Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Enforcement

WP:AE

Click here to add a new enforcement request
For appeals: create a new section and use the template {{Arbitration enforcement appeal}}
See also: Logged AE sanctions

Important information

Shortcuts

Please use this page only to:

request administrative action against editors violating a remedy (not merely a principle) or an injunction in an Arbitration Committee decision, or a contentious topic restriction imposed by an administrator,
request contentious topic restrictions against previously alerted editors who engage in misconduct in a topic area designated as a contentious topic,
request page restrictions (e.g. revert restrictions) on pages that are being disrupted in topic areas designated as contentious topics, or
appeal arbitration enforcement actions (including contentious topic restrictions) to uninvolved administrators.

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}}.

Appeals and administrator modifications of contentious topics restrictions

The Arbitration Committee procedures relating to modifications of contentious topic restrictions state the following:

All contentious topic restrictions (and logged warnings) may be appealed. Only the restricted editor may appeal an editor restriction. Any editor may appeal a page restriction.

The appeal process has three possible stages. An editor appealing a restriction may:

ask the administrator who first made the contentious topic restrictions (the "enforcing administrator") to reconsider their original decision;
request review at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard ("AE") or at the administrators' noticeboard ("AN"); and
submit a request for amendment ("ARCA"). If the editor is blocked, the appeal may be made by email.

Appeals submitted at AE or AN must be submitted using the applicable template.

A rough consensus of administrators at AE or editors at AN may specify a period of up to one year during which no appeals (other than an appeal to ARCA) may be submitted.

Changing or revoking a contentious topic restriction

An administrator may only modify or revoke a contentious topic restriction if a formal appeal is successful or if one of the following exceptions applies:

The administrator who originally imposed the contentious topic restriction (the "enforcing administrator") affirmatively consents to the change,^[a] or is no longer an administrator;^[b] or
The contentious topic restriction was imposed (or last renewed) more than a year ago and:
- the restriction was imposed by a single administrator, or
- the restriction was an indefinite block.

A formal appeal is successful only if one of the following agrees with revoking or changing the contentious topic restriction:

a clear consensus of uninvolved administrators at AE,
a clear consensus of uninvolved editors at AN,
a majority of the Arbitration Committee, acting through a motion at ARCA.

Any administrator who revokes or changes a contentious topic restriction out of process (i.e. without the above conditions being met) may, at the discretion of the Arbitration Committee, be desysopped.

Standard of review
On community review

Uninvolved administrators at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard ("AE") and uninvolved editors at the administrators' noticeboard ("AN") should revoke or modify a contentious topic restriction on appeal if:

the action was inconsistent with the contentious topics procedure or applicable policy (i.e. the action was out of process),
the action was not reasonably necessary to prevent damage or disruption when first imposed, or
the action is no longer reasonably necessary to prevent damage or disruption.

On Arbitration Committee review

Arbitrators hearing an appeal at a request for amendment ("ARCA") will generally overturn a contentious topic restriction only if:

the action was inconsistent with the contentious topics procedure or applicable policy (i.e. the action was out of process),
the action represents an unreasonable exercise of administrative enforcement discretion, or
compelling circumstances warrant the full Committee's action.

^ The administrator may indicate consent at any time before, during, or after imposition of the restriction.
^ This criterion does not apply if the original action was imposed as a result of rough consensus at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard, as there would be no single enforcing administrator.

Appeals and administrator modifications of non-contentious topics sanctions

The Arbitration Committee procedures relating to modifications and appeals state:

Appeals by sanctioned editors

Appeals may be made only by the editor under sanction and only for a currently active sanction. Requests for modification of page restrictions may be made by any editor. The process has three possible stages (see "Important notes" below). The editor may:

ask the enforcing administrator to reconsider their original decision;
request review at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard ("AE") or at the administrators’ noticeboard ("AN"); and
submit a request for amendment at the amendment requests page ("ARCA"). If the editor is blocked, the appeal may be made by email through Special:EmailUser/Arbitration Committee (or, if email access is revoked, to arbcom-enwikimedia.org).

