Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Enforcement
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See also: Logged AE sanctions
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For all other problems, including content disagreements or the enforcement of community-imposed sanctions, please use the other fora described in the dispute resolution process. To appeal Arbitration Committee decisions, please use the clarification and amendment noticeboard. Only autoconfirmed users may file enforcement requests here; requests filed by IPs or accounts less than four days old or with less than 10 edits will be removed. All users are welcome to comment on requests except where doing so would violate an active restriction (such as an extended-confirmed restriction). If you make an enforcement request or comment on a request, your own conduct may be examined as well, and you may be sanctioned for it. Enforcement requests and statements in response to them may not exceed 500 words and 20 diffs, except by permission of a reviewing administrator. (Word Count Tool) Statements must be made in separate sections. Non-compliant contributions may be removed or shortened by administrators. Disruptive contributions such as personal attacks, or groundless or vexatious complaints, may result in blocks or other sanctions. To make an enforcement request, click on the link above this box and supply all required information. Incomplete requests may be ignored. Requests reporting diffs older than one week may be declined as stale. To appeal a contentious topic restriction or other enforcement decision, please create a new section and use the template {{Arbitration enforcement appeal}}.
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Gilabrand
Gilabrand (talk · contribs) blocked for 48 hours. |
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The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it. |
Request concerning Gilabrand
She was topic banned from "Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the duration of three months. (For the avoidance of doubts, this includes all pages or discussions related to the topic, broadly construed." The comment she made here is clearly a discussion comment related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, broadly construed. In the article she had also added stuff related to the Palestinian-Israel conflict so its a part of it: [5]
It can also be argued that her edits to the Israeli art student scam AFD contravene the topic ban. Particularly considering that the reason Gilabrand got topic banned in the first place was spamming I-P related hate material into that very article.
Block or ban.
Discussion concerning GilabrandStatement by GilabrandComments by others about the request concerning GilabrandPalestine is not mentioned once on the article in question. The only argument that could be made is that similar editors are involved. The only thing left to say is: BOOOOOOO Cptnono (talk) 10:45, 7 March 2010 (UTC)
(outdent) Gilabrand was topic-banned from I-P articles for the edits she made to Israeli art student scam. Participating in the AfD discussion for that article is clearly a violation of her topic ban. Insisting, as she did, that this article has nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (except in the mind of the person who created it), when she has made edits like this to the article, is not only an assumption of bad faith, but is richly ironic. How she or anyone can argue that her edits to the AfD fall outside the scope of her topic ban is bewildering, to say the least. Tiamuttalk 12:45, 7 March 2010 (UTC)
Off-shoot possible breach?
Statement by Mbz1
I suggest:
Statement by FactsonthegroundAside from the link Supremedelicious provided, Gilabrand also discussed a controversial I-P article (Sheikh Jarrah) on Nsaum's talk page: [10]. She also never responded to the original ANI about posting hate material into Israeli art student scam, which suggests she doesn't accept that she did anything wrong. Factsontheground (talk) 12:59, 7 March 2010 (UTC)
Statement by Nsaum75Since an "incident" on my talk page is mentioned above, I feel the need to comment: This whole situation appears to be turning into some sort of witch hunt, with several users trying to find an angle that will "stick" in order to "punish" an editor they may have an issue with. Remember: "anything can be 'revealed' if you go over it enough with a fine-tooth-comb." --nsaum75¡שיחת! 15:51, 8 March 2010 (UTC) Result concerning Gilabrand
In the cited edit ([11]), Gilabrand stated in the edit summary "this article has nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (except in the mind of the person who created it)". For the sake of argument I am ignoring the inappropriate deletion of Factsontheground's comment and taking this as if she had replied to his comment with what she said in the edit summary. With that we have this exchange:
Gilabrand here clearly mentioned the Israeli-Palestinian conflict solely for the purpose of defending herself against Factsontheground's implied allegation that she violated the topic ban. If Factsontheground had not accused her of a violation, she would likely not have mentioned the conflict. This is not meant to say that Factsontheground did anything wrong. I think it is not in the best interest of Wikipedia to say that this violates the topic ban. It is clearly necessary for the accused to mention the topic in order to mount a defense against an alleged topic ban violation. The argument presented by Supreme Deliciousness appears to be that that necessary mention in itself constitutes discussion of the topic, which itself is a violation of the topic ban. Enforcement in this case would effectively deny an editor accused of violating a topic ban the ability to defend themselves against the accusation. I do not believe that is the intention of the discretionary sanction as specified by Arbcom. Making a reasonable statement rebutting an accusation does not fall under "repeatedly or seriously fails to adhere to the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standards of behavior, or any normal editorial process." Also, Gilabrand would have to mention the topic on this page in order to make a statement, thus violating the topic ban. Therefore, I recommend against a block/ban. Evil saltine (talk) 12:39, 7 March 2010 (UTC)
Without commenting on the merits of the original complaint, I have now blocked Gilabrand for this edit, which was brought up today in an ANI thread and clearly constitutes a breach of the ban. Fut.Perf. ☼ 16:19, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
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- User requesting enforcement
- Jayen466
- User against whom enforcement is requested
- Wispanow (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
- Sanction or remedy that this user violated
- Wikipedia:ARBSCI#Editing_environment_.28editors_cautioned.29 Wikipedia:ARBSCI#Editors_instructed (User has edit-warred, deleted sourced material, and made repeated accusations of anti-German "racism")
- Diffs of edits that violate this sanction or remedy, and an explanation how these edits violate it
- [12] Wispanow reverts User:Cirt, edit summary: "Undid revision 347913307 by Cirt (talk) This article is based on racism. And Scientology-Believers can source every racism. Removing this improves." Uncivil. Deleting sourced material. Inserting unsourced material. Cirt's edit was marked a "vandalism revert".
- [13] Wispanow reverts User:Jayen466, edit summary: "Jayen466 is accused of writing an aggressive, highly biased text leading to a racist viewpoint. I therefore claimed to block him from any Scientology-text with relation to Germany. And stop reverting." As before.
- [14] Personal accusation of racism: "The whole article is racism. There is nearly nothing giving a neutral point of view. And User:Jayen466 is by far the main reason ... US and British citizens and even newspapers easily believe and publish any mendacious Germany-Harassment." Wispanow includes this "Barack Obama is an asshole" link in his post to make his point. Uncivil.
- [15] [16][17] Failure to comply with WP:V.
- Diffs of notifications or of prior warnings against the conduct objected to
- [18] Warned by User:Moni3
- [19] Comments by User:Moni3 and User:John Carter.
- Previously blocked for disruption at Scientology in Germany by User:Moni3, unblocked by User:Sandstein.
- Enforcement action requested
- Topic ban per Wikipedia:ARBSCI#Discretionary_topic_ban. No evidence of any desire to contribute constructively.
- Additional comments by editor filing complaint
Please note that Scientology in Germany (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views), an article for which I have been the main contributor, is currently classified as a Good Article.
- It recently underwent lengthy Peer Review in preparation for FA candidacy. Three reviewers commented.
- Feedback at Peer Review was that the article is, if anything, slanted in Germany's favor. See Wikipedia:Peer_review/Scientology_in_Germany/archive1. I have not done any significant work on the article since the Peer Review.
- Following Wispanow's reverts of two different editors, deleting sourced material, the article is now locked for two weeks. (Wispanow made two reverts, Cirt and I made one revert each. The first edit that Cirt reverted was made by a German IP.)
For reference, Wispanow has made similar and equally far-fetched accusations of anti-German racism in other contexts:
- Claims that a reliable source, an article in the German Law Journal, should not be believed because it contains "a lot of unproven, aggressive, prejudicing and even racist statements" (emphasis in original). "The main thing i personally worry about is that such an unreal, unscientific, racist text could be believed by americans. Imho Jimbo had founded Wikipedia to aid in that." Note that the German Law Journal has been honored by the German Minister of Justice, Brigitte Zypries, for being an "ambassador of German law".
- Claims the Human Rights Reports issued by the United States Department of State represent "racist truth".
