Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Enforcement

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

Important information

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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.

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Neptune's Trident

This request may be declined without further action if insufficient or unclear information is provided in the "Request" section below.
Requests may not exceed 500 words and 20 diffs (not counting required information), except by permission of a reviewing administrator.

Request concerning Neptune's Trident

User who is submitting this request for enforcement: Thorrand (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) 02:17, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

User against whom enforcement is requested: Neptune's Trident (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
Search CT alerts: in user talk history • in system log

Sanction or remedy to be enforced: Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/GamerGate#Scope_of_standard_topic_ban_.28I.29 :

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

July 4, 2015 Created a page for the company owned by brianna wu, violating topic ban
4 July, 2015 Editing the created page which violates the topic ban imposed
4 July, 2015 Editing the created page which violates the topic ban imposed
5 July, 2015 Editing the created page which violates the topic ban imposed

Diffs of previous relevant sanctions, if any

12 March, 2015 Topic banned from the gamergate controversy broadly construed

Additional comments by editor filing complaint

Editor is in clear violation of the block already imposed on them

Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Neptune%27s_Trident&diff=670135134&oldid=670127448

Discussion concerning Neptune's Trident

Statements must be made in separate sections. They may not exceed 500 words and 20 diffs, except by permission of a reviewing administrator.
Administrators may remove or shorten noncompliant statements. Disruptive contributions may result in blocks.

Statement by Neptune's Trident

If I can be totally honest, the reason I got banned from this topic was because I requested out of good will, (Redacted). This was NOT done out of malice or slander. I simply thought Brianna Wu, listening to her in interviews on NPR and other news outlets (Redacted). I didn't have any reliable sources to back that up so I was pretty much given a 48 hour ban from Wikipedia when I was just trying to improve the article, and my guess is some administrators thought I was being (Redacted) or trying to intentionally slander a subject of a Wikipedia article. I got upset and tried to explain this to the person who gave me the 48 hour ban that I was not trying to slander anyone or (Redacted) or put false information on an already locked Wikipedia article, and that was like red to a bull and another administrator gave me a longer ban on top of that. I wasn't going to respond to this since I'm expecting much the same reaction. I hesitated before adding the link to the Giant Spacekat article on the Gamergate article, thinking, I shouldn't do that, but I just wanted to make the one edit and leave it at that. I admit it, I made a mistake, yet the reasons for me being "banned" from the subject matter were totally unfair in my opinion. I said nothing about the ban since I felt it wouldn't do any good, I was clearly outnumbered, But I foolishly pressed the save button and made the edit on the Gamergate controversy article and here we are. Neptune's Trident (talk) 18:46, 7 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, and that's exactly what Strongjam (talk) did to my comments previously when I got the ban, Strongjam redacted the statement, i.e. changed the meaning of what I was trying to say and to make it look like I was saying something I was not to the person who gave me the 48 hour ban, but again, I was outnumbered, so changing the meaning of MY statement so it is palatable to another editor, in this case Strongjam, didn't help the last time when this all began.

You can see how Strongjam changed my statement from before right here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Neptune%27s_Trident&diff=651082500&oldid=651080468

Maybe Strongjam was trying to help yet it didn't seem that way at the time, I could be wrong though. I'm just hoping I get a fair shake here and not just ganged up on by the same people who gave me, what I felt, was an unwarranted ban on this topic, thanks.

And what good does it do for me to give a statement and some other editor and come along and redacted or re-edited as THEY WANT it? Isn't it supposed to be my statement? Neptune's Trident (talk) 19:14, 7 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, Gamaliel (talk), I made a statement about this. And it has been re-edited by another editor. Yes, I felt the Gamergate ban was unfair, yet I didn't bother to appeal since I felt no would listen to me when I got the ban. Neptune's Trident (talk) 19:18, 7 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I didn't know I could not post any of that information, BLP, Biography Living Persons, that I did earlier tonight, even on this page, without a reliable source. I won't be doing it again, I just thought there was no other way to make my case without being truthful about how all this happened and got started. Darwinian Ape let me know this on my talk page. Anyway, I'm done with this. Adios. Neptune's Trident (talk)

Truth be told, all I've ever wanted to be was a Wikipedia:WikiGnome on Wikipedia and just edit and create random articles. I really wasn't aware of that term until it was mentioned by someone else the other day. It was just a hobby really. For what it's worth, I apologize for any damage I may have done. I still think if you look at my editing history you can see most of my contributions have been positive. I've obviously screwed up and violated rules, some of which I was not aware of, since the technical side of Wikipedia is not my strong point. Anyway, I'll accept whatever decision is made. Neptune's Trident (talk)

Statement by Strongjam

Just a note that I've redacted some of Neptune's Trident statement. WP:BLP applies here as well and I don't think repeating the exact details of the edit that brought on the topic ban is needed anyway. — Strongjam (talk) 18:58, 7 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@Neptune's Trident: I'm just trying to make sure we stay in line with our WP:BLP policy. I am not trying to change the meaning of your statement, either now or before. The original blocking admin is quite capable of looking at the history and seeing your original statement. Also, note that on this page you should edit your own section and refrain from editing other editor's sections. — Strongjam (talk) 19:22, 7 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Rhoark

Neptune seems to be a WikiGnome with a strong aversion to talk pages, doing a lot of wikilinks, infoboxes, and company stubs. Most of the links in the section for evidence of awareness are broken, and don't seem to apply to this user. I certainly don't see them mentioned in the ArbCom decision. They were apparently topic banned in March due to a rev del'd edit to Talk:Brianna Wu, which if I had to guess I'd bet was a request to edit the infobox that hit on hot-button MOS:IDENTITY issues. If there's a rhyme or reason to the pages they choose to do their gnome thing, I don't see it. Certainly not any detectable battleground mentality. They may be a field test of IBM Watson, or a Roomba. I suggest a formal admonishment. Rhoark (talk) 23:53, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Bosstopher

Given that they went and did it again, I was wondering if anyone explained to Neptune's Trident over email or something exactly why what they're doing is a BLP violation? Their actions seem to be less out of malice and more out of complete failure to understand BLP policy amongst certain other things. Bosstopher (talk) 19:15, 7 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Darwinian Ape

I don't know what is the degree of the BLP violation since it was redacted from Neptune's Trident's statement, but reading other editors' statements, I gather it was not a grave one or that it's probably an honest mistake. At least his repeat of the said BLP violation seems to me purely to inform how he got the topic ban and not to actually repeat it. Bad judgement, not bad faith. This topic has been the demise of so many editors left and right, I fear gamergate gods demand blood once again.:) What I would suggest is given that there is evidence this person may be acting in good faith and just ignorant of the law, we should excuse this breach and give him a formal admonishment. I would further suggest his ban to be lifted, if Neptune can agree to stay away from the topic itself and be very very careful not to violate BLP policies any further, so that small and noncontroversial edits of his would not end up in AE. Either way, a block to me seems like punitive rather than preventative. Darwinian Ape^talk 05:55, 9 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Neptune just posted the BLP violation again! I removed it, ~~I don't know what he is trying to do, I just wanted to note that I retract my above suggestion, he is clearly not listening.~~ Darwinian Ape^talk 04:56, 11 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