Modifications by administrators

No administrator may modify or remove a sanction placed by another administrator without:

the explicit prior affirmative consent of the enforcing administrator; or
prior affirmative agreement for the modification at (a) AE or (b) AN or (c) ARCA (see "Important notes" below).

Administrators modifying sanctions out of process may at the discretion of the committee be desysopped.

Nothing in this section prevents an administrator from replacing an existing sanction issued by another administrator with a new sanction if fresh misconduct has taken place after the existing sanction was applied.

Administrators are free to modify sanctions placed by former administrators – that is, editors who do not have the administrator permission enabled (due to a temporary or permanent relinquishment or desysop) – without regard to the requirements of this section. If an administrator modifies a sanction placed by a former administrator, the administrator who made the modification becomes the "enforcing administrator". If a former administrator regains the tools, the provisions of this section again apply to their unmodified enforcement actions.

Important notes:

For a request to succeed, either

(i) the clear and substantial consensus of (a) uninvolved administrators at AE or (b) uninvolved editors at AN or

(ii) a passing motion of arbitrators at ARCA

is required. If consensus at AE or AN is unclear, the status quo prevails.

While asking the enforcing administrator and seeking reviews at AN or AE are not mandatory prior to seeking a decision from the committee, once the committee has reviewed a request, further substantive review at any forum is barred. The sole exception is editors under an active sanction who may still request an easing or removal of the sanction on the grounds that said sanction is no longer needed, but such requests may only be made once every six months, or whatever longer period the committee may specify.
These provisions apply only to contentious topic restrictions placed by administrators and to blocks placed by administrators to enforce arbitration case decisions. They do not apply to sanctions directly authorized by the committee, and enacted either by arbitrators or by arbitration clerks, or to special functionary blocks of whatever nature.
All actions designated as arbitration enforcement actions, including those alleged to be out of process or against existing policy, must first be appealed following arbitration enforcement procedures to establish if such enforcement is inappropriate before the action may be reversed or formally discussed at another venue.

Information for administrators processing requests

Thank you for participating in this area. AE works best if there are a variety of admins bringing their expertise to each case. There is no expectation to comment on every case, and the Arbitration Committee (ArbCom) thanks all admins for whatever time they can give.

A couple of reminders:

Before commenting, please familiarise yourself with the referenced ArbCom case. Please also read all the evidence (including diffs) presented in the AE request.
When a request widens to include editors beyond the initial request, these editors must be notified and the notifications recorded in the same way as for the initial editor against whom sanctions were requested. Where some part of the outcome is clear, a partial close may be implemented and noted as "Result concerning X".
Enforcement measures in arbitration cases should be construed liberally to protect Wikipedia and keep it running efficiently. Some of the behaviour described in an enforcement request might not be restricted by ArbCom. However, it may violate other Wikipedia policies and guidelines; you may use administrative discretion to resolve it.
More than one side in a dispute may have ArbCom conduct rulings applicable to them. Please ensure these are investigated.

Closing a thread:

Once an issue is resolved, enclose it between {{hat}} and {{hab}} tags. A bot should archive it in 7 days.
Please consider referring the case to ARCA if the outcome is a recommendation to do so or the issue regards administrator conduct.
You can use the templates {{uw-aeblock}} (for blocks) or {{AE sanction}} (for other contentious topic restrictions) to give notice of sanctions on user talk pages.
Please log sanctions in the Arbitration enforcement log.

Thanks again for helping. If you have any questions, please post on the talk page.