Note: This thread has been moved here from ANI. --JN466 19:21, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested
- User notified. --JN466 19:28, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
Discussion concerning Wispanow
Statement by Wispanow
Read the accusations and preparing an answer. Wispanow (talk) 00:16, 10 March 2010 (UTC)
Comments by others about the request concerning Wispanow
This is hard to measure. Hot button words such as "racist" and "cult" are seldom appropriate and require careful contextualization in the few instances where no calmer substitute is available. Winspanow needs a caution in that regard. Regarding the rest, it would be useful if someone with good familiarity in the subject weighed in because what Winspanow appears to be asserting is that the article violates WP:UNDUE. In the context of WP:UNDUE it can be appropriate to remove reliably sourced information so that one section or topic or POV does not unduly dominate an article. I don't know this subject well enough to determine whether the undue weight clause properly applies. Would be more inclined to read Jayen466's report at face value if it had also disclosed that the Scientology decision passed a finding of fact that he had been "edit-warring apparently to advance an agenda", and had page banned Jayen466 from the biography of a prominent critic of new religious movements: see Wikipedia:ARBSCI#Jayen466, Wikipedia:ARBSCI#Jayen466_topic-banned_from_Rick_Ross_articles. Subsequently Jayen466 has contributed quality content on related material, so possibly his response is a fair one. Yet Wispanow has edited Wikipedia since 2007 without any blocks at all except for the brief recent one which was overturned procedurally. Is this primarily a content dispute? Could a content RfC or mediation be tried before invoking discretionary sanctions? Durova412 22:37, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- Thanks for putting me in the invidious position of having to point out that you only quoted one-half of that arbcom finding of fact. The other half was, "Jayen466 has made many constructive edits in the Scientology topic". You have an editor here in Wispanow who is not bringing sources to the table, says the German Law Journal does not qualify as a reliable source (because it is anti-German and racist), and says the US Department of States Human Rights Reports are racist, as well. You want me to go to mediation with such an editor? Please have a look at WP:RANDY, have a look at the article history, and have a look at the article's recent peer review. --JN466 22:58, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- Yes; it speaks more strongly in your favor to mention the quality content since you hadn't written any GAs yet when that case decision was finalized. On the whole, content RfC has a better track record than mediation at resolving content disputes. We're in agreement that the word "racist" is unhelpful: it means different things to different people and tends to shut down discussion. Yet it seems premature to seek a topic ban on an editor of three years' good standing. 23:37, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- When I first saw this AE request, I wondered if Wispanow might be inexperienced and just need to calm his rhetorical excesses about such terms as 'racism.' I also perceived that there could be a language barrier. But a look at User_talk:Wispanow#Scientology_in_Germany shows that he was making inappropriate edits to the article without proper sources as long ago as February 2009. In the above thread, Jayen466 took the time to explain Wikipedia policies to him very thoroughly in German. Though his edits are POV, they don't seem like those of a well-organized partisan. Some of his edits are frankly puzzling. (After you think about the racism charge in the edit summary, try to figure out why he is also removing a source, and try to determine if his changes to the article text make any sense at all). Perhaps he feels a need to defend the honor of Germany by keeping things out of the Scientology in Germany article that sound too harsh to him. The above mention of WP:RANDY is not without reason. A topic ban from Scientology in Germany would not (in my opinion) cause the loss of meaningful future contributions to this article. Wispanow has contributed elsewhere, for instance at Nikon D5000, without incident and without any obvious lapses in logic. EdJohnston (talk) 00:16, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Wispanow engaged in similar disruption at another Scientology/Germany article, here, [20]], [21], December last. He changed the wording, while leaving the source reference unchanged. The source cited was published by the Scientific Services Division of the German Parliament. As in this case, he edit-warred against two editors (John Carter and me), implementing a wording that directly contradicted the cited source. The result was that an admin stepped in and locked the article (in Wispanow's version) for a fortnight, just as has just happened here. --JN466 00:49, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Thanks to EdJohnston for the evaluation. Photography is a subject that's much more familiar to me than Scientology; Winspanow's edits seem reasonable there. Probably the only other useful thing I could add to this discussion regards German sourcing. Jayen, I'm rusty in that language but used to be fluent. You say that Winspanow altered an article statement without changing a citation. If you believe he has actually misrepresented a German language source, feel free to give an example or two. I could give it a look or possibly if you prefer we could locate a native speaker. Durova412 04:57, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Dear Durova, I have just given such an example in the post directly above yours. This was Wispanow's edit. This is the cited source. I am sure your German will be adequate. At the top of page 2 the cited source says, "Umstritten ist, ob es sich bei den scientologischen Lehren um Glauben, Religion bzw. Weltanschauung handelt. Und fraglich ist, ob die Scientology-Lehren von der Organisation nur als Vorwand für eine ausschließlich wirtschaftliche Zielsetzung benutzt werden. Dies würde nach überwiegender Auffassung zum Ausschluss des Schutzes durch Art. 4 GG führen." ("What is disputed is whether the scientological teachings represent a belief, religion or worldview. And the question is whether Scientology's teachings are only used by the organisation as a pretext for an exclusively economical aim. According to majority legal opinion, this would result in the exclusion of protection by Article 4 of the Grundgesetz (German Constitution)."
- Wispanow's edit made it say the exact opposite: that Scientology's protection under Article 4 was guaranteed in any case. It is not. When questioned about the edit, he said, "Read the constitution"! The admin who'd locked the article refused to accede to John Carter's and my [[[22]|editprotected request]]. There was no project benefit whatsoever, except that our article was wrong on that point for two weeks. We have the exact same position now, where the current article wording has been altered to claim, for example, that "the courts" (rather than the German government) published information leaflets on Scientology. There is a difference between "the courts" and "the government", but that difference appears to escape User:Wispanow. Yet his version is what around 100 people will be reading today and every day for the next two weeks, while we are here talking about Godot. --JN466 05:18, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Another sentence Wispanow removed in his edit is the one referring to "hysteria": "German fears and concerns about new religious movements reached a level resembling hysteria in the mid-nineties, becoming focused mainly on the Church of Scientology." There are three separate sources that emphatically use the word "hysteria" in this precise context. One of them, available in google books, points out that this was also the word the Lutheran churches (Fincke and Nüchtern are from the Evangelische Zentralstelle für Weltanschauungsfragen, i.e. the Lutherans' apologetics department) used to describe the situation. I have no reason to believe Wispanow bothered to check any of these sources. --JN466 05:43, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Thank you for the swift followup, Jayen. I'll have a look at this now. It'll either be the last post for the evening or the first for tomorrow. See below: you were right about a source last year February. Durova412 05:46, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Thanks for looking into it. --JN466 05:58, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Yes, checking the PDF about the court case: that text is right at the top of page two. Jayen's translation is correct. The alteration misrepresented the source, and what's especially strange is that although the edit summary accused the Wikipedia article of being too pro-Scientology, the alteration not only contradicted the source but made the text more pro-Scientology: the article had said that Scientology could be exempted from legal religious protection if its ideology could be proven to be a pretext for commercial activity; the edit altered the Wikipedia article to assert that Scientology definitely would be protected as a religion under German law, regardless of that. Jayen's summary was an accurate paraphrase and there isn't any way to justify that edit without locating a different source. Durova412 06:02, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Thanks for looking into it. --JN466 05:58, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Thank you for the swift followup, Jayen. I'll have a look at this now. It'll either be the last post for the evening or the first for tomorrow. See below: you were right about a source last year February. Durova412 05:46, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Thanks to EdJohnston for the evaluation. Photography is a subject that's much more familiar to me than Scientology; Winspanow's edits seem reasonable there. Probably the only other useful thing I could add to this discussion regards German sourcing. Jayen, I'm rusty in that language but used to be fluent. You say that Winspanow altered an article statement without changing a citation. If you believe he has actually misrepresented a German language source, feel free to give an example or two. I could give it a look or possibly if you prefer we could locate a native speaker. Durova412 04:57, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Wispanow engaged in similar disruption at another Scientology/Germany article, here, [20]], [21], December last. He changed the wording, while leaving the source reference unchanged. The source cited was published by the Scientific Services Division of the German Parliament. As in this case, he edit-warred against two editors (John Carter and me), implementing a wording that directly contradicted the cited source. The result was that an admin stepped in and locked the article (in Wispanow's version) for a fortnight, just as has just happened here. --JN466 00:49, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- When I first saw this AE request, I wondered if Wispanow might be inexperienced and just need to calm his rhetorical excesses about such terms as 'racism.' I also perceived that there could be a language barrier. But a look at User_talk:Wispanow#Scientology_in_Germany shows that he was making inappropriate edits to the article without proper sources as long ago as February 2009. In the above thread, Jayen466 took the time to explain Wikipedia policies to him very thoroughly in German. Though his edits are POV, they don't seem like those of a well-organized partisan. Some of his edits are frankly puzzling. (After you think about the racism charge in the edit summary, try to figure out why he is also removing a source, and try to determine if his changes to the article text make any sense at all). Perhaps he feels a need to defend the honor of Germany by keeping things out of the Scientology in Germany article that sound too harsh to him. The above mention of WP:RANDY is not without reason. A topic ban from Scientology in Germany would not (in my opinion) cause the loss of meaningful future contributions to this article. Wispanow has contributed elsewhere, for instance at Nikon D5000, without incident and without any obvious lapses in logic. EdJohnston (talk) 00:16, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Yes; it speaks more strongly in your favor to mention the quality content since you hadn't written any GAs yet when that case decision was finalized. On the whole, content RfC has a better track record than mediation at resolving content disputes. We're in agreement that the word "racist" is unhelpful: it means different things to different people and tends to shut down discussion. Yet it seems premature to seek a topic ban on an editor of three years' good standing. 23:37, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
Comment by Sandstein
Could you please format this request in the standard format ({{Sanction enforcement request}})? Sandstein 19:38, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- I'll add the relevant subheadings. --JN466 19:40, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- Thanks. Also, the remedy you cite, "Editing environment (editors cautioned)", appears to be a caution and as such not directly enforceable; it has no corresponding enforcement provision. Could you please cite an enforceable remedy that you think might apply here? Sandstein 19:56, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- The remedy is cited under "action requested", i.e. Wikipedia:ARBSCI#Discretionary_topic_ban: "Any uninvolved administrator may, on his or her own discretion, ban any editor from editing within the Scientology topic". I know you unblocked him once before, but do you see any desire on his part to contribute meaningfully? And do you endorse his accusations of racism levelled at the US State Department, the German Law Journal, and me personally? I am German myself. --JN466 20:05, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- I've added Wikipedia:ARBSCI#Editors_instructed. Point C applies. --JN466 20:09, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- Thanks. I am not amused, however, that you accuse me of endorsing racism of any sort and will not continue evaluating this request. Sandstein 20:20, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- You haven't been accused of endorsing racism. Please refactor your uncivil accusation and exercise better judgment in future. Your behavior is unacceptable and quite nasty. Please cease these uncivil, antagonistic and belligerent statements and actions. ChildofMidnight (talk) 20:47, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- That is fine, Sandstein. For the record though, I did not accuse you of endorsing racism. I asked you whether you endorsed Wispanow's accusation that the US State Department, the German Law Journal, and I personally are anti-German racists. Personally, I think these accusations are quite beyond the pale, and I am surprised that you did not find it in you to condemn them when asked about them. --JN466 21:03, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- Yes, sorry, I misread that. I am also not amused of being charged with endorsing accusations of racism, especially accusations that I have not even read yet, let alone commented on. Sandstein 21:26, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- For the record, I did not charge you with endorsing accusations of racism either. I asked you your opinion about these accusations. I assumed you would read them before replying. --JN466 22:45, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- Yes, sorry, I misread that. I am also not amused of being charged with endorsing accusations of racism, especially accusations that I have not even read yet, let alone commented on. Sandstein 21:26, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- Thanks. I am not amused, however, that you accuse me of endorsing racism of any sort and will not continue evaluating this request. Sandstein 20:20, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- Thanks. Also, the remedy you cite, "Editing environment (editors cautioned)", appears to be a caution and as such not directly enforceable; it has no corresponding enforcement provision. Could you please cite an enforceable remedy that you think might apply here? Sandstein 19:56, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
Observations by SilkTork
- Wispanow has made 54 edits to Scientology in Germany, amounting to an involvement of 5.8% - this is the second largest involvement after Jayen466 (686 edits -73.8%).
