Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents

This page is for reporting and discussing incidents that require the intervention of administrators, such as blocked users evading blocks. Any user of Wikipedia may post here. Please feel free to leave a message.

Note: Reporting violations of the three revert rule should be done at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/3RR.

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If you want to make an open informal complaint over the behaviour of an admin, you can do so here, but please only do either that, or file a RFC or RFAr, but not both.

Please be aware that this page isn't the place to bring disputes over content, or reports of abusive behaviour — we aren't referees, and have limited authority to deal with abusive editors. We have a dispute resolution procedure which we recommend you follow. If you bring such disputes here, we will usually advise you to take them elsewhere, such as mediation, requests for comment, or requests for arbitration.

See also:

• Arbitrators' requests for admin enforcement
• Blocking policy
• Controversial blocks
• Block user
• List of blocked IP addresses and usernames
• Block log

And another one - User:Socksucker and User:A freaking sick vandal!

And another page move vandal, and to add to the fun he replaced his userpage with a direct redirect to the Main page of the kr: wikipedia, which he defaced (abusing RickK's name) with a goatse-style collage. Still cleaning up his mess, keep out a look. And I start to get tired to manually revert this kind of vandalism, it's much time to limit the page maoving!!! andy 00:01, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Back in those heady days of June 2004 when we fought the vandalbots as valiantly as we could, didn't the developers impose a temporary threshold for page moves -- accounts had to be at least 1 months old and have x number of edits, or something along those lines? If so, perhaps we can propose to reinstate that threshold on a permanent basis? Certainly the page movers (good old Willy on Wheels comes to mind) are our most disruptive vandals. Jwrosenzweig 00:36, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)

See Wikipedia talk:Requested moves/Min edit count. —Korath (Talk) 09:43, Mar 5, 2005 (UTC)

Page moves

The page move/goatse/pelican shit vandal just struck again. Could SOMEBODY with some clout with the developers PLEASE get them to acknowlege that we need some sort of check on page moves from newly created accounts? RickK 08:53, Mar 5, 2005 (UTC)

There is some feature in the software already, i.e. no page moves for the newest 1% of users (see discussion on Wikipedia talk:Requested moves/Min edit count). We just need to turn this on ... better sooner than later! -- Chris 73 Talk 10:48, Mar 6, 2005 (UTC)

According to Brion in #mediawiki, this feature is now enabled on en. User:Rdsmith4/Sig 12:50, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Revisionist Zionism

A poster by the name of AndyL has consistently inserted misleading and disparaging information into this article and has petitioned Jaing to lock it until the issue is resolved. I do not believe it can be resolved because he has shown that his agenda is to provide slanderous, POV information into the article.

For example: He has stated as a matter of factly that the Lehi faction was inspired by Italian fascism and Spanish nationalism. This is hardly the truth as Lehi has different streams, some corporatist some socialist. It was a movement very hard to pinpoint.

Secondly, he has deleted crucial information about the split of the Revisionist movement within Israel and the Diaspora and the fact that Jabotinksy did not have any control over the Irgun faction. He doesnt seem to be interested in historical accuracy and most of his information comes from left wing websites, but he cites outragous and hotly disputed statements as facts.

Please help. Guy Montag 02:17, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Did you read the header of this page, where is says "this page isn't the place to bring disputes over content"? Noel (talk) 04:39, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Link spamming

I just came across an anon IP who spammed random external links by changing internal links in Current events, Community portal, and Help contents. I've blocked him and reverted their latest changes to Current events. I've blocked them, but please stay on the lookout for similar edits. Mgm|^(talk) 11:37, Mar 8, 2005 (UTC)

User:Eye-laser.net

A vandal, obviously annoyed by our anti-spam list (see the deleted version of his user page), created many articles containing nothing but a redirect to the infamous Image:Autofellatio.jpg. As he obviously found hole in mediawiki (see Bugzilla 1656) these redirects don't show up in the "what links here", and one is directly directed to the image without any "redirect from" message. Due to the second I accidently deleted the image, thinking I delete the redirect. IMHO this porn image does not need to be resurrected (I cannot do that anyway) and the drawing from commons is better, but as I remember quite a discussion about it I think I should note my mistake here. andy 11:40, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)

There was indeed quite a discussion about it. I deleted it once before (causing much outrage) and eventually re-uploaded it: though it can't be undeleted, it can be found at several of Wikipedia's mirrors if re-uploading becomes necessary. User:Rdsmith4/Sig 23:52, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)

User:Larsie, User:Chrispy

These users appear to have engaged in some kind of stealth hoax vandalism (see Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/Lars Olsen):

• Larsie (talk · contribs)
• Chrispy (talk · contribs)
• 135.214.66.241 (talk · contribs), possibly the same user as 135.214.66.240 (talk · contribs)

In cryptic messages on User talk:Chrispy, Larsie talks about some kind of game (possibly related to Nomic) that involves making edits to Wikipedia, that shouldn't be made public, or something that could result in getting kicked off Wikipedia. The time frame of these edits (late October 2004) is the same as the Lars Olsen edits:

• [1]
• [2]

It seems that User:Larsie and User:Chrispy share some interest in unusual articles, like Infinite monkey theorem and Extreme ironing (the latter, believe it or not, isn't a hoax). Only a few days after the Lars Olsen edits and the cryptic messages above, User:Larsie started making major and apparently legitimate contributions to Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, which became a featured article. The thought of a featured article possibly containing sneaky hoax vandalism made me react a bit strongly.