NT seems to understand the issue now. Darwinian Ape^talk 16:52, 12 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by MarkBernstein

If I recall the BLP violation that I came across and reported to Oversight -- and there have been so many of these that I may be confused – it was the sort of thing that has, in other cases, led some people to suicide, and in other cases incited massive lawsuits. Let’s not get carried away with how minor and harmless the violation was; BLP is a fairly bright line. MarkBernstein (talk) 17:56, 9 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by (username)

Result concerning Neptune's Trident

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

@Neptune's Trident: I'd really like to hear your response to this request. It appears that you have committed a clear-cut violation of your topic ban. Gamaliel (talk) 19:18, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
It can't have escaped this editor's notice that he is banned from Gamergate. The last block was for one month, and I suggest that a new one-month block is indicated. He states above that his ban is unfair, but if so, the right thing to do is appeal the ban, not violate it. EdJohnston (talk) 19:15, 7 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I'm a bit torn here. The topic ban itself is clearly needed, as this editor has proven with his statement here, which required redacting. Their motives are likely innocent and not malicious, but he has demonstrated he needs to exhibit more thoughtfulness and caution when dealing with BLP issues. The ban violation was pretty harmless, but this editor does not understand that the appropriate response to a a topic ban is not to do nothing to challenge it and then violate it when they think no one is looking. Gamaliel (talk) 20:55, 7 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

If the editor can't hold himself back from repeated BLP violations, he probably doesn't belong on Wikipedia. Note that some of what he presented in his statement here at AE has been oversighted. My guess is that he must have been repeating the same assertions that got him blocked back on March 12. (The March edits are only revdelled). EdJohnston (talk) 21:15, 7 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with Ed, and in fact would be fine with following the usual escalating block sequence to three months. T. Canens (talk) 21:25, 7 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I'm in two minds. On the one hand, it's a pretty clear-cut violation of the topic ban, and the comments here show that NT hasn't learnt that he can't just keep repeating things. On the other, it doesn't appear that he intends malice and it's possible that he doesn't understand the seriousness of the situation from a policy perspective. Had this come to my talk page, I probably would have contented myself with a stern warning and words of advice, probably followed by an indefinite block if the advice wasn't heeded. I don't object to a definite-duration block along the lines of a month (three is a little on the harsh side, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it), but I wonder if the softly softly approach might yield a better result in the long term? HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 22:06, 7 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
This needs to be closed one way or the other. I think we are roughly split between a one-month block (Ed & I) and something more lenient (Gamaliel & HJ). Unless an uninvolved admin objects in the next 24 hours, I'm going to go with a one-month block, with the caveat that the duration may be shortened if Neptune's Trident agrees to avoid BLP and topic ban violations in the future. Pinging @EdJohnston, Gamaliel, and HJ Mitchell:. T. Canens (talk) 03:48, 11 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Given Neptune Trident's reposting of the BLP violation here, I now support a block. Gamaliel (talk) 05:00, 11 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I agree, albeit reluctantly. NT clearly doesn't understand what the problem is with his edits, but at some point the burden shifts from "us" (be it admins or others trying to explain the problem) and shifts to NT to try to understand why he's got admins lining up to tell him he can't do that, or at the very least to stop doing it and engage in a discussion aimed at understanding the problem. I think we're well past the point of the burden shifting to NT. I would be fine with a lengthy block of a definite duration, but frankly indefinite (ie, until he realises what the problem is or at least agrees to avoid it while people explain it to him) might be better. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 22:03, 11 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

With NT's repetition of the BLP violation here today and their apparent incomprehension of why it's a problem, a a lengthy block and a BLP ban are required. I have no confidence that they understand the issue. Honestly, if this wasn't under discussion here I would have blocked indefinitely for this last event. Three strikes is enough. Acroterion (talk) 10:53, 11 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
I think we've arrived at a WP:CIR situation here. I don't think NT is maliciously violating BLP, rather they just completely fail to understand at least one of the BLP policy, why BLP is important, and/or why his posts are contrary to BLP. They have been given plenty of opportunity to understand all of these, but has failed to do so. For all the good intentions someone may have, a basic competence is required to edit Wikipedia and at this point in time I'm not sufficiently convinced that NT has that competence. We could topic ban them from all edits and all pages regarding living and recently deceased people (and it would have to be phrased that way, rather than with reference to where BLP applies), but reluctantly I think I prefer an indefinite block until such time as they can demonstrate they understand BLP. I don't mind whether that understanding comes in a week or in a year. Thryduulf (talk) 22:51, 11 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Given NT's latest statement, I'm hoping that a block is no longer necessary. He appears to be understanding the problem, or at least understanding that he can't just keep repeating the BLP violations. I think a reprimand and words of advice is the most appropriate response for now, with the understanding that a lengthy or indefinite block would be the almost inevitable result of any further problems. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 15:13, 12 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Arthur Rubin

This request may be declined without further action if insufficient or unclear information is provided in the "Request" section below.
Requests may not exceed 500 words and 20 diffs (not counting required information), except by permission of a reviewing administrator.

Request concerning Arthur Rubin

User who is submitting this request for enforcement: HughD (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) 17:36, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

User against whom enforcement is requested: Arthur Rubin (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
Search CT alerts: in user talk history • in system log

Sanction or remedy to be enforced

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

12:37, 3 July 2015 disruptive edit, removal of NPOV article page hat
05:22, 6 July 2015 disruptive edit, restoration of NPOV article page hat
05:30, 6 July 2015 solicitation of an editor to evade enforcement

Diffs of previous relevant sanctions, if any

5 September 2013 TBan as party to TPM case
14 December 2013 blocked for a week
block log
23 August 2014 Amendment request; TBan lifted; indefinite 1RR imposed, with appeal available August 2015
Editor restrictions summary

If discretionary sanctions are requested, supply evidence that the user is aware of them (see WP:AC/DS#Awareness and alerts)

Mentioned by name in the Arbitration Committee's Final Decision linked to above.
Previously blocked as a discretionary sanction for conduct in the area of conflict, see the block log linked to above.
Previously given a discretionary sanction for conduct in the area of conflict on 14 December 2013 by Sandstein (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA).
Successfully appealed all their own sanctions relating to the area of conflict in the last twelve months, 23 August 2014.

Additional comments by editor filing complaint

Respectfully request advice on whether or not a violation of sanctions has occurred here, first time AE filing here, thank you for your patience.