- The article was failed as a GA on 17 Feb 2009 due to POV issues. It passed as a GA in November.
- Wispanow's first edit was this on 21 February 2009. Two of the links are dead, but the one that is still live checks out. The edit appears to be constructive, and is cited. That first edit was reversed two days later by Jayen466 with this edit and refers to a talkpage discussion that I have not yet found.
- Also on 21 Feb Wispanow removed some text with this edit with the rationale that the source had been misread. There was a discussion in which Jayen466 explained how the source had been read, and the text was restored.
- There follow in Feb 2009 a series of tags, edits and discussions involving Wispanow, in which they are expressing concerns about potential bias in the article. Wispanow appears concerned that the article is describing a total anti-scientology stance in Germany which Wispanow feels is not balanced by information regarding either pro or neutral scientology attitudes in Germany. Jayen466 invited Wispanow to supply reliable sources to support Germany having positive attitudes towards Scientology.
- Wispanow occasionally edited the article in line with the concerns raised. Following this edit, Wispanow was given a block warning by Moni3 - [23]. Wispanow's involvement became quite minimal, but still raised POV concerns. Placing this POV tag got Wispanow another comment from Moni3. Wispanow added some more tags - [24] - and gave reasons on the talkpage for their actions - [25]. Moni3, Jayen466 and John Carter responded to Wispanow's concerns, Jayen466 explaining that "If it is accurate and sourcable, then it doesn't violate neutrality." Wispanow was then blocked by moni3 and unblocked by Sandstein - [26].
- Wispanow made one more edit in June, then nothing more until these three edits in the past few days which prompted a lock down of the article and this Arb request.
- From these observations I would say that Wispanow has concerns about the POV of the article and is frustrated at developments. Wispanow has used inappropriate wording in edit summaries and in talkpage comments. Wispanow has not made best use of negotiation tactics, or of the resources available on Wikipedia for inexperienced editors who are concerned about content - such as Wikipedia:Editor assistance or Wikipedia:Third opinion. While editors have been civilly and calmly engaging with Wispanow, there has perhaps not been enough assistance offered to Wispanow, or to direct Wispanow to areas such as Wikipedia:Editor assistance or Wikipedia:Third opinion. Wispanow has perhaps been alienated and dismissed, and then blocked, which may have increased that person's feelings of frustration.
- I do not know enough about the issues to judge how appropriate are Wispanow's concerns, though I would share Jayen466's view that appropriate sources are the best way forward.
- I feel that while Wispanow has been unwise in the use of language, and slightly difficult, Wispanow has not been disruptive enough for a topic ban.
- I would suggest, time-consuming though it may be, that a moderated discussion between Wispanow and Jayen466 may be of more benefit to future harmony, and the development of the article, than a topic ban. I would be willing to moderate the discussion if both parties are willing. SilkTork *YES! 01:33, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Thanks. I appreciate your goodwill and your kind offer. Two small corrections:
- The first "constructive" edit by Wispanow cited by you above duplicated content and sources that were already present in the main part of the article. (One of the sources may have been new.)
- The quote "If it is accurate and sourcable, then it doesn't violate neutrality." was by John Carter rather than myself.
- I understand what you are saying about Wispanow's editing experience. However, I do not have unlimited time at my disposal, and certainly no time to waste. I will not enter mediated discussions with Wispanow until he:
- apologises for his comments,
- acknowledges that he cannot assert in Wikipedia that the German Law Journal is a racist and unreliable source and expect to be taken seriously here, and
- gives clear signs of understanding that the way he edited and argued here is absolutely unacceptable for content work.
- I am afraid I have to insist on some minimum standards of ability; I do have a day job, and the amount of time I have spent on this is already out of all proportion to any benefit to this project. --JN466 03:47, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Have checked out one of the instances SilkTork has raised. Jayen's translation is correct regarding the text Kritik an Filmen von bekennenden Scientologen, wie Cruise und John Travolta, und an Auftritten des Jazz-Musikers Chick Korea, ebenfalls Scientology-Anhänger, ist in Deutschland nicht neu: 1996 hatte die Junge Union zum Boykott gegen den Thriller "Mission: Impossible" mit Cruise als Hauptdarsteller aufgerufen. For non-German speakers this is a bit hard to confirm: Google Translate didn't parse the page and Yahoo's Babel Fish didn't handle the passage well. The en:wiki article Junge Union jibes with Jayen's statement. For a single instance over a year ago I can extend good faith (perhaps the editor skimmed and missed that passage). It's a bit worrisome that he didn't follow up in agreement after Jayen's explanation at the talk page. If other instances like this form a pattern, though, then I would endorse Jayen's request. Durova412 05:23, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Thanks. I've added two more above, under your earlier post. --JN466 05:57, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Changing "courts backed the publication" to "courts published" is less serious but unhelpful. What was the other thing you wanted me to look at, exactly? Durova412 06:08, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- The thing about "hysteria", above, and about how this came to focus on Scientology in the late nineties. It was sourced. He took it out, leaving the sources in place. Although it is not such a big deal. --JN466 06:17, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- (ec) The last edit regarding "hysteria" could be reasonable, since the edit changed the text to a shorter summary. The difference in emphasis and POV is tangible and I don't know which version is more balanced. That particular alteration didn't make the citation inaccurate, though. These two more recent examples don't carry the weight of the first two I read (both of which were quite stark). But for someone to come in and make those two stark examples, then defend one of them at talk with claims of being a native speaker, is not acceptable. Am curious what Wispanow's response here will be, because as of this juncture it looks like a final warning would be appropriate. German speakers are not too hard to find; please don't wait a year, Jayen, if this occurs again. Durova412 06:19, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- The thing about "hysteria", above, and about how this came to focus on Scientology in the late nineties. It was sourced. He took it out, leaving the sources in place. Although it is not such a big deal. --JN466 06:17, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Changing "courts backed the publication" to "courts published" is less serious but unhelpful. What was the other thing you wanted me to look at, exactly? Durova412 06:08, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Thanks. I've added two more above, under your earlier post. --JN466 05:57, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Have checked out one of the instances SilkTork has raised. Jayen's translation is correct regarding the text Kritik an Filmen von bekennenden Scientologen, wie Cruise und John Travolta, und an Auftritten des Jazz-Musikers Chick Korea, ebenfalls Scientology-Anhänger, ist in Deutschland nicht neu: 1996 hatte die Junge Union zum Boykott gegen den Thriller "Mission: Impossible" mit Cruise als Hauptdarsteller aufgerufen. For non-German speakers this is a bit hard to confirm: Google Translate didn't parse the page and Yahoo's Babel Fish didn't handle the passage well. The en:wiki article Junge Union jibes with Jayen's statement. For a single instance over a year ago I can extend good faith (perhaps the editor skimmed and missed that passage). It's a bit worrisome that he didn't follow up in agreement after Jayen's explanation at the talk page. If other instances like this form a pattern, though, then I would endorse Jayen's request. Durova412 05:23, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Thanks. I appreciate your goodwill and your kind offer. Two small corrections:
I'll know where to go next time. ;) Here is another Wispanow edit from earlier on.