Anyway, I left messages on their talk pages and it would be nice if they owned up to what they were up to with Lars Olsen, and were upfront about any other possible hoaxes, so I won't need to trawl through the entire contribution history. -- Curps 08:35, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

User:The Recycling Troll

This troll is at it again, stalking me and voting the opposite from my votes on VfD. Has been blocked once before for the same behavior. RickK 00:49, Mar 9, 2005 (UTC)

If I go around and vote opposite you, will you block me too? -- Netoholic @ 00:52, 2005 Mar 9 (UTC)

Dunno. Will you be a new user who follows his every edit and makes it clear from his username that he's a troll? (Snowspinner) 01:11, Mar 9, 2005 (UTC)

At any given time there are hundreds of open votes on VfD, any one person can only pick a handful of them to vote on. The odds that two people would randomly pick the same handful and consistently vote in the opposite way each time are nearly impossible. If you did this, you would effectively disenfranchise RickK and deny him any right to vote. Yes, I think that would be grounds for blocking someone. If you think it's OK to take away someone's right to vote, you could hardly turn around and complain about someone else taking away your right to edit. -- Curps 08:10, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Honestly, Rick, that's no good if that's what he's doing, but how in the world could we verify his motives? And even if we could, is a blockable offense? I would say just rely on the judgment of those who determine the outcome of the votes to give proper weight to his vote and to yours. Everyking 01:02, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Let's go ahead and call a spade a spade. Snowspinner 01:11, Mar 9, 2005 (UTC)

Blocked for a week. Snowspinner 01:11, Mar 9, 2005 (UTC)

01:13, 2005 Mar 9 Snowspinner blocked "User:The Recycling Troll" with an expiry time of 7 days (Repeating behavior that got him blocked last time.)

Snowspinner, the one-man ArbCom. This "Troll" makes some very helpful edits, and just happens to vote opposite of RickK. You have no grounds, and I hope some more even-tempered admins will take care to unblock him ASAP. Geez man, you didn't even contact him on his talk page to explain things. -- Netoholic @ 01:39, 2005 Mar 9 (UTC)

Having discussed this with him previously, I didn't see much need. And let's be clear - this is not an issue of him voting opposite RickK. It is an issue of him systematically editing every article RickK does, down the line. That is stalking and harassment. Snowspinner 02:05, Mar 9, 2005 (UTC)

Only if RickK let's himself feel harassed. RickK tends to handle a lot of Recentchanges. He marks them for deletion, pov, cleanup, etc. It seems reasonable that following RickK's edits in order to find work that needs to be done is a good technique. The only harrassment I see is on your part, and would happily co-sign an RfC to that effect, if anyone else is inclined. -- Netoholic @ 02:15, 2005 Mar 9 (UTC)

Well, you have a valid point, but I hesitate to go to bat for someone called "The Recycling Troll." Why not file an RfC on behalf of someone who wasn't trying to provoke a block? Rad Racer 02:34, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Snowspinner, when dealing with what you consider troll behaviour, it is important to maintain your equanimity and the moral high ground; otherwise your actions as an administrator are apt to become the issue, and distract attention from the behaviour that you were attempting to deal with. As a result of your action, other administrators now have a more complex situation to deal with. For one thing, there is nothing in Blocking policy, so far as I can see, that sanctions a block in this case, and if there is, there is nothing that sanctions a 7 day block. The nearest section that could apply is "Disruptive behaviour", and the policy calls for a 24 Hour block in that case. It is somewhat a matter of interpretation whether following RickK around even qualifies as disruptive behaviour. I sypathize with your motivation, but it would have been much better to go through the RfC/RFAr process. You might wish for a less tedious process, but that is the process we have. If you consider Mr Recycling to be a troll, the prime advice is "Do not feed the trolls", and I'm afraid you have rather transgressed against that advice. --BM 02:55, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

The previous 24 hour block clearly did not penetrate through The Recycling Troll's skull and into his consciousness in any form that affects his behavior. It seems that more force is necessary. If this is against the letter of the blocking policy, I can only say that common sense suggests that when a user shows up, has "troll" in their name (Which, while not in and of itself a reason to block, is still not insignificant), goes straight to the mailing list with his complaint, and follows RickK around, we are not dealing with a good editor. The question is whether to dither around debating the obvious, or to just shoot.