Background context: 5 September 2013 our arbitration committee found that the reported user had repeatedly edit warred and edited combatively, please see WP:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Tea_Party_movement#Arthur_Rubin. 23 August 2014 our arbitration committee suspended a topic ban on the the reported user in the area of the Tea Party movement broadly construed, which motion included a proviso that "any uninvolved administrator may as an arbitration enforcement action reinstate the topic ban for failure to follow Wikipedia's standards of conduct in the area," please see Amendment request: Tea Party movement.

Americans for Prosperity is at the intersection of the Tea Party movement, American politics, and climate change. Since March 2015 the article has undergone an extensive collaborative good article drive. The article attracted increased attention as the article approached the completeness required by good article criteria. On and around 22 June the article was subjected to content blanking including section blanking and deletion of numerous reliable source references. 1RR was imposed. Several threads concerning the neutrality of the article were started at article talk, including "NPOV issue," "NPOV tag," and "Koch Brothers and weight in coverage." Discussion was active and involved about a dozen or so editors, including the reported user. An entirely appropriate NPOV article hat was added 30 June, deleted and restored 1 July.

Reported user behavior: On 3 July the reported user removed the NPOV article hat, without discussion, despite the active, multi-thread, multi-editor talk page discussion on the neutrality of the article, and despite in fact of an existing article talk page thread entitled "NPOV tag." The reported user was requested to self-revert the disruptive removal of the NPOV article hat, at article talk and at his user talk. On 5 July, some content was restored not favored by the reported editor, and the reported editor restored the NPOV article hat, again without discussion, and again despite the article talk page thread on "NPOV tag." The reported user then solicited a fellow editor to circumvent the edit restrictions.

I respectfully feel slow edit warring over NPOV hats, soliciting to circumvent edit restrictions, and encouraging less experienced editors in arguing that a local consensus may be used to override our neutrality pillar, were not the type of constructive edits we had in mind when we granted the reported user a relaxation of his topic ban to one revert per week. I am disappointed an administrator is not modelling best behavior at this troubled article, and saddened to have to ask for comments on this behavior less than two months before an appeal is available to the reported user. Thank you for your time and attention on this.

Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested

User talk:Arthur Rubin Discussion at Wikipedia:Arbitration. Requests Enforcement Arthur Rubin

Discussion concerning Arthur Rubin

Statements must be made in separate sections. They may not exceed 500 words and 20 diffs, except by permission of a reviewing administrator.
Administrators may remove or shorten noncompliant statements. Disruptive contributions may result in blocks.

Statement by Arthur Rubin

I fail to see removing an {{NPOV}} tag which HughD disruptively added, and then restoring it after another editor reverted to a version just before another {{NPOV}} was added (the discussion after that tag resulted in the resolution of the issue which Hugh brought up), could possibly be disruptive. As for 1RR, one could argue that the "V"'s revert made my first revert moot, but I chose not to do that. My request at Onel5969's talk page did amount to canvassing.

In other words, only the canvassing was even potentially disruptive.

Hugh added the NPOV tag after his attempt to "blackwash" the article was reversed, in response to multiple discussions which resulted in none of his many requests being accepted.

This page differs from most noticeboards in that the reporter cannot be sanctioned. Perhaps something should be done about that. — Arthur Rubin (talk) 18:47, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

No offense intended, Onel5969, but I believe I removed the NPOV tag once in your sequence of events. Perhaps HughD added it twice? No, I found it. Just after "HughD promptly reverted", I re-reverved, quoting guidelines (as Hugh's action 1). — Arthur Rubin (talk) 20:17, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

No offense taken. I had meant to put that in. Thanks, I've added it now. Onel5969 ^{TT me} 20:29, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

May I suggest the the reporting editor's failed attempt to get the article talk page consensus reversed on almost every content noticeboard be considered something like canvassing; personally, I consider it worse, as it is mostly edit warriors who monitor the content boards about subjects that they are not particularly interested in. — Arthur Rubin (talk) 23:18, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Onel5969

Consensus was reached on the talk page regarding several NPOV issues which were occurring. Of the several editors involved, only HughD was in disagreement.
HughD has been blocked at least 4 times in the past 4 months for disruptive behavior. In at least two of those instances he unsuccessfully appealed the block.
HughD began a pattern of forumshopping and campaigning listing discussions regarding this article on at least 8 different venues. A campaign which is beginning to bear fruit, as editors who had previously not worked on the article, have now begun appearing on the talk page, in response to HughD's other posting.
Even though the article had reached an NPOV by consensus, since HughD did not agree (and at the time, prior to his campaigning, he was the only editor to not agree), he placed an NPOV tag at the top of the page.
I removed the NPOV tag, stating that consensus did not agree with his tag.
HughD promptly reverted.
Arthur Rubin then reverted HughD's revert.
Another editor then, even though consensus had earlier been reached, and current discussion had not reached a consensus to change that position, reverted the entire article to the original NPOV version - that is the editor who should be blocked from editing on the article.
Since the article was now back in the NPOV version, Arthur Rubin added the NPOV tag.
This appears to be just another one of HughD's actions in a pattern of disruptive behavior, and failure to seek consensus, or listen to that consensus once it is arrived at. Onel5969 ^{TT me} 20:00, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Kingsindian

(Uninvolved, except for participating in an RfC, at least I think it is an RfC)

Can someone explain to me this massive 50k-sized edit, claiming consensus on talk page, by someone who hasn't participated much at all there, and never previously made an edit on the article page? This edit was made in between diff 1 and diff 2, which probably explains the diffs. Some very strange things are going on here.

As a point of correction to Arthur Rubin, the reporter can indeed be sanctioned, if you provide evidence. Kingsindian ♝♚ 20:11, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

No one has addressed it. It should be reverted. I am requesting rollback from an admin. DaltonCastle (talk) 04:18, 7 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by HughD

Yes, user Onel5969 also pointedly removed an entirely appropriate NPOV article hat, while a multi-thread, multi-editor talk page discussion of neutrality was ongoing, but his behavior is not the subject of this report, thank you. Reviewers of this report are respectfully requested to ask commenting editor Onel5969 to kindly identify via a diff the point at which the talk page consensus, or talk page consensus minus one, on the neutrality of the article that he claims was achieved (there wasn't one). Hugh (talk) 20:40, 6 July 2015 (UTC) Further, kindly request links substantiating reprimands or other censure for claims of forum shopping, canvassing, or other. The commenting user has been relentlessly critical of any effort to utilize resources available to all Wikipedians in promoting a collaborative editing environment. Thank you Hugh (talk) 21:07, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Reviewers of this report are respectfully asked to note that commenting user Onel5069 is the user that the reported user attempted to enlist in a program of team circumvention of edit restrictions, one of many events conspicuously neglected from his chronology, above. Thank you. Hugh (talk) 20:44, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Kingsindian, Thank you for your engagement in this issue. In answer to your question, the edit you mention, was a good faith attempt, by an until recently uninvolved editor Viriditas, to revert the article, to a state prior to the "content blanking including section blanking and deletion of numerous reliable source references on 22 June 2015" mentioned above in the initial statement; by the way for the record please note this blanking was performed by commenting user Onel5969, please see diff 10:59, 23 June 2015 through 23:57, 23 June 2015 , another event conspicuously neglected from his chronology, above. Please let me know if I can help provide additional background on the recent history of this article. Thanks again. Hugh (talk) 20:59, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