- In that diff, Wispanow rewrote a sentence as follows: "Between 2007 and 2008, there was a discussion to ban Scientology in Germany which was within 3 days considered senseless and quickly dropped because insufficient evidence of unconstitutional activity was found by German Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz.{{Lopsided}}" The "within 3 days" he inserted is unsourced and wrong. It took a year, from 2007 to 2008. And he added a "lopsided" tag to his own sentence.
- Under "Legal status", he inserted "Its believers enjoy full protection of the german constitution. Because Scientology or its members or believers did not call the courts, the actual status wether the organisation is a religious organisation or a commercial enterprise and the not directly according tax-exemption is unresolved." No new source is cited to verify that. It is in fact completely made up, and still cites the same 2-page pdf from the German Parliament, which, as you've already verified, says something quite different.
- Further down in the US criticism section, the article cites Richard Cohen saying in the Washington Post, "Scientology might be one weird religion, but the German reaction to it is weirder still – not to mention disturbing." This is cited to both the Washington Post and a German scholar, Schön, who quotes Cohen to illustrate American opinion, affirming the notability of the quote. Wispanow adds {{POV-statement}}. Of course it is a POV statement – that was the point, to illustrate the American POV. Almost all the tags he placed in that edit are equally unfathomable. For example, "{{verify credibility}}{{Lopsided}}" for a poll in Der Spiegel saying that 67% of Germans are in favour of banning Scientology. An opinion poll in Der Spiegel lacks credibility and is lopsided? And there is a "fact" tag for "Scientology is generally viewed with more suspicion in Europe," when page 2 of the cited article says: "Europeans in general bear more suspicion toward Scientology than Americans do, but Germans are considered particularly antagonistic". Whatever it is he was doing there, it was not encyclopedia writing. --JN466 08:26, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Deletions of sourced material: [27][28][29][30] --JN466 09:02, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Two more observations:
- Browsing through Wispanow's edit history, it appears that Wispanow makes positive contributions, and while at times a bit brusque, does work through issues on talkpages, such as on Talk:Luminous efficacy.
- Doing some quick and dirty research into Scientology in Germany I found these sources: [31], [32], [33], [34], [35], [36], [37], [38], [39], [40], [41], which all support the approach taken by Jayen466 in building the article. From from I have found I feel that it is clear that Jayen466 has taken pains to research carefully in order to build a neutral article on a difficult subject, and has consulted with the community via GA reviews and a Peer Review to ensure that the article is going in the right direction.
- Comment: Articles on contentious topics will attract challenges to POV. It would be inappropriate to suppress all such challenges, and is against the spirit of Wikipedia. However, we do have sanctions to use when challenges get out of hand and disrupt the development of an article. When to employ those sanctions will always be a question of judgement. Wispanow has made several strong challenges on the talkpage, and in the article itself, which can be tiresome, and having been there myself more than once I do sympathise with an editor having to deal with challenges. However, in my experience, such challenges can harden an article and make it better, and I note that Moni3 took some of Wispanow's content and incorporated it into a new lead that Jayen466 found acceptable. Wispanow has been willing to engage in discussion, albeit in a sometimes hostile manner, and has left the article alone for many months. Given the circumstances I feel that sanctions at this point would be inappropriate, and I would still urge that the parties attempt to work together. SilkTork *YES! 12:37, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- You are a kind person. :) I don't rule out working with Wispanow. Anyway, per ARBSCI he is entitled to one warning before any sanctions are pronounced. BUT I will note here that I tried this. When I approached him in a friendly manner last time, and addressed him in German on his talk page, seeing that the language barrier was getting in the way, his first response was to ask me where exactly I lived and whether I was a Scientologist, followed by reams of WP:OR with lots of ALLCAPS. He's implied I'm a Scientologist in multiple edit summaries since. I cannot be expected to start at ABC with every angry German editor, explaining the most basic aspects of sourcing, and let myself be called names. Right now I have a GA review to finish, one of my own articles is undergoing GA review, I've promised to help Auntieruth55 get Siege of Godesberg (1583) ready for FAC, having shelled out $100 for a specialist source, and I'm supposed to finish copyediting War of the Bavarian Succession in preparation for ACR, as well as respond to a few other requests on my talk page. At the same time, I have two work deadlines for tomorrow, another two for the end of the week, a book to finish proofreading for a scholar friend, and I have slept three hours. Talking to Wispanow and taking further insults from him, combined with insinuations that I am a Scientologist, is not high on my list of priorities right now, nor is explaining to him why "read the constitution" is not an adequate edit summary. I would like him warned, per Wikipedia:ARBSCI#Discretionary_topic_ban, and if you want to mediate discussions between him and me some time next week, then fine. But I will not put up with any further abuse either of me personally, or of the article. --JN466 16:44, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- The newest posts go beyond straightforward translation. A note to non-German speakers: Der Spiegel is a newsmagazine that has a better reputation than any comparable English language newsmagazine; imagine a much thicker version of Newsweek with content equivalent to the national edition of The New York Times. If there's a reason a Spiegel poll lacks credibility it really ought to be specified on the article talk page. Durova412 17:46, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Just for reference, here is a 1997 Time Magazine article reporting 70% support for a ban. --JN466 18:26, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Regarding the "read the constitution" edit summary, the Basic Law of Germany does guarantee freedom of religion. But one can't open a sports bar and get tax exempt status by naming it Temple of Bacchus. That's a very simple analogy for the issue Winspanow overlooked in the recent German court case about Scientology. The Time article uses hot button terms ("Nazi" and "fascist"), and the general background is that German law and society are very concerned about implementing safeguards that their democracy didn't have in the 1920s: a minor fringe party came to power with disastrous results. Later generations live in the shadow of that. Hushed silence falls over a room when certain subjects arise, even obliquely, in a way I've observed in the English speaking world only when someone mentions "KKK" below the Mason-Dixon line. It looks like the subject of Scientology somehow touched the third rail in Germany where anti-fascist arguments exist both for and against its acceptance. Perhaps that's a cultural divide here? The two instances of misused sourcing look like skimming and seeing red rather than deliberate misattribution. Without underplaying the seriousness of that or the difficulty of collaborating with someone who's seeing red, a little latitude may be appropriate: a straightforward communication about what the expectations are here and no nonsense if the problem continues. Durova412 19:46, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Durova has described a key aspect of the cultural divide very well here. It is a point that the article is trying to get across as well, and which it touches upon several times. Another aspect is a very differently situated "comfort zone" between the two poles of individual rights vs. collective rights, with the States emphasising the former, and Germany emphasising the latter (i.e. focusing more on individual duties, or protecting the community from the dangerous individual). A third difference is the centuries-long existence of two main state churches in Germany, compared to much more fragmented religious demographics in the States. (Those latter two points still need to be brought out more in the article; I've acquired a useful journal article that addresses this.) --JN466 02:48, 10 March 2010 (UTC)
- The newest posts go beyond straightforward translation. A note to non-German speakers: Der Spiegel is a newsmagazine that has a better reputation than any comparable English language newsmagazine; imagine a much thicker version of Newsweek with content equivalent to the national edition of The New York Times. If there's a reason a Spiegel poll lacks credibility it really ought to be specified on the article talk page. Durova412 17:46, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Two more observations:
Result concerning Wispanow
- This section is to be edited only by uninvolved administrators. Comments by others will be moved to the section above.
Cs32en
Attention: This request may be declined without further action if insufficient or unclear information is provided in the "Request" section below.
Request concerning Cs32en
- User requesting enforcement
- –Turian (talk) 19:49, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- User against whom enforcement is requested
- Cs32en (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
- Sanction or remedy that this user violated
- Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/September 11 conspiracy theories
- Diffs of edits that violate this sanction or remedy, and an explanation how these edits violate it
- [42] "Cinnamon Stillwell is a neo-conservative political activist, not an independent observer, and the text is an opinion piece." More anti-conservative push (reverting for the sake of reverting a conservative).
- [43] "Her writing is not based on journalistic independence, but on a political agenda." More disagreements with conservative views. (Hell, I'm as liberal as they come and I see no issue with her.)
- [44] "This article is not the place to promote the agenda of neo-conservative activists"... clear intentions provided here. Beliefs do not constitute verifiability nor does it disparage them.