Bang. Snowspinner 03:46, Mar 9, 2005 (UTC)

I think a week is too long. His behaviour is disruptive and he knows it, (there has been discussion on the mailing list, so snowspinner's block hasn't come out of the blue) Also he is not new. So let's not start escalating blocks beyond what policy allows. If one 24 hour block doesn't get the message through, then we try anonther (and another, and another). Theresa Knott (ask the rotten) 06:38, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

How about waiting till s/he does something that is against current policy? Blocking is not supposed to be something that is used against users who simply annoy us, it is supposed to be used to prevent damage to the wiki in cases where mediation or arbitration is not an option. This isn't a new user, and they're not damaging the wiki, in fact, they seem to be making positive edits. Let's let this one go and get on with real issues. Mark Richards 11:24, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Policy question

I'm very confused by all of this. I know that an admin can, on his or her own, block an obvious vandal, permanently block an account with an inappropriate name, etc. However, I thought that pretty much anything else was supposed to go through the process of RfC, mediation, and arbitration, and that admins were simply supposed to enforce decisions once they have been reached. In practice, it seems to me that a lot of admins are behaving as judge and jury, and—what really worries me—doing so in cases in which they are personally involved. I don't know if we have a specific rule about that, but I would expect the same principle to apply to blocks over behevior as the one that says you don't protect an article on which you are an active editor. -- Jmabel | Talk 07:45, Mar 9, 2005 (UTC)

I very strongly agree with Jmabel that you should not block users in cases where you are personally involved. Rick did the right thing, he could have blocked the RT himself, but that would have been wrong. Instead he brought up the issue here, so it is in the open, and we can form a consensus on the case as a group. We do have the authority to block disruptive users for up to a week month. Let us use this power, where it seems to improve the operation of WP. I do believe that admins dealing out this maximum "court martial" penalty should have some experience of precedent cases, so they can make an estimation whether their block is in line with the practice approved of by other admins. I propose that it should be made binding policy that admins should not use their power in disputes to which they are a party. But as long as the matter is brought up here, in the open, and people decide to act, I see nothing wrong in that. Of course, if there is disagreement and unblocking, the blocking admin should stand down and wait for other opinions. In the present case, I have no problem with the block. If the RT is a bona-fide user, he can discuss and try to explain how his behaviour is motivated. As long as he just stubbornly annoys Rick without arguing that he just happens to have opposite views, and that it's not really to do with Rick at all (go figure), I think we are justified in dealing with him as a troll. dab (ᛏ) 07:55, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

ah, blocking policy on disruption has, "such blocks should initially last 24 hours, but repeat violators may be blocked for a maximum of one month.", so one week is not even the maximum. Arguably, Snowspinner could have gone from one to two days first, but a week does not seem excessive after the user had been blocked for a day already, and did not seem to have reconsidered his behaviour. dab (ᛏ) 08:04, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

If it were a new user, which it's not. Mark Richards 11:21, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

This guy is obviously getting on Rick's nerves, which is bad, but he's also going around making (what I understand to be) valid edits after Rick, so I guess he is improving the encyclopedia in his own way. I'm reluctant to condemn that. I don't want Rick to be deliberately irritated by anybody, but this guy's behavior seems so utterly harmless and maybe even beneficial that I really don't see how it warrants a week's block. Surely the two can work out whatever differences they might have. There is no need for punitive measures when honest discussion could produce a better result. Everyking 08:29, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

A random check of article edits shows that almost all of his "valid edits" are adding a few wiki links -- most of which, admittedly, lead to actual articles. The only actual editing I came across in my (admittedly incomplete) survey was changing Rickk's "...which had a claimed membership of 15,000" to "...which claimed a membership of 15,000 people". I'm not seeing any real editing here. --Calton | Talk 08:45, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Well, Calton, I think that's a bit of a harsh claim - there are many users whose primary contribution is to fix links and grammar. They do seem like good changes, and I don't think we can block people for the types of edits they make. Looking at it, I really think that we should probably be able to put up with someone systematically going through our edits and 'checking' them. If the edits s/hes making are constructive, then I really don't think theres any reason to block a user for doing that. Yes, it's annoying, but really, if it were Rick 'checking' this users edits, I don't think there'd be this outcry. As for voting on vfd, I don't think there can be any rule about how people do this. If some wierdo wants to go through my votes and vote against them, they pretty much can (many do in fact!). Let's try to separate being annoyed by it, and what will actually improve the encyclopedia. As far as I can see this user has done nothing but improve it. Mark Richards 11:21, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I think the vfd issue should be delt with by admins simply ignoring his votes. Bad faith voting does not improve wikipedia. Theresa Knott (ask the rotten) 11:33, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Hi Theresa - how do you know they are bad faith? I really am not sure I see the issue here. Many people frequently vote against me on vfd, and, to be honest, I wouldn't have a particular problem if an editor appeared to vote against me on principle. That's why it is 'votes' for deletion. If someone wants to use their vote to express an opinion that others find strange, then that's how it is. The user seems to be making good edits, and I don't think there is any good reason to discount their votes. Mark Richards 12:30, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

has he even commented on his behaviour in a reasonable way? Valid editors can be expected to communicate and to justify their edits if challenged. People who refuse to negotiate (within reason) should not be considered valid contributors. dab (ᛏ) 11:41, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Erm? That's a novel idea - I don't think any of the people blocking has asked him. I have to tell you, a lot of my irritation around this issue relates to admins simply not following the policies we have in place on blocking. To be honest I think that (this case aside) we create a lot of disgruntled and angry new users through that. Mark Richards 12:24, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)