May I respectfully express to reviewers of this report that the reported user please not be encouraged in his attempt to plead guilty to a lessor charge of canvassing in hopes that his behavior in soliciting another editor to circumvent edit restriction sanctions not be noticed. Thank you. Hugh (talk) 22:37, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Capitalismojo

I fail to see the difficutly. AR removes a tag, AR restores the same tag. Why are we wasting time here with this? This seems to be merely battlegrounding by the OP. Capitalismojo (talk) 23:13, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Champaign Supernova

Zzzz. OP is having trouble achieving consensus on this article's talk page so he appears to be trying to pick off his perceived adversaries through an overly legalistic interpretation of discretionary sanctions. I interpret AR's edits in good faith and there is no ongoing edit war over the tags so let's all move along now. Champaign Supernova (talk) 23:21, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Comatmebro

Agreed, Champaign Supernova. This seems like a little bit dramatic, in my own personal opinion. The edits of AR have not been disruptive nor malicious, and I believe he was solely trying to follow consensus. I don't see a problem here. Thanks to all the editors involved. Cheers, Comatmebro User talk:Comatmebro 15:38, 10 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by uninvolved Beyond My Ken

FWIW, I bring this AN/I thread to the attention of AE admins. You will have to judge whether it has any relevance to this complaint. BMK (talk) 04:15, 7 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by uninvolved DHeyward

This apparently happened before I started editing. I haven't noticed anything by Arthur Ruben. However I did notice that HughD and MrX are pushing a "Koch brothers" coatrack narrative on what is about the fourth RfC on the same topic in the "Americans for Prosperity" article. The tea party affiliation seems tenuous at best and doesn't appear to be mentioned after 2010 when everything conservative was considered "tea party" and tea party isn't what the listed dispute is about. Both HughD and MrX are pushing to include a Koch brothers funding coatrack material even though it is only sourced to a single article that implies a bunch of feeder organizations give them money from mysterious Koch brothers sources. I can only imagine what kind of closet would be created if this coat rack succeeded. So far, two editing attempts to change the article consensus failed. More recently a "RfC trial balloon" was floated in the form of a "DRAFT rfc" which apparently they didn't want to count as failure number 3. So far, #4 is failing to gain consensus as well. It seems that the tag is intended to note that a few editors have failed to gain to consensus for their preferred version. They won't acknowledge WP:CONSENSUS that states consensus is the edit present on the page when changes to the page fail. The tag, this filing and their attempt to get sanctions from Tea PArty when the complaint doesn't even involve Tea Party material is tendentious and should taken into consideration. This abuse of process by HughD should be dealt with harshly. --DHeyward (talk) 03:09, 11 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by MrX

DHeyward is very much involved inasmuch as he has routinely thrown around scary phrases like "pushing a "Koch brothers" coatrack narrative", "COATRACK nightmare", SYNTH and "article consensus", consistently failing to back any of it up with evidence or logic. Repeated requests to both Arthur Rubin and DHeyward to link to any existing consensus have so far yielded nothing but (false) assertions of silent consensus and other similarly irrational evasions. DHeyward seems to be hell-bent on preventing discussion from moving forward so that we can actually determine consensus, going as far as to ignore the RfC protocol by adding threaded rebuttals, and ignoring requests to play by the rules. His further claim that the disputed content is "only sourced to a single article" is plainly false. In fact there are at least four good sources for the material in dispute. Ironically he even complains about my listing the sources here! Finally, he claims that the RfC (the 1st, not the 4th) is failing, when in fact it has an equal number of supports as opposes. He should be reminded that if he wants to be taken seriously by other editors, he should make sure to stick to the truth, and use reason, not hysterics in his arguments.- Mr X 03:57, 11 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Fyddlestix

I know we're supposed to be focusing on conduct rather than content here, but I think it's very important to note that the preponderance of reliable sources very clearly support Hugh's "side" in the content dispute that prompted both this post and the one at AN/I.

The dispute is over the extent to which the article should discuss the financial and other connections between the Koch brothers and Americans for Prosperity (AFP), and, to a lesser extent, the extent to which AFP should be portrayed as a "Tea Party" group. (DHeyward, for example, has denied that this connection can be made at all, and would be COATRACK:[1][2]). To illustrate that the sources are clearly and unquestionably on HughD's side here, take a look at the version of the page that Arthur Rubin appears to have been happy with (ie, that he removed the NPOV tag on:[3]) Note that the name "Koch" appears in the article text exactly once - simply to note that David Koch chairs the AFP Foundation - but appears twenty-five times just in the titles of the references. Compare that to how the preponderance of reliable sources listed by Aquillion here place the relationship between AFP and the Koch's front-and-center in their coverage. Also compare it to how reliable, academic sources treat the subject.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] (those are just some examples, I could cite a lot more if needed).

HughD has been the most vocal voice on the article's talk page asserting that the article needs to acknowledge and discuss AFP's connection to the Koch brothers in depth. He has often been outnumbered, and he has quite understandably gotten frustrated at times. Just as understandably, the people arguing with him have gotten frustrated with his persistence. There have been regretable statements made on both sides, but honestly, I don't think anyone's behavior or the article rises to the level of requiring admin or AE sanction -- although a warning to some about battleground behavior [4][5][6] and a reminder of what NPOV entails [7][8][9][10][11]) might be in order for some of those involved.