Arbitration enforcement archives

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40
41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60
61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80
81	82	83	84	85	86	87	88	89	90	91	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	100
101	102	103	104	105	106	107	108	109	110	111	112	113	114	115	116	117	118	119	120
121	122	123	124	125	126	127	128	129	130	131	132	133	134	135	136	137	138	139	140
141	142	143	144	145	146	147	148	149	150	151	152	153	154	155	156	157	158	159	160
161	162	163	164	165	166	167	168	169	170	171	172	173	174	175	176	177	178	179	180
181	182	183	184	185	186	187	188	189	190	191	192	193	194	195	196	197	198	199	200
201	202	203	204	205	206	207	208	209	210	211	212	213	214	215	216	217	218	219	220
221	222	223	224	225	226	227	228	229	230	231	232	233	234	235	236	237	238	239	240
241	242	243	244	245	246	247	248	249	250	251	252	253	254	255	256	257	258	259	260
261	262	263	264	265	266	267	268	269	270	271	272	273	274	275	276	277	278	279	280
281	282	283	284	285	286	287	288	289	290	291	292	293	294	295	296	297	298	299	300
301	302	303	304	305	306	307	308	309	310	311	312	313	314	315	316	317	318	319	320
321	322	323	324	325	326	327	328	329	330	331	332	333	334	335	336	337	338	339

Alinor

Attention: This request may be declined without further action if insufficient or unclear information is provided in the "Request" section below.

Request concerning Alinor

User who is submitting this request for enforcement: Ladril (talk) 21:34, 3 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

User against whom enforcement is requested: Alinor (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

Sanction or remedy to be enforced: [[1]]

While under a topic-ban from Kosovo-related articles, Alinor did engage in a edit-war in an article related to the same topic (or to be more precise, he edit-warred over the same topic on a related article). Note the current sanction was for edit-warring.

Diffs of edits that violate this sanction or remedy, and an explanation how these edits violate it

March 4, 2011. Alinor was topic-banned from Kosovo-related articles for a period of three months [2]. After this happens:

1. [3] A long dispute over the sorting criteria for List of sovereign states ends in an informal mediation stage. A rough consensus emerges, but two users (Alinor among them) refuse to compromise with the majority. The mediator closes the mediation as unresolved.

2. [4] While moving to close the mediation, the mediator states: "I suggest that a sufficient consensus on sandbox 3i2 has developed here for it to be implemented directly over any objections. Those who might still object are (obviously) within their rights to challenge that action, but I strongly recommend that any such challenge not involve further debate between these participants, but be turned over to third parties via RfC, 3rd Opinion, formal mediation, or arbitration."

3. [5] Indeed, the mediation closes with thirteen users accepting this sandbox as a new version of the page to be improved on. You can see evidence of acceptance here [6] [7] [8]. The "3i2 version" becomes the consensual version accepted by thirteen users, while the two opposers (Alinor among them) continue to object to it without proposing any alternative than convinces the community. Note this sandbox was created and proposed on 21 May.

4. [9] Time is given for the sandbox to be reviewed and objections raised. Since no more users object about it, it is incorporated into the main article space on 29 May. It should be noted that the two opposers made no alternative proposals during this period, despite being repeatedly prompted to do so (they continued to cling to their positions made during the mediation, failing to compromise with the consensus adopted by the other users). The acceptance of this version is not implied to be a claim on ownership of the article or to unilaterally close the dispute resolution process.

5. [10], [11], [12], [13] One of the two opposers begins to edit war over the consensus version with several other users, intending to restore the previous version . An uninvolved administrator intervenes and determines this version [14] is the consensus version.

6. [15] After the administrator has made his call, Alinor continues the edit war, claiming no consensus exists. Page is protected after this.

On the talk page and on the mediation, Alinor has stated repeatedly that his reasons for opposing the consensus have to do in part with how "RoK" (Republic of Kosovo) is portrayed. Three examples: [16], [17], [18]. He is not satisfied with the current consensus but instead of following proper avenues for continuing dispute resolution, has engaged in edit-warring.

Alinor, during the duration of a temporal topic ban, knowingly and willingly engaged in an edit war in a related article, explicitly stating that one of his reasons to edit-war was an inconformity with the portrayal of Kosovo in the page. I argue that this is acting against the spirit of the previous sanction applied to Alinor. I read that in the previous case, where he earned the topic-ban, he edit-warred, tried to WP:BLUDGEON the process and did not engage in constructive listening of other people's points (WP:HEAR). He apparently did not learn anything from the previous AE, because he is adopting the same behaviour in this case.

