topic or Explainer Page
Use for a legal agreement, investigative method, pattern, policy, historical context, financial mechanism, evidence concept, or other subject that is not primarily one person, organization, case, or record.
Resource or Directory Page
Use for research databases, document archives, court tools, survivor resources, reporting collections, public agencies, or contributor tools. Describe ownership, scope, access, limitations, and verification needs.
News Update
Use for a dated summary of current developments. News updates must link original reporting or primary records and should point readers to permanent Person, Organization, Case, Evidence, and Timeline pages.
Editorial Policy or Contributor Guide
Use for standards, templates, workflows, safety rules, verification methods, moderation procedures, and research instructions.
Subject Role Classification
Role labels describe how a person or organization appears in the documented record. They are not moral verdicts.
Survivor
Use when a person has publicly identified as a survivor or appears under a protected pseudonym in an appropriate public source. Preserve the person’s chosen terminology and privacy.
Witness
Use when a person supplied testimony, a declaration, an interview, a tip, or other information. A witness is not automatically a victim, suspect, or participant.
Convicted perpetrator
Use only when a criminal conviction supports the label. Identify the case, counts, sentence, and appeal status.
Person found civilly liable
Use when a court or jury entered a civil liability finding. Do not use “convicted” for civil cases.
Charged defendant
Use when prosecutors filed a criminal charge. A charge is not a conviction.
Accused person
Use when an identified source made an allegation. State the source, date, forum, response, and outcome.
Documented associate or social contact
Use only when records establish repeated or meaningful association. Define the evidence. Do not use the label for a person who merely appears once in a list, email, photograph, or record.
Employee, contractor, or service provider
Identify the employer, dates, duties, authority, and evidence. Employment does not by itself establish knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
Attorney, prosecutor, judge, or investigator
Identify the exact professional role, client, office, case, dates, actions, and rulings. Legal representation is not endorsement of a client’s conduct.
Financial, medical, academic, media, or institutional contact
Identify the precise relationship, people involved, dates, transactions, services, or programs. Do not convert professional contact into personal association or misconduct.
Person named in records
Use when the evidence supports only a documented appearance. State the exact record and manner of appearance.
Organization named in records
Use when an entity appears in evidence but its active role, knowledge, or conduct is not established.
Read Ethical Rules for Naming Public Figures before assigning a role that implies misconduct.
Evidence Type Classification
Classify the source according to what it is, not according to the conclusion a contributor hopes to draw from it.
Court and legal records
- Complaint or petition
- Indictment or information
- Affidavit or declaration
- Deposition transcript
- Hearing or trial transcript
- Motion, brief, or memorandum
- Court order or opinion
- Verdict or judgment
- Plea agreement
- Sentencing record
- Settlement agreement
- Exhibit or exhibit list
- Docket entry
Each type has a different legal meaning. A complaint contains allegations. An indictment contains charges. An order contains a ruling. A verdict or judgment contains an adjudicated result.
Law enforcement and government records
- FBI intake report
- FBI FD 302 interview report
- Police report
- Evidence log or receipt
- Search warrant or affidavit
- Investigative memorandum
- Agency correspondence
- FOIA response
- Inspector general report
- Regulatory action
- Legislative report or hearing record
An intake report proves information was reported. It does not automatically prove the agency verified it, opened an investigation, or reached a finding.
Communications
- Letter
- Text message or chat
- Telephone log
- Voicemail
- Calendar entry
- Meeting invitation
- Contact book entry
- Memorandum
Distinguish sender, recipient, copied recipient, forwarded material, quoted text, and people merely mentioned. A scheduled meeting is not confirmed attendance.
Financial records
- Bank statement
- Wire transfer record
- Check
- Credit card record
- Invoice or receipt
- Ledger
- Loan or investment record
- Trust record
- Tax return or Form 990
- Suspicious activity report
- Internal bank review
A transaction establishes movement of money. It does not automatically establish purpose, knowledge, benefit, or criminality.
Travel and location records
- Pilot log
- Flight manifest
- Passenger list
- Customs or border record
- Commercial itinerary
- Passport or visa record
- Hotel record
- Vehicle or vessel record
- Property record
- Calendar or scheduling record
A listed passenger may not have boarded. An itinerary may be planned rather than completed. A location mention does not prove presence.
Corporate and institutional records
- Formation filing
- Annual report
- Operating agreement
- Corporate resolution
- Board minutes
- Regulatory filing
- Employment record
- Contract
- Policy document
- Donation or grant record
- Academic appointment or program record
Separate legal ownership, beneficial ownership, management, employment, signing authority, and institutional knowledge.