Bottom line: HughD should not be sanctioned for being a lone dissenting voice against a (claimed) local consensus which was incorrect and inconsistent with NPOV. I also hardly think Arthur deserves sanction for adding or removing a NPOV tag (after all, the NPOV of the article was, and is, in dispute). Everyone involved just needs to take a few deep breaths, relax, and refocus on what RS actually say. More generally, the article desperately needs more eyes/input to ensure that NPOV is maintained. Fyddlestix (talk) 20:17, 12 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

References

^
Roberts, Robert North; Hammond, Scott John; Sulfaro, Valerie A. (2012). "Americans for Prosperity". Presidential Campaigns, Slogans, Issues, and Platforms: The Complete Encyclopedia. Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313380938. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- First sentence: "Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP) is an antitaxation advocacy group founded in 2004 and financed by David and Charles Koch, the billionaire brothers who own Koch Industries of Wichita, Kansas."
^
Theda Skocpol, Vanessa Williamson, The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism (Oxford University Press, )
- "After the CSE breakup, Americans for Prosperity continued to enjoy direct funding and leadership through Koch Industries and the Koch brothers," p. 145.
^
Lawrence Rosenthal, Christine Tros Steep: The Precipitous Rise of the Tea Party (University of California Press, 2012).
- AFP was “funded by the brother David and Charles Koch. Multibillionaire owners of the petrochemical conglomerate Koch industries, the brothers aggressively pursue the conservative vision of their father, who was a founding member of the John Birch Society.” p. 32.
- “Houston organizers communicated with Americans for Prosperity, funded by the Koch family, to recruit speakers. p. 112.
^
Allan J. Cigler, Burdett A. Loomis, Anthony J. Nownes, Tony Nownes, eds. Interest Group Politics (SAGE/CQ Press, 2016).
- Calls AFP "David and Charles Koch’s organization Americans for Prosperity - perhaps the most influential organization in today’s conservative movement.” p 38.
- “If the TPM has generated a host of local organizations and substantial popular support, it has also received considerable backing from elite, national organizations, some of which long predated the movement’s 2009 emergence. In particular, right-wing groups FreedomWorks and the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity worked within the TPM to extend their reach into a large new audience and prospective activists.”
^
The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society (OUP, 2011)
- “Especially important are the roles played by the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks front groups in generating a significant portion of the ‘Tea Party’ and encouraging it to focus on climate change.”
^
Wendy L. Hansen, Michael S. Rocca, and Brittany Leigh Ortiz, "The Effects of Citizens United on Corporate Spending in the 2012 Presidential Election," The Journal of Politics, Vol. 77, No. 2 (April 2015), pp. 535-54
- "the Koch brothers of the private Koch Industries created their own conservative Super PAC called Americans for Prosperity that spent $33,542,058 [in 2012]."
^
Nella Van Dyke, David S. Meyer, eds. Understanding the Tea Party Movement, (Ashgate, 2014).
- “When faced with the charge that the Tea Party movement really represents only the interests of its generous benefactors, the Koch brothers, Tea Partiers like to cite Goerge Soros, the billionaire currency speculator who has bankrolled political efforts for civil liberties generally. The easy equivalence is deceptive; it’s hard to see how decriminalizing drugs, for example, serves Soros’s business interests in the way relaxing environmental regulations supports the Kochs’ businesses; the scope and scale of the Tea Party’s dependence on large capital may indeed be unique.” 177.
- “Koch and his allies created libertarian institutions to try to create a free market base to the Republican Party that counters its reliance on conservative evangelicals. While the Koch-founded Americans for Prosperity has accommodated the social conservatives, other institutions like the Cato Institute and Freedom Works appear less happy with conservative Christian elements powering parts of the Tea Party and promoting the anti-Muslim storyline.” 102.

Result concerning Arthur Rubin

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

This diff appears to be evidence of a battleground mentality. Gamaliel (talk) 19:15, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!"

That said, between this and the ANI and the talk page this is going to take a lot of reading. Georgewilliamherbert (talk) 20:44, 9 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Collect

Collect's response has clearly failed to impress admins as well as most others. MrX's timeline of events is convincing. I have blocked Collect for a week for what looks like a breaching experiment wrt to his topic ban and also placed a one-way interaction ban with MrX. A one-week block may be more symbolic here, as Collect has indicated that he'll be absent until 19th July, but symbols aren't nothing. Bishonen | talk 11:00, 13 July 2015 (UTC).[reply]

The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

This request may be declined without further action if insufficient or unclear information is provided in the "Request" section below.
Requests may not exceed 500 words and 20 diffs (not counting required information), except by permission of a reviewing administrator.

Request concerning Collect

User who is submitting this request for enforcement: Fyddlestix (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) 16:26, 10 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

User against whom enforcement is requested: Collect (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
Search CT alerts: in user talk history • in system log

Sanction or remedy to be enforced: Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Collect and others#Collect topic-banned (option 2) :

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

10 July 2015 Accusing the user who brought the Arbcom case against him (MrX) of being a "partisan campaign worker," linking political content on his talk page.
10 July 2015 Linking and commenting about the content of the article Koch family on his talk page.

Diffs of previous relevant sanctions, if any

Collect has been blocked 8 times for edit warring.
He was topic-banned from articles relating to the Tea Party Movement in the Tea Party Movement case, where the Arbcom found that he "has been dismissive of other users' views and needlessly inflamed tensions with the other disputants"
In the more recent "Collect and others" Arbcom case, Arbcom found that since the 2013 Tea Party case, Collect had:

Additional comments by editor filing complaint

Collect was banned by arbcom from "any page relating to or making any edit about US politics or US political figures, in any namespace." I believe the above edits violate both the spirit and the letter of that ban. The links making accusations against MrX, in particular, seem to demonstrate Collect's determination to continue his battleground behavior in relation to US politics, in violation of his topic ban.

I will say, in all fairness to Collect, that he was pointing out a serious BLP violation on the Koch family article, which has since (quite rightly) been removed. The first diff, however, seems (to me) to be completely out of line, and likely worthy of sanction even if it wasn't a violation of his topic ban.

Update: In case this is unclear, I'll offer a more detailed explanation of the context for Diff number 1, above: In that diff, Collect links this facebook post, on the page of a Democratic Party organization. Note that the image credit on that page is given to "wikipedia user MrX." The image appears to be a modification of this one, which MrX uploaded to wikimedia commons under a creative common license in 2011. The license allows free use but requires that "User:MrX" be given credit. Apparently Collect thinks this is evidence of MrX being a worker for the democratic party.

Responses to others:

@NewYorkBrad, with respect, I don't think a simple reminder is going to affect Collect's behavior here. He has been warned and asked to stop his battleground behavior repeatedly over the past several years, both formally and informally. Yet he ignored those warnings and requests and continued to edit disruptively. His inability to heed "reminders" and warnings is how/why he ended up topic banned.

@Floquenbeam, you're right about the Koch link. As I told Collect directly earlier, it was the MrX accusation that drove me to make this post, and I obviously would not have requested AE for just the Koch link. I only included it out of a suspicion that - as Tony suggests - Collect might be "testing the boundaries" of his topic ban here.

Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested

Here

Discussion concerning Collect

Statements must be made in separate sections. They may not exceed 500 words and 20 diffs, except by permission of a reviewing administrator.
Administrators may remove or shorten noncompliant statements. Disruptive contributions may result in blocks.

