Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Atlantic12

Atlantic12

Atlantic12 (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)

Populated account categories: confirmed

For archived investigations, see Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Atlantic12/Archive.

20 November 2018

– A user has requested CheckUser. An SPI clerk will shortly look at the case and endorse or decline the request.

Suspected sockpuppets

• Stefka Bulgaria (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
• 85.50.34.220 (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · filter log · WHOIS · RBLs · proxy check · block user · spi block · block log · cross-wiki contribs · CheckUser (log))

• Tools: Editor interaction utility • Interaction Timeline • User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

From the very first days I came across the user, I was doubtful if he was really making his first edit in Wikipedia, on 18 December 2017. Checking his editing pattern shows that at the beginning he used to edit Kazakhstan-related articles but then he made sharp shift on 23 May 2018 towards MEK articles, just like the users reported here. He's very much dedicated to clean the history of MEK and on one occasion he made six reverts in less than one day (It was a manual page protection, since he reverted most of the new changes!!!). To be more accurate, I think the following items are showing he belongs to this sock farm:

• On 14 January 2017, EdJohnston "placed the article under extended confirmed protection for one year...due to concern about possible socking". The protection was expected to end on 14 January 2018. Having begun editing on 18 December 2017, less than one month to the protection coming to its end, Stefka Bulgaria did a great deal of edits probably to become an extended confirmed (he made 100 edits in less than one week with the 100th edit being on 24 December 2017. It's very interesting that the "newbie" made 50 edits in less than two days by making a mixture of major and minor edits in between). But, the protection would automatically expire even before Stefka Bulgaria become a 30 days user, hence another probability is that the primary edits were done to pretend as if he’s a new user unrelated to this sockfarm, who are all interested in MEK and MEK-related articles, and instead is interested in Kazakhstan-related articles (see this image from Kazakhstan on his user page). Pahlevun showed same attempt by other members of this farm for becoming an extended confirmed user within a short time. Just some probabilities, I'm making.
• The user was registered just some months after the last groups of the editors were blocked.
• He shares almost same POV as other editors, just like their edits, his edits are censoring “unflattering material about the PMOI” and he has just “only a handful of edits unrelated to Iran or the PMOI between them” (the quotes belong to TheTimesAreAChanging).
• Like other users, he uses long edit summaries: “Despite the subject of the article being controversial, this is not controverislal infomation. As noted, it resumes when/how/why, which is arguably the most important aspect of the organization's background. Please refrain from disruptive editing”, “a means to slander, Khomeini (no Iran) used the term "hpocrites" to describe this group after they came in direct conflict with the clerics. The MEK also used other slander to describe Khomeini and the clerics, but this should not be included here, as also this should not be included here” and etc. Compare these long edit summaries with [1], [2] and [3].
• Accusing the editors holding different view than his with vandalism, while there's actually no vandalism: [4]- Tigereconomy, [5]-NickRovinsky, [6]-Stefka Bulgaria, [7]-Stefka Bulgaria, [8]-Stefka Bulgaria, [9]-Stefka Bulgaria.
• They are all dedicated to move “Marxism” from the infobox: [10]- Tigereconomy, [11]-Stefka Bulgaria, [12]-Stefka Bulgaria
• He tried very much to remove the word 'violent' from the lead (See [13], [14], [15]). Compare it with a similar behavior by TheDreamBoat and DirectAttrition.
• Comparing the time cards may give us more insights (for example compare Stefka Bulgaria's time card with that of London Hall).
• As for the IP, I think [16], [17] shows they're interconnected.

What ever it is, I don't think these similarities and presence of this user with "no other interests and good knowledge of Wikipedia have sprung up to defend" the MEK group is not just accidental. Mhhossein ^talk 17:02, 20 November 2018 (UTC)

Comments by other users

Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.

• See Category:Wikipedia sockpuppets of Atlantic12 and Category:Wikipedia sockpuppets of Newcomer1. This case was formerly under another name. It seems to be a fact that the socks are always here to defend the MEK (People's Mujahedin). EdJohnston (talk) 18:00, 20 November 2018 (UTC)

---