Diffs of notifications or of prior warnings against the conduct objected to (if required)

At the time of engaging in the edit war (June 1) [19], Alinor was under a three-month topic ban (set to expire on June 4, 2011). Appropriate admin warnings and arbitration decisions can be found here: [20]

Enforcement action requested (block, topic ban or other sanction)

Extension of the current topic ban.

Additional comments by editor filing complaint

In case somebody wants to argue that Alinor did not "edit war" because he made only one edit to the page, it must be emphasized again that an administrator intervened to restore a page to a consensual version after an edit-war, and Alinor continued the edit war in defiance of the admin action.

In addition, this probably goes without saying, but if my behaviour in this case deserves a sanction I am completely willing to accept it, no questions asked.

Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested

[21], [22]

Discussion concerning Alinor

Statement by Alinor

Comments by others about the request concerning Alinor

@T.Canens, is there any obvious reason to treat this any harsher than any other 'ethnic' AE area? In other words, is there a good reason to think that this slightly different wording was deliberate? - BorisG (talk) 13:52, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Result concerning Alinor

This section is to be edited only by uninvolved administrators. Comments by others will be moved to the section above.

One second. The drafting of WP:ARBKOS is....not a work of art. WP:ARBKOS#Modified states that "editors of Kosovo and related articles who engage in edit warring, incivility, original research, or other disruptive editing, may be banned for an appropriate period of time, in extreme cases indefinitely." What ban are we talking about here? Contemporary cases, such as Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Honda S2000, seems to indicate that "ban" here is used in the sense of a site ban or block and not a topic ban. Has Alinor been warned about WP:ARBMAC#Discretionary sanctions? T. Canens (talk) 12:43, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The case log reveals six occasions where bans from Kosovo have been issued since 2006. Principle #3 says "Users who disrupt the editing of an article or set of articles may be banned from those articles, or, in extreme cases, from the site." This suggests that bans from 'a set of articles' were considered doable. ARBKOS makes no requirement to issue a warning before sanctions are imposed and no warnings appear in the log, though warnings might be a good practice from now on. EdJohnston (talk) 13:31, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

One could say, though, that those bans came under the article probation (Remedy 8) rather than remedy 9.1. I still think the latter is better read as site-banning/blocking provision rather than a topic/page ban provision. T. Canens (talk) 13:42, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

@BorisG: date of the decision. The Kosovo case is one of the earliest "ethnic" cases, as you put it. You'll find that early arbcom decisions involved such odd remedies as "banned for one day (!)" and often refer to enforcement actions as bans rather than blocks. The more standardized remedies and discretionary sanctions did not come about until much later. There is also the problem of making remedy 8 superfluous since article probation includes page bans. One can certainly argue that the ARBKOS remedies are anachronistic (no required warning, etc.), and it probably is, but until arbcom "modernizes" it that's what we have to work with. T. Canens (talk) 14:14, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I propose that we formally warn Alinor per WP:ARBMAC#Discretionary sanctions and call it a day. I find working with ARBKOS excessively frustrating. For instance, which enforcement provision should we follow, Wikipedia:ARBKOS#Enforcement by block or Wikipedia:ARBKOS#Enforcement by block 2? Perhaps we can request clarification from arbcom (except that none of the arbs who participated in that decision are serving), but I don't think it's worth the effort given that the general sanctions of ARBKOS would have been entirely subsumed by ARBMAC but for the additional warning requirement, which is not that big of a deal. T. Canens (talk) 14:29, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

That sounds reasonable (use ARBMAC from now on). The two 'Enforcement by block' clauses look to be competing remedies. The arbs should have made a choice and only passed one of the two. EdJohnston (talk) 16:01, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Communicat

Attention: This request may be declined without further action if insufficient or unclear information is provided in the "Request" section below.