Statement by Collect

I suggest that if my talk page is not usable by me to point out a case where a person tried connecting living persons to a Nazi War Criminal (asserting that Ilse Koch (a Koch by marriage in Germany) was a direct relative of the US Koch family) - an assertion unrelated to "US Politics" per se - that the topic ban area is too damn broad by half. I have made no political edits at all, no reverts at all, and still I am harassed by the very same folks who harassed me in the past (including an absurd SPI when I was blocked from even replying to the charge!) - and about whom I gave evidence by email to ArbCom members. I suggest the OP be politely told to ignore me, rather than harass me at every opportunity. I note that I was OVERSEAS during a period when I asked for additional time to answer the "charges" and was denied any delay. For what it is worth, my wife had a malignant melanoma operation two weeks ago (her second in six months) where about 800cc of her arm was removed. I am sure someone will snidely comment that this was "convenient" for sure. Cheers. Collect (talk) 16:43, 10 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I note the OP admits the first item was not even worthy of a complaint - but he still raised it.

The second issue is one of possible COI for one of the complainants in the ArbCom case - and was again not political per se, but addresses a possible and likely all too real problem for Wikipedia. I specifically stated "Note: the fact that a campaign distributes an image from a specific wikipedian may not mean they are aware of that usage, of course." At least I did not mention that one of the prime complainants basically told ArbCom "Too slow, fuck off" in his Diva-quit. Further Cheers. Collect (talk) 16:47, 10 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Note that the harasser is ascribing statements to me which I did not make (i.e. a claim that I wrote about MrX specifically) -- in fact I specifically stated that the person might not even be aware that his image is being used. If this is not pushing the hounding beyond the pale, I do not know what would count. I never posted the editor's name at all. Period. Collect (talk) 18:14, 10 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@MrX - read my posts. I made no claims about you at all. I did not even post your name. Period. Collect (talk) 18:16, 10 July 2015 (UTC) Note I have added the specific statement that you were not aware of the usage of your photo - I trust that clears the air. Cheers. Collect (talk) 18:26, 10 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@StS: The Nazi War Criminal post was on the article talk page for 3 months. No one noted it. And it was not about "US Politics" AFAICT. I am glad to note that you find three months for a clear BLP violation is quite acceptable - your comment that "anyone else could have noted it" fails when clearly no one else did note it. Collect (talk) 18:20, 10 July 2015 (UTC) BTW, StS is an "involved administrator" as we have had a significant number of editorial disputes in the past. Collect (talk) 18:23, 10 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Tony Sidaway

The topic ban is explicitly "in any userspace". Collect is obviously not disengaging from US politics but is instead exploring the boundaries of his topic ban.

Note also that the arbitration case that ended in May was the second case in recent years in which he was sanctioned. See Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Tea_Party_movement, September 2013. --TS 20:30, 10 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by MrX

Am I to understand that I have been accused by innuendo of being a partisan campaign worker because a Facebook group used one of my Commons photos and attributed it to me, as they are legally obligated to do? This is a new low.

For the record, I don't associate in any way with any political organization whatsoever, nor am I a member of any political party, not that it's anyone's business but my own.- Mr X 17:02, 10 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@Collect: I read it correctly the first time. Here is the sequence of events:

Collect apparently searched for the intersection of my username and politics on the web.
Collect created a section on his user page titled: Campaign material provided by a Wikipedia user (per its caption) which plainly accuses the user listed in the photo caption (me) of providing campaign material.
Collect posts externally links to two derivative uses of my CC licensed photos.
Collect immediately follows those links with the statement "IMHO, people who are specifically partisan campaign workers should self-identify on Wikipedia."
Eleven minutes later, Collect realizes that he better give himself an out, so he adds the comment "Note: the fact that a campaign distributes an image from a specific wikipedian may not mean they are aware of that usage, of course."
After I comment in this AE request, Collect acknowledges that I stated that I "had no connection at all with the use of his picture"
Collect further denies any intention of connecting me with the use of my photo, blanks the material from his user talk page, and takes an absence.

@Newyorkbrad: Yeah, let's just excuse this mild indiscretion because gentle reminders have worked so well in the past. No chance that this was an action calculated to be noticed by the me and clearly suggestive of targeting me, where no direct communication takes place.- Mr X 19:46, 10 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Jbhunley

I think intent should be examined here. Whether the Koch comment was an actual violation of Collect's topic ban he presented it as a topic he was banned from commenting on. If it was as he said "...one type of BLP issue I am not permitted to even discuss." [12] then he should not be discussing it. The backhanded attack on Mr X shows continued grudge holding and battleground behavior. There was no legitimate reason to bring up either of those topics other than to stir the pot a couple hours before 'leaving' again to duck the storm.

This propensity to game the system is the same type of behavior we saw at ArbCom where Collect spent two weeks stating repeatedly he would not participate in the Arbitration case then on the last day asks for a multi week extension then on return complains he was "overseas and could not participate" ignoring the two weeks he spent taking a 'principled stand'. It is past time for lengthy blocks to be imposed. Jbh ^Talk 19:26, 10 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Viriditas

I would just like to point out two things: 1) Collect is still making false claims of "harassment" against many different editors, while engaging in harassment against users like MrX, and 2) Collect seems to invariably disappear whenever he is brought before the community, either for a medical procedure of some kind or a vacation to a remote part of the world. Viriditas (talk) 00:43, 11 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Rich Farmbrough

Eleven minutes seems like a relatively short space of time to either retract/clarify an indirect statement. Had Collect had a suitable "Gooogle mail recall" set up for Wikipeidia edits we would not even be aware of it. I suggest that everyone assume good faith on that part of the story. All the best: Rich Farmbrough, 19:29, 11 July 2015 (UTC).[reply]

Statement by Writegeist

I note support for Collect from two users with whom he’s quite cosy already.

@ Rich Farmbrough in particular: the suggestion of assuming good faith re. Collect’s story would be more persuasive if the storyteller were a user with a different history (yes, context is significant); ~~and also if it weren’t for the question-mark of possible quid pro quo hanging over support for a beleaguered user who himself very recently and very strongly supported RF’s RfA.~~ The views of Viriditas, Schultz, Floquenbeam, GWH et al. are altogether more persuasive.

All that said, rather than tightening the screws this time I think it would suffice to (1) tell Collect he’s a Very Naughty Boy (just to underline what he already knows—I mean, he may make stupid comments but surely he isn’t actually stupid?), and (2) let him go unsanctioned. This merciful response also allows him to save face. As we’ve seen from his past reactions to humiliating sanctions, saving face is super important to him. And anyway, whether or not one buys the stories of ill-health and travel, he’s very obviously stressed. Give him a break this time and he might no longer feel the need to be naughty—which is surely all that anyone here wants. I believe in second chances; lots of them. Writegeist (talk) 22:08, 11 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by (username)

Result concerning Collect

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

To me, both look like clear violations. It might be possible to excuse the chronologically first ("Koch") per "BLP beats everything", but that gets a bit tired. Collect is not actually the only user capable of recognising and addressing these problems. The other ("MrX") is clearly on violation of the topic ban. I'd say Collect's misinterpretation of the situation is almost comical, and a clear illustration of the battleground mentality ArbCom tried to curb. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 17:48, 10 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
I do not perceive the Koch reference, in this context, as a violation. I agree that the comments about MrX were unwarranted, especially since they turned out to be based on a complete misinterpretation. I believe a reminder to Collect to avoid the latter sort of thing is sufficient here. (I also note that Collect will be away for a week, just to anticipate a lack of further responses from him here.) Newyorkbrad (talk) 19:06, 10 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I have no interest in criticising the second diff, although I take Jbhunley's point.