- [45] More defending of conspiracies.
- [46] "The reaction of "some" Palestinians and Serbians in not notable in the context of this article." Anything that differs from his opinion goes, apparently.
- [47] See above.
- [48] See above.
- [49] "Therefore, arguing that Ahmadinejad does not know anything about 9/11, and for this reason we don't include his statement in the article, misses the point." Eh, weak argument.
- (Added post-initial filing 07:10, 9 March 2010 (UTC)) Talk Page of the 9/11 attacks
- (Added post-initial filing 07:10, 9 March 2010 (UTC)) Reverting my closure of a discussion after I felt consensus was reached. I normally wouldn't do something like this, but I have employed the option multiple times on this page, with it typically closing the argument and preventing further attacks/surges of conspiracy. We do not censor or even try to censor the viewpoint, as we often direct them to the conspiracy article.
- Diffs of notifications or of prior warnings against the conduct objected to (if required)
- A previous enforcement case
- [50] Warning by Turian (talk · contribs)
- Enforcement action requested (block, topic ban or other sanction)
- A one week block alongside an indefinite topic ban on anything related to September 11th.
- Additional comments by editor filing complaint
- He has been given multiple chances to adhere to the ruling of the arbitration case, yet has not followed through with the ruling or the ruling of the enforcement case. He is one of the problems in the constant push for NPOV fringe theories relating to 9/11. –Turian (talk) 19:52, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested
- [51]
Discussion concerning Cs32en
Statement by Cs32en
All of the edits that Turian (talk · contribs) enumerates are based on Wikipedia policies.
- Per Wikipedia:RS#Statements of opinion, opinion-based articles must not be used "for statements of fact without attribution". I have removed the source, because it was an opinion piece that was used without attribution. Furthermore, the section summarizes the sub-article 9/11 conspiracy theories (see WP:Summary style), and all relevant sources can be found in this article. The sub-article also includes high-quality sources for the information that was sourced to the opinion piece. Therefore, I left the information in the article and removed only the source that was used in an inappropriate way.
- The specific political position of the writer of the opinion piece is indeed irrelevant. I have pointed out that the article was not based on journalistic independence, i.e. with the aim of building a reputation based on reliability and fact checking. That's exactly the reason why there is a specific guideline on opinion pieces.
- In this edit, I explained that Cinnamon Stillwell is not an editor of a journal who writes an opinion piece, but that she identifies herself as a representative of a political organization that is actively engaged in the controversies related to the information in the article. Therefore, Wikipedia:RS#Statements of opinion is even more relevant than if it would be an opinion piece written by an independent observer.
- The specific information I have removed from the article was unsourced, and it contained the word "claim", which is, or course, a word that should normally be avoided.
- I think that the mention of the reaction of "some Palestinians" to the September 11 attacks is undue in the main article on 9/11. This, of course, is an editorial decision, and I am very open to debate if another editor brings up the issue at the talk page or reverts my edit.
- This is also undue in the main 9/11 article. The assertion that a murder in Britain perpetrated by three Muslims would have been the "most notable" is completely unsourced. The source only says the perpetrators were "found guilty ... at a time when tensions were high following the September 11 attacks". There is no indication that this event was motivated by or otherwise connected to the September 11 attacks.
- I don't see a reason why the information that "the Serbian Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the bombing" of the World Trade Center in 1993 (!) is relevant for the article. But again, I'm open to discuss this point.
- I have stated on the talk page before that I would not support including Ahmadinejad's views in the article, as long as there is not a notable political controversy about them. In this edit, I clarified that, in my view, the relevant question that a decision on the inclusion of his opinion should be based on is notability in the context of the article's topic, not whether Ahmadinejad has specific knowledge about the September 11 attacks. Again, a statement that is based on our policies.
I hope that I have clarified the issues that Turian (talk · contribs) has raised, and I suggest to dismiss this request. (I'll be away for about 24 hours.) Cs32en Talk to me 21:25, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- Then how do you explain your constant push for fringe conspiracies despite being told many times to stop? –Turian (talk) 21:32, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- My edits at September 11 attacks
As Turian (talk · contribs) is claiming that my editing on Wikipedia is about pushing conspiracies, I'd like to provide my edits at September 11 attacks during the last few months (the edits mentioned by Turian above, i.e. #1, #5, #6, and #7, are not included):
- 14:46, December 9, 2009 Adjusting piped link.
- 14:57, December 9, 2009 Reducing overlinking. Direct link to National Mall and to pepper spray. CNN does not need to be singled out.
- 16:20, December 9, 2009 [Correcting mistake in link syntax.]
- 19:20, January 23, 2010 the Capitol, the meeting place of the United States Congress, or the White House
- 15:04, February 25, 2010 Islamic extremism has its own article. (Removing link from "Islamist extremists" to "Islam".)
- 15:07, February 25, 2010 Removing "as a false flag in order to gain popular support for military and police expansion". This is only one of the motives that have been suggested.
- 15:14, February 25, 2010 "Due to lack of results" is unsourced speculation. Antagonism surfaced due to the predominantly military response, the Iraq War that was seen an unrelated to 9/11, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo etc. [Removing synthesis.]
- 21:09, March 1, 2010 (Undid revision 347151625 by Jonund (talk) User:Jonund incorrectly implied existing consensus on the talk page for his edit. Undoing the edit to encourage consensus-based solution. [There is now broad consensus on the talk page for the removal of this content.]
- 21:54, March 1, 2010 {{Undue-section}} [Tagging the section. ClovisPt (talk · contribs) removed much of the section in a subsequent edit. Broad talk page consensus on this as well.]
In early January, I have created the article Camp Chapman attack, which appeared on Did you know? on January 10. As I have written almost all of the content of this article, it may be a useful example to assess my editing. Cs32en Talk to me 16:34, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Since when does having good edits give you the right to push fringe theories? I am sure we can do without your "good" edits as long as your fringe edits are no longer allowed. –Turian (talk) 17:32, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- You have raised concerns about specific edits in your request above. I have provided a specific explanation for each of these edits. Then, you have stated that my edits overall were somehow problematic. I then have listed all my edits to the September 11 attacks article in the last few months to provide a basis for others to evaluate them. Which are the fringe edits that you are referring to? Cs32en Talk to me 17:46, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Everything I listed and your talk page obstruction of process. And your explanations were hardly sound at all. You have caused too much trouble in the past, and yet you continue to do it even though people have told you to stop. –Turian (talk) 18:48, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- You have raised concerns about specific edits in your request above. I have provided a specific explanation for each of these edits. Then, you have stated that my edits overall were somehow problematic. I then have listed all my edits to the September 11 attacks article in the last few months to provide a basis for others to evaluate them. Which are the fringe edits that you are referring to? Cs32en Talk to me 17:46, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
Comments by others about the request concerning Cs32en
Comment by Mbz1
I find the differences that were presented to be of a big concern, and believe Cs32en should be topic banned in accordance with the request.--Mbz1 (talk) 21:54, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
Comment by Sandstein
Could the requesting editor please annotate the request so as to explain how, specifically, each of the diffs provided violates "the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standards of behavior, or any normal editorial process" (WP:ARB911#Discretionary sanctions)? Sandstein 20:01, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- Done. –Turian (talk) 20:28, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
- Thanks. After some review, I am inclined to agree with Wildbear below and to decline enforcement action. This appears to be an attempt to win a content dispute via AE. WP:AE is not part of dispute resolution. The edits are not prima facie disruptive, they are reasonably well explained by Cs32en above in terms of relevant editing policies, and the arguments made against them in the terms of these policies are weak, and often assume bad faith ("anti-conservative push", "defending of conspiracies"). That is not to say that these edits are correct either as a matter of content or conduct (I take no position on that), only that they are not misconduct warranting sanctions. Rather, they are indicative of content disagreements that ought to be worked out through normal channels. Sandstein 06:30, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- I assume you failed to read the entire mess that is made on the September 11 attacks talk page? –Turian (talk) 06:49, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Yes. That talk page is not cited in your request. I normally only read what the editor requesting enforcement asks me to. Sandstein 06:54, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Sorry, I have added two more diffs as evidence of his misbehavior. –Turian (talk) 07:11, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Yes. That talk page is not cited in your request. I normally only read what the editor requesting enforcement asks me to. Sandstein 06:54, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- I assume you failed to read the entire mess that is made on the September 11 attacks talk page? –Turian (talk) 06:49, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Thanks. After some review, I am inclined to agree with Wildbear below and to decline enforcement action. This appears to be an attempt to win a content dispute via AE. WP:AE is not part of dispute resolution. The edits are not prima facie disruptive, they are reasonably well explained by Cs32en above in terms of relevant editing policies, and the arguments made against them in the terms of these policies are weak, and often assume bad faith ("anti-conservative push", "defending of conspiracies"). That is not to say that these edits are correct either as a matter of content or conduct (I take no position on that), only that they are not misconduct warranting sanctions. Rather, they are indicative of content disagreements that ought to be worked out through normal channels. Sandstein 06:30, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
Comment by Rklawton
Cs32en edits 9/11 as if his and only his view is correct. He removed a well researched, well considered, well sourced commentary published in a reliable source on the grounds that the author was a neo-conservative and immediately launched into an edit war to defend his actions. As far as I know, both liberals and conservatives believe 9/11 conspiracy theorists are whack-jobs. But Cs32en insisted the author was pushing a political agenda. The only agenda I saw in her article was one against conspiracy theorists - the very point of the section in which the source had been included. The bottom line is, unless we want to hand the article over to this one editor, he needs to be topic banned. Rklawton (talk) 03:44, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- I did not "launch into an edit war". Actually, I did not edit war at all. I have removed the opinion piece in this edit and removed the unnecessary fact tag in this subsequent edit (no edits in between), and I haven't edited that section of the article since then.