Visual and recorded media
- Photograph
- Video
- Audio
- Screenshot
- Scan
- Map or diagram
- Transcript
Record provenance, date, location, creator, edits, crop, transcription method, and identification method. A photograph establishes visible presence, not the nature of a relationship.
Survivor and witness accounts
- Sworn testimony
- Declaration or affidavit
- Law enforcement interview
- Court statement
- Public interview
- Book or memoir
- Public speech or advocacy statement
Preserve attribution, context, date precision, and the distinction between direct knowledge, hearsay, interpretation, and corroboration.
Journalism and secondary research
- Investigative article
- News report
- Documentary
- Podcast
- Book
- Academic paper
- Research database
- Investigative report
Secondary material can provide context and identify records. Whenever possible, locate and link the primary source.
Leads
- Anonymous tip
- Social media post
- Unsourced compilation
- Unauthenticated screenshot
- Automated summary
- Automated entity match
- Face match
- Network suggestion
- Rumor or unattributed claim
Leads can guide research. They cannot independently support a published allegation or identity.
Source Strength Classification
Source strength and claim status are separate. An authentic primary document may contain a false or unverified claim.
Grade A: Authoritative primary record
Use for final judgments, verdicts, official court orders, authenticated government records, official registries, and direct records whose provenance and meaning are clear.
Grade A supports what the record officially establishes. It does not support conclusions beyond the document’s scope.
Grade B: Direct primary evidence
Use for authenticated emails, bank records, flight records, photographs, contracts, calendars, business records, and contemporaneous records with clear provenance.
Grade B can document actions, transactions, communications, or presence. Interpretation may still be disputed.
Grade C: Sworn or attributable account
Use for complaints, affidavits, depositions, testimony, law enforcement interviews, survivor statements, and identified public accounts.
Grade C supports the fact that the person made the statement and may provide substantive evidence. It does not automatically convert the statement into an adjudicated fact.
Grade D: Credible secondary source
Use for reporting or research that identifies sources, cites records, explains methods, and corrects errors.
Grade D should be replaced or supplemented with primary evidence whenever available.
Grade E: Lead only
Use for anonymous, unsourced, automated, ambiguous, or unauthenticated material. Grade E does not support publication of a new factual allegation.
Do not average several Grade E sources into a stronger grade. Repetition is not corroboration when all versions trace to the same unsupported claim.
Claim Status Classification
Every consequential statement should have a status supported by nearby language and sourcing.
Documented
A reliable record directly supports the narrow factual statement.
Adjudicated
A court or jury made the stated finding. Identify the exact case, issue, and current appellate status.
Officially determined
A regulator, inspector general, government agency, or other identified authority made the stated finding. Explain the authority and scope.
Alleged
An identified person, complaint, charging document, report, or publication made the claim. Attribute it.
Disputed
A person or institution materially contests the claim, or reliable sources conflict. Present the dispute fairly.
Corroborated
Independent evidence supports a material part of the claim. Identify what was corroborated and what remains unverified.
Inferred
The conclusion is a reasoned interpretation of documented facts. Explain the reasoning and do not present it as direct evidence.
Unverified
The available evidence does not confirm the claim. Unverified claims normally remain out of published narrative unless the fact of the claim itself is relevant.
Contradicted
Reliable evidence conflicts with the claim. Explain the conflict. Do not label a claim false unless the evidence supports that conclusion.
Retracted or withdrawn
The source withdrew the statement or a publisher retracted it. Preserve the history when it remains relevant and explain the reason when known.
False
Use only when authoritative evidence establishes falsity. Do not use “false” merely because a claim was denied, dismissed, or not proven.
Legal Status Classification
Legal status must be stated separately from subject role and claim status.
Never charged
No verified criminal charge was filed concerning the conduct discussed. This does not prove or disprove the allegation.
Charged
Prosecutors filed specified criminal charges. A charge is not guilt.
Acquitted
A judge or jury returned a not guilty result on specified counts.
Convicted
A guilty plea or verdict produced a conviction. State the counts, sentence, and appeal status.
Civil claim filed
A plaintiff alleged a legal claim. Filing does not establish liability.
Found liable
A civil court or jury found liability on a specified claim.
Dismissed
State whether the dismissal was voluntary or ordered, with or without prejudice, procedural or on the merits.
Settled
The parties resolved the matter through agreement. State whether liability was admitted, denied, or left unaddressed.
Pending
The matter remains unresolved. Include the docket check date.
Deceased before adjudication
The person died before the claim or charge was adjudicated. Do not imply guilt or exoneration from that procedural fact.
Use the Case Page Template for complete procedural history.
Sensitivity Classification
Sensitivity determines how content is handled, not whether it is important.