Request concerning Communicat

User who is submitting this request for enforcement: Nick-D (talk) 23:41, 3 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

User against whom enforcement is requested: Communicat (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) (currently editing as 196.215.76.234 (talk · contribs) )

Sanction or remedy to be enforced: Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/World War II#Remedies

Diffs of edits that violate this sanction or remedy, and an explanation how these edits violate it

Communicat has recently returned to editing using an IP address. To date, his only edits have been to launch personal attacks on the other editors who were involved in this arbitration case and continue the dispute:

31 May First personal attack and also repeats arguments concerning the World War II article
31 May second personal attack (not terribly serious)
2 June third and most serious attack in which Communicat again rehashes his arguments concerning the World War II article made in the arbitration case. Interestingly, he also discloses here that he is in fact Stan Winer, the author of the unreliable source Communicat was pushing.

Note that Communicat has a history of using IP accounts to talk about himself in the third person and carry on disputes for which he has been blocked (for instance, here - that this was Communicat is confirmed by this edit from the same IP account. That account (196.210.181.54 (talk · contribs)) has a similar IP address and geolocates to the same area of South Africa as 196.215.76.234, providing further evidence that this is Communicat.

Diffs of notifications or of prior warnings against the conduct objected to (if required)

Not applicable

Enforcement action requested (block, topic ban or other sanction)

The above posts are a clear violation of both sanctions which were imposed on Communicat (to not edit or comment on articles concerning World War II and its aftermath and to not make personal attacks on other editors) and I ask that the IP account and Communicat's account be blocked per Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/World War II#Enforcement Nick-D (talk) 23:41, 3 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Additional comments by editor filing complaint

Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested

Communicat account: [23] IP account: [24]

Discussion concerning Communicat

Statement by Communicat

Comments by others about the request concerning Communicat

Comments by Binksternet. The IP 196.215.76.234 is from South Africa, a known residence of Stan Winer. I must assume that the IP is indeed Communicat as well as Stan Winer. I recommend that the IP and Communicat be blocked indefinitely. Binksternet (talk) 01:59, 4 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Comment by BorisG. Diff 3 is extraordinary. If the IP is not Comminicat then this is outing. - BorisG (talk) 05:04, 4 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I also note that Communicat has not made a single edit after the closure of that ArbCom case. He does not seem interested in editing any areas of Wikipedia outside of the rather narrow area of his topic ban. - BorisG (talk) 13:47, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Result concerning Communicat

This section is to be edited only by uninvolved administrators. Comments by others will be moved to the section above.

I'm thinking about a 1-week AE block, with a warning to edit from the account only or risk an indef. Unfortunately the IP range is too wide to effectively rangeblock. T. Canens (talk) 12:30, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
T. Canens: A one-week block seems sensible to me. As this is not a complex request, the next administrator to read this is welcome to immediately implement the block. If nobody does so soon, I'll go ahead. AGK [•] 11:41, 6 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

[1] The administrator may indicate consent at any time before, during, or after imposition of the restriction.

[2] This criterion does not apply if the original action was imposed as a result of rough consensus at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard, as there would be no single enforcing administrator.

[a]

[b]

v t e Noticeboards
Wikipedia's centralized discussion, request, and help venues. For a listing of ongoing discussions and current requests, see the dashboard. For a related set of forums which do not function as noticeboards see formal review processes.
General	Administrators Main Incidents Bots Bureaucrats Centralized discussion Closure requests Education Interface admins Main Page errors Open proxies VRT Oversight User permissions
Articles and content	Biographies of living persons Copyrights Questions on media Problems Dispute resolution External links Fringe theories Neutral point of view Original research Pending changes Reliable sources Resource requests Scalable vector graphics Spam Blacklist Whitelist Style Titleblacklist Translation
Page handling	History merges Mergers Splits Moves Protection Importation XfD Articles Redirects Categories Templates Files Miscellany Undeletion
User conduct	Conflict of interest Contributor copyright Edit warring and 3RR Sanctions Personal restrictions General sanctions Contentious topics Sockpuppets Usernames (Requests for comment) Vandalism
Other	Arbitration Committee noticeboard Requests Enforcement Edit filters Requested False positives Questions Help desk Teahouse Reference desk New articles Requests for comment Village pump Policy Technical Proposals Idea lab WMF Miscellaneous WikiProject proposals Discussions for discussion
Category:Wikipedia noticeboards