- I did not argue that the author of the article would push a political agenda because she argues against conspiracy theories. Indeed, many people do this, including many journalists. The author of this opinion piece, however, identifies herself as "the West Coast Representative for Campus Watch, a project of the foreign policy think tank directed by Daniel Pipes, the Middle East Forum" and, according to her website, is the "founder of the 9/11 Neocons, an online discussion group" (see the author's website). Cs32en Talk to me 16:46, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- ...which does not detract from her work to discredit conspiracy theorists. The fact is, you deleted this reference from a non-political article because of her political affiliations, and that's blatantly wrong. Rklawton (talk) 19:02, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
Comment by Wildbear
The preceding reads like a content dispute, rather than a pattern of abuse calling for arbitration enforcement. Approaching a polarized topic from a particular angle does not in itself constitute abuse; it is how one behaves while editing and discussing. If Cs32en had been engaging in edit warring, or unreasonable behavior on the talk page, then action might be warranted; but it doesn't look to me like that is occurring. Wildbear (talk) 04:57, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- This is not a content dispute. The push for conspiracy theories is a clear violation of the arbitration guidelines/sanctions. If nothing is done here, then I will report the problem directly to the Committee. –Turian (talk) 06:51, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- Also, please read the sanctions concept that the arbitration entails. This goes beyond any mere content dispute. –Turian (talk) 07:14, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
Result concerning Cs32en
- This section is to be edited only by uninvolved administrators. Comments by others will be moved to the section above.
PCPP
Attention: This request may be declined without further action if insufficient or unclear information is provided in the "Request" section below.
Request concerning PCPP
- User requesting enforcement
- Dilip rajeev (talk) 15:55, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
- User against whom enforcement is requested
- PCPP (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
- Sanction or remedy that this user violated
- #Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Falun_Gong#Neutral_point_of_view
- Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Falun_Gong#Consensus
- Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Falun_Gong#Point_of_view_editing
- Diffs of edits that violate this sanction or remedy, and an explanation how these edits violate it
In presenting this, I hope to bring to the attention of arbcom the continual disruption and removal of content by User:PCPP on Falun Gong and closely related pages. This behavior of the user extends to all articles carrying material critical of the Chinese Communist Party.
The user's editing pattern involves:
1. Repetitive blanking of vast amounts of sourced and centrally relevant material, with no discussion on talk, and often under edit summaries like “rv pov material.”
2. Distortion of sourced content and the addition of personal commentary, which he misattributes to sources already present in the article.
3. And, when under close scrutiny, the watering down of critical sources, with unsubstantiated claims to the effect that they are the content is “pov”, is undue, etc.
Even a superficial analysis can reveal his scouring of articles pertinent to the CCP’s human rights violations, from which he removes critical material, while simultaneously piling accusations against those attempting to contribute to those articles.
What I present below is but a sample of such behavior, all from within the past few months, by the user.
1. Article:6-10 Office
Nature of disruption:Repetitive blanking of sourced and centrally relevant material with no discussion presented.Concerns raised are ignored by the user.
The below content, drawing upon one of the few sources available on the topic, has been blanked 6 times by the user since its inception into the article.
"According to the 2008 Congressional Executive Commission Report on China, "Publicly available government documents detail the central role of the 6-10 Office in the persecution of Falun Gong."[1] The report states: ""6-10 Offices throughout China maintain extrajudicial 'transformation through reeducation' facilities that are used specifically to detain Falun Gong practitioners who have completed terms in reeducation through labor (RTL) camps but whom authorities refuse to release. The term `transformation through reeducation' (jiaoyu zhuanhua) describes a process of ideological reprogramming whereby practitioners are subjected to various methods of physical and psychological coercion until they recant their belief in Falun Gong."[1]"
The diffs:[52] [53][54][55][56][57].
Concerns raised regarding this behavior, on the talk page[58][59] is met with no response from PCPP, other than repeated blanking.
Together with the blanking, supported by neither discussion nor edit summary, the user distorts the lead of the article. The statement sourced to Congressional Executive Report on China, 2008: “This entity was charged with the mission of overseeing and carrying out the persecution of Falun Gong, which commenced on July 22, 1999.”, is distorted by the user to “It is responsible for monitoring, studying and analyzing matters relating to Falun Gong, and recommending policy measures for against Falun Gong, and also what the government calls "heretical cults" and "harmful qigong organisations"; and for promptly notifying municipal party committees of trends and developments within "cults".”[60]. The commentary added by the user is mis-attributed and not supported by any source.
2. Article: Propaganda in the People's Republic of China
Nature of disruption: Blanking of 12 paragraphs of sourced, centrally relevant material, with no discussion.
Shortly following the expansion and addition of sources to Propaganda in the People's Republic of China, PCPP blanks almost all the content added. He offers no explanation for this act. And his edit summary runs “rv POV material.”
3. Article: Propaganda in the People's Republic of China
Nature of disruption: Blanking
The above was preceded by a similar blanking of content here. Before this, an editor who has continually supported, worked with, and encouraged PCPP, blanks a portion of the content added to the article[61] with an argument to the effect that its good enough for the article to remain a “catalogue.”
4. Article: Propaganda in the People's Republic of China
Nature of disruption: Whole-scale blanking
In the same article, the user, despite attempts to engage him in discussion, continues to blank a quarter of the article - 10K of content. He attacks the sources themselves, alleging their origin in US makes them anti-China and hence not RS. Kindly review the comments regarding this on talk:[62]. The blanking takes place in these edits: [63]
5. Article: Falun Gong
Nature of Disruption: Blanking.
Three paragraphs deleted with no explanation offered.[64].
6. Article: Falun Gong
Blanks almost the same content as above , this time labeling the sources “questionable” in the edit summary – no supporting discussion on talk. [65]. Concerns raised regarding this can be seen on talk of the article:[66]
7. Article: Media of the People's Republic of China
Nature of Disruption: Blanking of material under a misleading edit summary
Content removed in edits with misleading edit summaries: [67]
8. Article: Mass line
Nature of Disruption: Repetitive addition of unsourced material and blanking of sourced content.
Adds several paragraphs of unsourced content [68]. And here he reverts ( with misleading edit summaries) contributions by other editors removing well sourced and centrally relevant content[69] ( he offers no explanation for his blanking). The issue was raised here on the talk of the article: [70]
9. Article:Thought reform in the People's Republic of China
'Nature of disruption: Removes an entire section.
Edit summary makes no mention of it and no discussion on talk. [71]
10. Article:List of campaigns of the Communist Party of China
Comparatively minor disruptions such as repetitive changing of “Persection of Falun Gong” ( term used by academic sources, HRW, UN, Amnesty, US Congress reports, etc) to “Banning of Falun Gong”[72] [73][74]. Attempts to get the user to present a rationale for his insistence on using the word “ban” can be seen here: [75]
11. Article: Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident
Blanks a para while falsely claiming in his edit summary that the content he blanked is a “misattribution”:[76]
12. Attacking reliable sources on talk to justify blanking of material .
The editor routinely attacks sources which do not align with his POV. Here, as a justification of his blanking of content from that source, the user attacks a Freedom House article by China expert Kurlantzick with claims that : "a) is not a suitable academic source as most of its material relies on original research b) is from an organization funded by the US government, and the countries reported happened to be political opponents of the US c) used as such that claims made by the report is presented as factual evidence in disproportionate amounts"[77] and here he attacks a Reporters Sans Frontiers source on 'grounds' that: " A bunch of rhetorics froma CIA funded organization can hardly meet WP:RS"[78]. The user continues to blank the Freedom House material despite RS discussion[79]. The user also continually engages in personal attack on those attempting to contribute to the article.
--
The above are just a few instances illustrative of the kind of the disruption the user engages in. The arguments the user presents on talk are often of a disruptive nature as well, and often invovles personal attacks on those contributing to the article.
PCPP also repeatedly changes the words from sources to weaken or distort the claims they make, the case often being the latter - distortion of the perspective of the source. These edits he labels: "clarifying", "per WP:NPOV", etc.[80],[81],[82]. In all these cases, the sources said those precise words as were in the article. He provides no other explanation for the changes he makes to them.