Level One: Standard public material
Public court records, government documents, corporate filings, ordinary professional biographies, public statements, and non sensitive evidence can usually be published with normal verification.
Level Two: Publish with care
Use for sexual abuse descriptions, trafficking allegations, suicide, violence, medical information already central to a public case, survivor testimony, graphic language, disputed allegations, and records containing personal details that can be safely summarized.
Requirements include a content warning, careful redaction, narrow quotation, precise attribution, and editorial review.
Level Three: Restricted handling
Use for records containing survivor identifying information, private medical details, addresses, telephone numbers, personal email addresses, financial account numbers, login information, nonpublic witness data, unredacted information about minors, or explicit descriptions not necessary for public understanding.
Do not publish the raw material. Create a redacted or summarized public version only after review.
Level Four: Prohibited material
Never upload, store, reproduce, link directly, or describe in exploitable detail:
- Child sexual abuse material
- Nonconsensual intimate imagery
- Explicit images of survivors
- Sexualized imagery of minors
- Credentials, passwords, authentication tokens, or private keys
- Information that creates an immediate safety threat
- Material whose possession or distribution is unlawful
Escalate prohibited material through the appropriate legal, platform, or law enforcement process. Do not circulate it among contributors.
Read Handling Sensitive Material before working with Level Two, Level Three, or Level Four content.
Content Warning Classification
Use a warning when readers need notice before encountering sensitive material. Place it before the relevant section.
Approved warning categories include:
- Sexual abuse
- Child sexual abuse and exploitation
- Sex trafficking
- Grooming and coercion
- Suicide and death
- Self harm
- Violence or threats
- Medical or mental health information
- Graphic or explicit language
- Sensitive survivor testimony
- Racist, antisemitic, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, or otherwise dehumanizing language in a source
Warnings should be specific without previewing graphic details. Do not use warnings as decoration on routine material.
Publication Status Classification
Every page should have a clear internal publication status.
Draft
Research or writing is incomplete. The page is not ready for public reliance.
Evidence review
Sources, links, quotations, identity, and classification are being checked.
Sensitive review
Privacy, survivor safety, legal risk, or prohibited content requires specialized review.
Ready for editorial review
The contributor completed the template and verification checklist.
Published
The page passed review and is publicly available.
Update required
A later filing, correction, new evidence, broken link, or status change requires revision.
Disputed
A material identity, source, fact, or classification is challenged and requires review. State the issue without treating the challenge as proof of error.
Corrected
A material error was fixed and a correction note was added.
Archived
The page remains available for historical reference but has been replaced or is no longer actively maintained.
Withdrawn
The page is removed from ordinary publication because its core claim, identity, sourcing, or safety basis failed. Preserve an internal record of the reason.
Required Classification Block
Every new page should contain or record the following fields during editorial review:
**Primary page type:** [Person, Organization, Case, Evidence, Timeline, Property, Investigation, Topic, Resource, News, or Editorial Guide]
**Subject role:** [Precise role or not applicable]
**Primary evidence type:** [Document or source type]
**Source strength:** [Grade A, B, C, D, or E]
**Claim status:** [Documented, adjudicated, officially determined, alleged, disputed, corroborated, inferred, unverified, contradicted, retracted, withdrawn, or false]
**Legal status:** [Precise status or not applicable]
**Sensitivity:** [Level One, Two, Three, or Four]
**Content warning:** [Category or none]
**Publication status:** [Draft, evidence review, sensitive review, ready, published, update required, disputed, corrected, archived, or withdrawn]
**Reviewer:** [Name or initials]
**Last reviewed:** [Month Day, Year]The public page does not need to display every internal workflow field. It must display any label necessary to prevent readers from misunderstanding the evidence, allegation, legal status, or safety warning.
Categories and Tags
Categories organize broad page types and major subjects. Tags connect specific names, entities, locations, cases, evidence types, and themes.
Use one primary category and only the additional categories necessary for navigation. Do not assign every plausible category.
Recommended category families include:
- People
- Survivors and Witnesses
- The Enablers
- Organizations
- Financial Institutions
- Medical Personnel
- Academic Institutions
- Legal and Court Records
- Criminal Cases
- Civil Litigation
- Evidence
- Flight Logs and Travel
- Financial Records
- Communications
- Photographs and Media
- Properties and Locations
- Timelines
- Investigations and Sleuth Reports
- Research Tools and Resources
Tags should use consistent spelling. Prefer the verified full name of a person or organization. Include the EFTA number on Evidence pages. Avoid accusatory tags that exceed the legal or evidentiary status.
Automated Classification Rules
Epstein Data provides document and page classifications that can help researchers filter a large corpus. The Search Index groups documents by type, while page classifications can assign different labels to pages inside the same file.