I'd say the first is worth sanctioning, since it is clearly about US politics, and encompasses several problematic behaviors that were specifically identified in the ArbCom case:

Battleground behavior against another editor
Making insinuations without basis in fact
When confronted about it, wikilawyering that everyone is misinterpreting what he said

I see he's removed the post, which is good. But that doesn't make it unsaid. I can't recall if the usual sanction for a first AE offense is a warning that anything like that again will start resulting in escalating blocks, or an actual block. So I suggest we do whatever we usually do for a first offense. But this is clearly a violation, and is bad-faith enough that it shouldn't be ignored. Indeed, the more I think about it, bad-faith enough that I'd personally choose the block rather over the warning, unless that is almost never done at AE on a first offense. --Floquenbeam (talk) 19:38, 10 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

- Certainly we do issue blocks for first offences, at least sometimes (as long as the required alert/awareness is present). I don't intend to take part in discussing this sanction, but felt it was worth clarifying this point for Floq. Heimstern Läufer (talk) 12:29, 12 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It appears that the "Oh, he may not even be aware" was 11 minutes after posting what looks to me to have been a nameless but identifiable accusation [13]. Collect, you need to explain that a bit better. Your explanation above seems to imply you always communicated it as "oh he might not even know" versus going back to correct the record in what looks suspiciously like covering your posterior. Georgewilliamherbert (talk) 01:28, 11 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I disagree with NYB and find a reminder insufficient, and agree with Floquenbeam's assessment of the first diff. The standard enforcement provides that the initial block may be for up to one month; I'm personally inclined towards something between 72 hours and one week. T. Canens (talk) 03:39, 11 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Really, now. There is no way a Wikipedian of nine years does not know that images created by Wikipedians are widely reused elsewhere, and are intended to be used as such. In any case users should not be use their user talk space to make bad faith accusations against other users. This is troubling behavior deserving intervention in any user; in a user with a long history of blocks and sanctions, enough is enough. I concur that with Stephan Schulz that it is "a clear illustration of the battleground mentality ArbCom tried to curb". A sanction is certainly warranted, perhaps a one-way interaction ban is in order as well. Gamaliel (talk) 05:20, 11 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I'm planning to close this in a few hours, unless somebody else does first, by giving Collect a one-week block + a one-way interaction ban with MrX for his breaching experiment. Another admin is of course welcome to close first, I don't mean to squat on this thread. But I'd like to say now that Writegeist's crass speculations about Rich Farmbrough's motives for partly supporting Collect are quite unacceptable and should be struck. For shame. Bishonen | talk 07:32, 13 July 2015 (UTC). Added: Thank you for striking, Writegeist. Bishonen | talk 11:00, 13 July 2015 (UTC).[reply]

NewsAndEventsGuy

This request may be declined without further action if insufficient or unclear information is provided in the "Request" section below.
Requests may not exceed 500 words and 20 diffs (not counting required information), except by permission of a reviewing administrator.

Request concerning NewsAndEventsGuy

User who is submitting this request for enforcement: Peter Gulutzan (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) 03:17, 13 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

User against whom enforcement is requested: NewsAndEventsGuy (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
Search CT alerts: in user talk history • in system log

Sanction or remedy to be enforced: Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Climate_change#Standard_discretionary_sanctions

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

7 July 2015, and follow-up posts as described in Additional comments, show NewsAndEventsGuy making a series of personal accusations on Talk:Climate Change Skeptic and not accepting requests to take them to an appropriate forum or remove them.

Diffs of previous relevant sanctions, if any

(none known)

If discretionary sanctions are requested, supply evidence that the user is aware of them (see WP:AC/DS#Awareness and alerts)

Participated in an arbitration request or enforcement procedure about the area of conflict in the last twelve months, on 8 June 2015.

Additional comments by editor filing complaint

I quote each of NewsAndEventsGuy's accusations in italics starting with ones from this post.

"Verbally vomit on someone else for allegedly not answering questions." In fact my words were "I've despaired about receiving answers", I'd given examples earlier (easiest seen from this reply to me).

"Decline to provide list of allegedly unanswered questions" I had not been asked for any such list (I'd been told I would be asked "if we were at DRN" and we weren't), so I did not decline.

"Fake a desire to work towards consensus building by calling for someone else to do the sweat labor of packaging a DR filing." In fact what I'd said was "Perhaps an RFC or DRN could occur if there was agreement about wording." which isn't sweat, and I didn't ask anyone else to do it. Saying I "fake" is a dishonesty claim.

"Meanwhile - Redact battle planning and admission". I believe cover-up of a battle plan would be a serious block-me-forever kind of offence, so please look at the entire conversation that caused it and my entire response. That really is all the evidence that NewsAndEventsGuy has.

NewsAndEventsGuy also says that I've had a "tirade", blown my top (from the edit summary) and intend to "hiss and spit" (from a DRN post that NewsAndEventsGuy posted but withdrew after pleading lack of experience with DRN. There's no specific reference and I think the fiercest things I've said on the page are "false" (often) and "it's a bit rich" (once) and snippiness when I've been misquoted.

I suggested twice that these accusations should not be brought to the Climate skeptic talk page but to a forum where I would defend and NewsAndEventsGuy would have to risk being judged himself (here and here); when that went nowhere I said I regarded the post as offensive and requested removing it (here).

Instead I got a claim that I wasn't answering the questions which had been prefaced by his accusations (which is true), and a new accusation that I won't "take Guy Macon (talk · contribs) up on his offer to do mediation". In fact I was the only person who'd suggested readiness for dispute-resolution steps but when I'd asked whether "anyone at least in principle agrees that consensus or arbitration should be sought" I'd gotten no response and that's what I told Guy Macon.

... Absence of niceness on this talk page, which relates to climate change, is to be expected. But NewsAndEventGuy's accusations stand out because they're multiple and serious and false. Or, using WP:CIVIL terminology, "ill-considered accusations of impropriety" and "personal attacks". Peter Gulutzan (talk) 03:17, 13 July 2015 (UTC) [reply]

Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:NewsAndEventsGuy&diff=671195947&oldid=669793251

Discussion concerning NewsAndEventsGuy
Statements must be made in separate sections. They may not exceed 500 words and 20 diffs, except by permission of a reviewing administrator.
Administrators may remove or shorten noncompliant statements. Disruptive contributions may result in blocks.
Statement by NewsAndEventsGuy

I'm dealing with a busted sewer and water line and will be unable to reply for a few days, maybe a week, as I'm making the repairs myself (largely hand digging too). I'll refrain from editing until I post a full response.