PCPP also rarely, if ever, adds any research to the articles. He focuses is often on pulling apart these articles and simultaneously discrediting the contributions of others. This behaviour of his has gone on for a long time and above are but recent instances. I request admins to kindly review PCPP's contribution history. In it is apparent a clear pattern of removal of material critical of the CCP from articles through out wikipedia.
In addition, I would also like to draw attention to a systematic blanking of critical content and images on articles related to the CPP and its human rights violations which, I notice, has been happening on articles throughout wikipedia. Academic and news sources state that the Chinese Communist Party employs an army, hundreds of thousands strong, targeting Web 2.0 technologies such as Wikipedia, Twitter and youtube[83]. My intent is not to imply that editors involved in such removal of material are all directly related to the CCP, but, to point out that the presence of research and reports, which uncover such activism by CCP’s propaganda departments, makes the issue deserving of further attention of the Wikipedia Community. I humbly request a careful analysis of the issue be done, before any judgment is made on the merits of this concern I raise, and if evidence is found of such activity, the necessary steps be taken to counter it. A lot of evidence exists in Falun Gong related pages themselves. For instance, the Persecution of Falun Gong article has had almost all information regarding the persecution( sourced to Amnesty, HRW, UN CAT, Congressional Executive Reports, academic sources, etc.) , blanked from it. Blanking has been done to the point that in the lead of the article itself, it is made to seem as if this major international crisis is but a mere claim made by practitioners. I point out the issue here on talk[84] In the past, these articles have witnessed attack from self-declared propagandists such as User:Bobby_fletcher. Identified by David Kilgour, and David Matas, and articles such as the ones here: [85][ http://www.westernstandard.ca/website/article.php?id=2436], as a major online activist for the CCP, “Bobbly Fletcher” engaged in presenting CCP propaganda on talk, de-tracking discussions, removal of content from the articles, etc. His presence on Wikipedia, and his disruptive activities were continually encouraged and supported by User:PCPP, who himself, as evidence above clearly demonstrates, has blanked vast amounts of info critical of the CCP from these articles.
- Diffs of notifications or of prior warnings against the conduct objected to (if required)
- [86] Warning by TheSoundAndTheFury (talk · contribs)
- [87] Warning by Asdfg12345 (talk · contribs)
- [88] Warning by Asdfg12345 (talk · contribs)
- [89] Warning by AGK (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
- [90] Warning by AGK (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA) # [<Diff>] Warning by [[User:<Username>|<Username>]] ([[User talk:<Username>|talk]] · [[Special:Contribs/<Username>|contribs]] · [[Special:Log/block/<Username>|blocks]] · [[Special:Log/protect/<Username>|protections]] · [[Special:Log/delete/<Username>|deletions]] · [[Special:Log/move/<Username>|page moves]] · [[Special:Log/rights/<Username>|rights]] · [[Special:PrefixIndex/Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/<Username>|RfA]])
- Enforcement action requested (block, topic ban or other sanction)
- Topic ban from articles related to the Chinese Communist Party.
- Additional comments by editor filing complaint
- <Your text>
- Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested
- The requesting user is asked to notify the user against whom this request is directed of it, and then to replace this text with a diff of that notification. The request will normally not be processed otherwise.
Discussion concerning PCPP
Statement by PCPP
Comments by others about the request concerning PCPP
Comment by Asdfg12345
PCPP focuses on picking apart the contributions of others, and watering down the parts that aren't too friendly to the Chinese Communist Party. His behaviour is consistently destructive, and it, along with the explicit and implicit support he receives for it, has seriously eroded my will to contribute to this project (among other things.) Recently he has refined his methods, too. Instead of outright blanking, he just blanks some parts and weakens others; instead of saying nothing, he says a few perfunctory words and discredits the other editors intentions; instead of doing zero research, he does a bit. He is a drag on contributing, and exerts a net negative influence. He only destroys the value of others' contributions, rather than bringing his own ideas and sources to the table and working together for how to incorporate the different viewpoints. He only says the viewpoint of this or that scholar (it would seem, actually, every scholar who has documented the crimes of the CCP) is POV and tries to delete it or weaken it, without any regard for NPOV, which calls for all significant views to be represented. He has recently deleted swathes of material from several articles, then writes misleading edit summaries and notes on the talk page. What's even more bizarre is how the editors calling for my downfall don't care when he does this stuff. It's a bit farcical. I have left maybe a dozen notes to PCPP saying how I would like to work with him, asking him to explain himself, asking him to bring sources to the table that support the POV he wants to see introduced. But he doesn't play ball and just rebukes it all, going right ahead with the deletions and whatnot. It's a very effective technique, to be honest. At the very least, it's dampened my usually boundless enthusiasm--at least enough to take a break from all this for a while. I'll be back, but hopefully he won't be around. (Note: if he changed his approach and started doing research, and discussed his changes nicely, I would love to work with him. He has robust opinions on these subjects that, if sources can be found to support them, need to be represented and explained. But his focus on destroying my work really gets to me. I asked him to just paste onto the talk page stuff he deletes from now on. Maybe that will help. Though his deletions of any mention of the word "indoctrination" or "struggle session" goes on.) --Asdfg12345 05:20, 10 March 2010 (UTC)
Result concerning PCPP
- This section is to be edited only by uninvolved administrators. Comments by others will be moved to the section above.
Dilip rajeev
Attention: This request may be declined without further action if insufficient or unclear information is provided in the "Request" section below.
Request concerning Dilip rajeev
User requesting enforcement:
Ohconfucius ¡digame! 05:29, 10 March 2010 (UTC)
User against whom enforcement is requested:
Dilip rajeev (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
Sanction or remedy that this user violated:
- Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Falun_Gong#Article_probation: "Falun Gong and all closely related articles are placed on article probation. It is expected that the articles will be improved to conform with Wikipedia:Neutral point of view, and that information contained in them will be supported by verifiable information from reliable sources. The articles may be reviewed on the motion of any arbitrator, or upon acceptance by the Arbitration Committee of a motion made by any user. Users whose editing is disruptive may be banned or their editing restricted as the result of a review. Passed 7 to 1 at 06:25, 9 May 2007 (UTC)"
- Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Falun_Gong#Point_of_view_editing
- Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Falun_Gong#Wikipedia_is_not_a_battleground
- Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Falun_Gong#Wikipedia_is_not_a_soapbox
- Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Sathya Sai Baba#Removal of poorly sourced negative information
- Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Sathya_Sai_Baba#Removal of poorly sourced information
Diffs of edits that violate this sanction or remedy, and an explanation how these edits violate it:
I really don't have the patience for this any longer; I have already given up editing Falun Gong articles. Nevertheless, I would re-open this previously filed request hoping that, something be done about that Falun Gong advocacy, NPOV editing and aggressive edit-warring. This is particularly important because the disruption has now spilled over onto, and threatens to poison the editing ambiance at, all articles which touch upon the Communist Party of China or the governance of the People's Republic of China - the central goal of the Falun Gong movement is contributing to the downfall of the CPC.
This renewed request is updated with the latest evidence of highly disruptive behaviour by Dilip rajeev (talk · contribs), who has been editing almost exclusively Falun Gong articles, or those which touch upon Falun Gong - namely Propaganda on the People's Republic of China - since February 2006. In fact, my previous AE request was against him failed; the closing admin commented: "Dilip rajeev has mostly refrained from reverting and engaged in discussion. Since the reversions happen so infrequently (3 times in 2 months), a revert restriction would be of very little value."
In my experience, rajeev has shown great animosity when non-FG devotees edit Falun Gong article. There has been a long history of unchecked edit warring, even over the placement of {{NPOV}} tags. Such tags are routinely removed (as here) with not so much as a 'how do you do', as if the contents suddenly become neutral when the tag disappears. Reverts are usually very provocatively done - blind and wholescale, often destroying many intervening edits which have accurate and well-reasoned edit summaries - and any ensuing discussion makes clear that the user is always 'right' and anyone who opposes him 'wrong'. Anything which is sourced from sources he approves of have a right to stay and any sources he disapproves of are "CCP propaganda" or somesuch. Dilip rajeev's tendency to introduce ironic quotes (like here) and weasel words are already mentioned above. Not only is he completely and blindly partisan, Dilip rajeev often expresses points of view which are unique; his style and content introduced have been frowned upon from time to time by most others, and also by asdfg.
Dilip rajeev's stated view that nothing from the Chinese authorities is worthy of citing because it is unreliable propaganda demonstrates a basic lack of understanding of what is WP:NPOV. He is known to endlessly pontificate on moral questions, and lawyer around citing paragraphs of WP:RS and WP:NPOV to support whatever position he favours in regards to a certain link or source. He maintains a website which he uses as Falun Gong advocacy. It seems that he passionately believes the persecution of Falun gong practitioners at the hands of the Chinese authorities, and is unable to put these views to one side when he is editing; and when he edits, it is with such great fervour and aggression that leaves little or no place for others who wish to contribute.