These labels are automated research aids. They can be wrong. A long EFTA file may contain an email header, bank statement, court exhibit, scanned image, invoice, and transcript in one document. A classifier may identify only the visible page structure and miss the legal or evidentiary context.
Before using an automated label:
- Open the complete EFTA record.
- Review the first page, surrounding pages, and attachments.
- Check the original filename and concordance metadata.
- Determine whether the page is an original record, exhibit, copy, summary, or attachment.
- Compare the classification confidence and alternative labels when available.
- Replace the automated label with a human verified classification on EpsteinWiki.
Never classify a person as a survivor, perpetrator, accused person, or criminal participant based solely on automated extraction.
Classification Decision Guide
Ask these questions in order.
What is the central subject?
If it is one person, use a Person page. If it is one entity, use an Organization page. If it is one court matter, use a Case page. If it is one record, use an Evidence page. If sequence is central, use a Timeline page.
What is the strongest source?
Locate the primary record. Identify whether it is a court finding, direct documentary evidence, sworn account, credible reporting, or lead.
What does the source actually establish?
Write the narrow fact. Then list what the source does not establish.
Is misconduct alleged?
Identify the accuser, forum, date, response, corroboration, legal status, and outcome. If those details are unavailable, the claim may not be publishable.
Does the material identify or endanger a survivor?
Apply the sensitivity level before uploading or quoting it.
Does the page require a specialized template?
Use the Person, Organization, Case, Evidence, or Timeline template. Do not invent a new structure when an established template applies.
Is a second review required?
Serious allegations, disputed identity, survivor information, medical records, explicit content, sealed material, and legal uncertainty require another editor.
Common Classification Errors
Treating document type as truth status
An FBI report can contain an unverified tip. A complaint can contain disputed allegations. An email can repeat a rumor. Authenticity and truth are separate questions.
Treating a mention as participation
A person named in a message, calendar, address book, article, or forwarded document is not automatically a participant.
Treating association as misconduct
Travel, communication, employment, a payment, a photograph, or event attendance does not automatically establish knowledge or wrongdoing.
Treating dismissal as exoneration
A case can be dismissed for jurisdiction, limitations, procedure, settlement, death, or voluntary withdrawal. State the reason.
Treating settlement as guilt
A settlement resolves litigation. State whether liability was admitted, denied, or left unresolved.
Treating a database count as a relationship
Document counts can include duplicates, quoted text, copied recipients, news clippings, and unrelated people with the same name.
Treating a redaction failure as consent
Public availability does not make survivor identifying information ethical to republish.
Using one label for an entire institution
Identify the people, department, office, policy, and dates. Do not attribute one employee’s conduct to an entire organization without evidence.
Review and Escalation Rules
Routine public records with clear provenance can follow normal editorial review.
Require a second editor for:
- Serious unadjudicated allegations
- Ambiguous identity
- Claims of institutional knowledge or concealment
- Disputed document authenticity
- Significant causal or network claims
- Material derived from automated analysis
- Level Two sensitive content
Require specialized privacy, legal, or safety review for:
- Level Three restricted material
- Sealed or improperly unredacted records
- Information about minors
- Anonymous or pseudonymous survivor identity
- Private medical or mental health information
- Nonpublic personal information
- Threats, extortion attempts, or immediate safety concerns
Do not handle Level Four prohibited material. Stop, secure the workspace from further exposure, and follow the appropriate reporting procedure without redistributing the content.
Use Moderation and Flagging Protocols for disputed or unsafe material.
Classification Review Checklist
Before publication, confirm every item below.
- The primary page type is correct.
- The subject role uses the narrowest supported label.
- The evidence type describes the actual source.
- The source grade reflects provenance and directness.
- Claim status is separate from source type.
- Legal status is precise and current.
- Allegations, charges, findings, settlements, and convictions are not blended.
- The sensitivity level was assigned before publishing raw material.
- A content warning appears where needed.
- Survivor identity and personal information received a privacy review.
- Automated classifications were checked against the original document.
- Every EFTA link opens to the correct Epstein Data record.
- Categories are broad and tags are specific.
- Accusatory tags do not exceed the evidence.
- A second editor reviewed serious allegations and difficult classifications.
- The last review date is recorded.
Use Fact Checking and Verification Resources for the evidence review and Editorial Standards for final publication.
Related EpsteinWiki Guides
- Person Page Template
- Organization Page Template
- Case Page Template
- Evidence Page Template
- Timeline Page Template
- Handling Sensitive Material
- Ethical Rules for Naming Public Figures
- Chain of Custody Protocol