For now, please note
June 30, 2015 Peter believes he's engaged in a battle as evidenced by this comment he posted and then redacted.

July 11, 2015 I offered to do DR at the DR venue of Peter's choice, but here we are instead.

Also note the timing of this filing

10:35 July 12, 2015 I posted that I'm buried on talk page with very few eds but where Peter is involved. Let's hope that remains a figure of speech!

03:17, July 13, 2015‎ This complaint was filed 17 hours later

Stay tuned for my full response when house and property are secure.... NewsAndEventsGuy (talk) 10:45, 13 July 2015 (UTC) [reply]

Statement by Short Brigade Harvester Boris
Lately the climate change topic area has been slowly heating up (no pun intended... well, OK maybe). Suggest the case be retitled in a more general way as there have been several individuals whose conduct has crossed the line. I will submit a more detailed statement in a couple of days or so. Short Brigade Harvester Boris (talk) 03:35, 13 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Statement by (username)
Result concerning NewsAndEventsGuy
This section is to be edited only by uninvolved administrators. Comments by others will be moved to the sections above.

[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.

[Pres1-3] Roberts, Robert North; Hammond, Scott John; Sulfaro, Valerie A. (2012). "Americans for Prosperity". Presidential Campaigns, Slogans, Issues, and Platforms: The Complete Encyclopedia. Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313380938. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
First sentence: "Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP) is an antitaxation advocacy group founded in 2004 and financed by David and Charles Koch, the billionaire brothers who own Koch Industries of Wichita, Kansas."

[4] First sentence: "Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP) is an antitaxation advocacy group founded in 2004 and financed by David and Charles Koch, the billionaire brothers who own Koch Industries of Wichita, Kansas."

[4] Theda Skocpol, Vanessa Williamson, The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism (Oxford University Press, )
"After the CSE breakup, Americans for Prosperity continued to enjoy direct funding and leadership through Koch Industries and the Koch brothers," p. 145.

[6] "After the CSE breakup, Americans for Prosperity continued to enjoy direct funding and leadership through Koch Industries and the Koch brothers," p. 145.

[5] Lawrence Rosenthal, Christine Tros Steep: The Precipitous Rise of the Tea Party (University of California Press, 2012).
AFP was “funded by the brother David and Charles Koch. Multibillionaire owners of the petrochemical conglomerate Koch industries, the brothers aggressively pursue the conservative vision of their father, who was a founding member of the John Birch Society.” p. 32.

“Houston organizers communicated with Americans for Prosperity, funded by the Koch family, to recruit speakers. p. 112.

[8] AFP was “funded by the brother David and Charles Koch. Multibillionaire owners of the petrochemical conglomerate Koch industries, the brothers aggressively pursue the conservative vision of their father, who was a founding member of the John Birch Society.” p. 32.

[9] “Houston organizers communicated with Americans for Prosperity, funded by the Koch family, to recruit speakers. p. 112.

[6] Allan J. Cigler, Burdett A. Loomis, Anthony J. Nownes, Tony Nownes, eds. Interest Group Politics (SAGE/CQ Press, 2016).
Calls AFP "David and Charles Koch’s organization Americans for Prosperity - perhaps the most influential organization in today’s conservative movement.” p 38.

“If the TPM has generated a host of local organizations and substantial popular support, it has also received considerable backing from elite, national organizations, some of which long predated the movement’s 2009 emergence. In particular, right-wing groups FreedomWorks and the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity worked within the TPM to extend their reach into a large new audience and prospective activists.”

[11] Calls AFP "David and Charles Koch’s organization Americans for Prosperity - perhaps the most influential organization in today’s conservative movement.” p 38.

[12] “If the TPM has generated a host of local organizations and substantial popular support, it has also received considerable backing from elite, national organizations, some of which long predated the movement’s 2009 emergence. In particular, right-wing groups FreedomWorks and the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity worked within the TPM to extend their reach into a large new audience and prospective activists.”

[7] The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society (OUP, 2011)
“Especially important are the roles played by the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks front groups in generating a significant portion of the ‘Tea Party’ and encouraging it to focus on climate change.”

[14] “Especially important are the roles played by the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks front groups in generating a significant portion of the ‘Tea Party’ and encouraging it to focus on climate change.”

[8] Wendy L. Hansen, Michael S. Rocca, and Brittany Leigh Ortiz, "The Effects of Citizens United on Corporate Spending in the 2012 Presidential Election," The Journal of Politics, Vol. 77, No. 2 (April 2015), pp. 535-54
"the Koch brothers of the private Koch Industries created their own conservative Super PAC called Americans for Prosperity that spent $33,542,058 [in 2012]."

[16] "the Koch brothers of the private Koch Industries created their own conservative Super PAC called Americans for Prosperity that spent $33,542,058 [in 2012]."

[9] Nella Van Dyke, David S. Meyer, eds. Understanding the Tea Party Movement, (Ashgate, 2014).
“When faced with the charge that the Tea Party movement really represents only the interests of its generous benefactors, the Koch brothers, Tea Partiers like to cite Goerge Soros, the billionaire currency speculator who has bankrolled political efforts for civil liberties generally. The easy equivalence is deceptive; it’s hard to see how decriminalizing drugs, for example, serves Soros’s business interests in the way relaxing environmental regulations supports the Kochs’ businesses; the scope and scale of the Tea Party’s dependence on large capital may indeed be unique.” 177.

“Koch and his allies created libertarian institutions to try to create a free market base to the Republican Party that counters its reliance on conservative evangelicals. While the Koch-founded Americans for Prosperity has accommodated the social conservatives, other institutions like the Cato Institute and Freedom Works appear less happy with conservative Christian elements powering parts of the Tea Party and promoting the anti-Muslim storyline.” 102.

[18] “When faced with the charge that the Tea Party movement really represents only the interests of its generous benefactors, the Koch brothers, Tea Partiers like to cite Goerge Soros, the billionaire currency speculator who has bankrolled political efforts for civil liberties generally. The easy equivalence is deceptive; it’s hard to see how decriminalizing drugs, for example, serves Soros’s business interests in the way relaxing environmental regulations supports the Kochs’ businesses; the scope and scale of the Tea Party’s dependence on large capital may indeed be unique.” 177.

[19] “Koch and his allies created libertarian institutions to try to create a free market base to the Republican Party that counters its reliance on conservative evangelicals. While the Koch-founded Americans for Prosperity has accommodated the social conservatives, other institutions like the Cato Institute and Freedom Works appear less happy with conservative Christian elements powering parts of the Tea Party and promoting the anti-Muslim storyline.” 102.

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