Dilip rajeev (talk · contribs) has a habit of disappearing (i.e. not editing in article space or talk space) for weeks or months on end. When he returns, he frequently reverts to the last version he feels comfortable with irrespective of the individual merits of each of the changes because the changes which took place were not to his liking. In view of his return and his manifestly unrepentant behaviour, I would reopen the case, seeking an indefinite site ban. Such reverts are usually done without due reference to the discussions which have taken place during his absence. Some recent diffs immediately below, show this modus operandi
- History of Falun Gong/Persecution of Falun Gong
FOR THE RECORD: version of this page, as edited by Dilip rajeev at 01:45, 19 July 2009
On 6 March 2010, Dilip rajeev rolls back to the lead which existed in the 19 July version]. Furthermore, during the next few minutes, he makes additions so that the version is effectively rolled back to the version of 19 July 2009.
- Note that he was opposed in this endeavour, and reinserts after removal. He warred again to reinstate lead, plus substantial rewrite. His actions crushed innumerable edits to the article since his last visit, and completely ignored the splitting of the article of the article into History of Falun Gong.
Of course, Dilip rajeev's habit of making radical reverts is a now firmly a matter of historical record. Some examples of this tendency are below:
- this one single edit, made following an absence of 12 days, undid 36 intermediate edits made by others during this time.
- This is his first intervention as Diip rajeev since the blocking of Inactive user account. He reverted 43 edits made by others while he was away for 26 days' absence.
- reverted 44 edits by others in one fell swoop after 7 days' absence
- 'Self Immolation' and 'Organ harvesting'.
To note that he stopped editing on 4 November 2009, and returned on 26 January 2010 (see contributions), since when he has been inserting a huge volume of content to Propaganda in the People's Republic of China. I was alerted to a problem when I received a note on my talk page to look at the NPOV of the article.
Since his return, he has been edit-warring with a number of other editors, and has been particularly vehemently opposed on a number of articles by PCPP (talk · contribs), who is no saint himself and has aggressive tendencies. In recent weeks, he and PCPP have been at loggerheads, trying to outdo each other in terms of aggression and open hostility. In view of the AE on PCPP, I will not expand here.
In the last few days, Dilip rajeev has warred with PCPP and others:
Today, he hypocritically initiated an AE case against same (see above).
- Diffs of prior warnings against the conduct objected to (if required by the remedy)
- He was given this final warning on 16 May 2009.
Enforcement action requested (block, topic ban or other sanction):
I believe that, in view of his continued disruption and the total lack of any mitigating collaborative successes, an indefinite ban from Wikipedia would now be in order.
- Dilip rajeev is a Falun Gong practitioner, and edits Falun Gong articles almost exclusively since 2006 along with a team of 3 other very easily identifiable FLG activist editors - asdfg12345 (talk · contribs), Olaf Stephanos (talk · contribs), and HappyInGeneral (talk · contribs). After the ban of Anti-FLG users Sam Luo and Tomanada, this group of Falun Gong practitioners have seemingly taken over all Falun Gong-related articles. All four users, to varying degrees, erase critical content, engage in lengthy advocacy commentary on talk pages, tag-team against other editors. Rajeev in particular shows very little respect for any users who wish to bring balance to articles, by sundry disruptive tactics and tendentious editing. These 1 2 attempts (amongst others) by fellow activist asdfg to rein him in have never had much effect.
- Dilip rajeev creates an ambiance of intolerance and hostility, leaving behind a trail of breaches of WP:NPOV, 3RR and other guidelines wherever he goes. He is responsible, in whole or in part, for driving away a number of neutral editors from the Falun Gong articles. His editing Sathya Sai Baba demonstrate his propensity to be controversial; his forays there are nothing short of spectacular drama. He has demonstrated that he is incapable of working with others who do not share the same views as himself, and I am regrettably of the conclusion, after observing numerous attempts by myself and other editors to discuss, negotiate and mediate, and after many months of suffering his various antics and POV-pushing, that Wikipedia is best off without him. A wholescale indefinite ban is warranted to end this editor's disruption of wikipedia, once and for all.
- It has now been demonstrated that Dilip rajeev is a dedicated Falun Gong SPA with an agenda to advocate the Falun Gong cause. His prior involvement in editing Sathya Sai Baba articles, another 'hot topic' which has already been the subject of two Arbcom cases, is also of record. He is a habitual disruptive editor whose aggressive and partisan edits have been the subject of numerous comments and complaints from other users, including fellow practitioner User:asdfg12345. Dilip rajeev has been warned repeatedly against edit-warring, and has been blocked a number of times - the last time was a 3 month topic ban; prior to that was a block of 55 hours. He does not appear to have learned anything,nor does he seem to realise that he narrowly escaped sanction by making an opportune disappearance from Wikipedia. I believe it is now time to send the message that such behaviour is not acceptable anywhere on Wikipedia. Ohconfucius ¡digame! 05:29, 10 March 2010 (UTC)
- Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested
- The requesting user is asked to notify the user against whom this request is directed of it, and then to replace this text with a diff of that notification. The request will normally not be processed otherwise.
Discussion concerning Dilip rajeev
Statement by Dilip rajeev
Comments by others about the request concerning Dilip rajeev
Comment by Epeefleche
Obviously, this is outrageous behavior. Just the sort that eats up valuable constructive editor time, without good reason, and poisons the project. I fully support the nomination, and urge that action be taken.--Epeefleche (talk) 06:00, 10 March 2010 (UTC)
Comment by Asdfg12345
Whether Dilip has recently engaged in edit warring should be able to be easily verified. I have looked at the pages in question and it seems obvious to me that he has not. Check the recent shamozzle at the persecution page, for example. He only did one revert to an old version, then rewrote the lead. That was reverted then the page was locked. Two changes, not one a revert. So, that's not edit warring. If you look at the talk page, it's clear he's also trying to engage in discussion.
Similarly for the 610 Office, page. Just look at the history. That's like, two reverts/edits over a couple of days? And what was the substance of those changes? Adding back in a few paragraphs of sourced material and deleting some unsourced material. And it was all discussed on the talk page, but PCPP did not join in. This is typical. The same thing can be found at Mass line. At the 610 office article, another outside editor has now come in to revert PCPP.
Same again for the propaganda in the PRC page. Check the history and it becomes clear who is being destructive. I don't think Dilip has done a single revert on that page at all. Meanwhile, PCPP has deleted 10kb from the page calling it "POV"! It's a wonder that Ohconfucius does not spread his righteous indignation around a bit more.
Overall, this seems to be an issue of editing dynamics and attitudes. It won't work to single one person out, and banning individuals when the evidence against them is summed up seems boneheaded, too. A recent, very clear illustration of how this is about attitudes is to be found on the Falun Gong talk page. Olaf Stephanos made some suggestions, and Mrund sought to dismiss and marginalise Olaf. A non-partisan editor went ahead with a few of the changes, which were not outrageous at all. In fact, they were just questions. So the whole atmosphere is really, really hostile. For the record, I disagree with Dilip, and other editors, on any number of content issues. But I don't think people should be banned unless it's clear they're exhibiting bad faith and behaving destructively. I don't think either of those is the case for Dilip.
There does not appear to be recent evidence (say, since mid-Feb) that Dilip has editwarred on any of the pages he has edited. Further, the nature of his edits is to add information and research. No claims have been made that Dilip has added information outside its prominence in reliable sources (i.e., actually violating WP:UNDUE), simply that he added information critical of the CCP. PCPP, on the other hand, has repeatedly edit warred to push his POV, and rather than adding any research, he just destroys the research of others. But anyway, I'm sorry to say it, but these cases seem to be as much about politics and image as they are about evidence. If Ohconfucius et al can make it look like they are a group of editors neutral on this subject, and Dilip is the pariah who relentlessly pushes his POV, then they win. That's what happened the last several times. --Asdfg12345 06:13, 10 March 2010 (UTC)
- Another point I would make is that while some of Ohconfucius's points have merit, most of it is rhetoric recycled from other spaces and times past, replayed here without recent diffs to back it up. Ohconfucius and I are good Wiki-friends by the way (seriously). --Asdfg12345 06:19, 10 March 2010 (UTC)
Comment by Mrund
I am convinced that an indefinite site ban would be the most productive way to deal with Dilip rajeev. Dilip is a vandal and a propagandist SPA. He adds little or nothing of independent value, and he eats up enormous amounts of other contributors' wikilabour that could be put to much better use for the project. Martin Rundkvist (talk) 08:13, 10 March 2010 (UTC)
Comment by HappyInGeneral
This is funny, check the number of edits Ohconfucius did to the article, then let's see who is owning it. Also the fact that the tone you use against any editor that you perceive pro-Falun Gong, is extremely telling. As far as I can tell you care only about your own truth and you are quite far as long as objectivity goes and well balanced WP:RS goes. Anyway, who cares, I'll stop here as I don't have time to get into this anymore. --HappyInGeneral (talk) 09:27, 10 March 2010 (UTC)