User:Red-tailed hawk/Taint
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At times, malicious actors attempt to sway the outcome of discussions through the disruptive use of sockpuppets, meatpuppets, canvassing, undisclosed paid editing, or other disruptive editing tactics. Sometimes, this behavior so irreparably harms the coherence or flow of a discussion to such an extent that any attempts to determine consensus are rendered futile by the disruption itself. These discussions should be considered irreparably tainted.
When is a discussion irreparably tainted?[edit]
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Unfortunately, Wikipedia's history is filled with examples of even some of the most trusted community members engaging in these sorts of illegitimate editing practices. In most cases, there are remedial measures that can be taken in order to ensure a proper cleanup after this sort of disruption. The mere usage of sockpuppets or meatpuppets alone, thus, does not necessarily indicate that a discussion is irreparably tainted. However, this will not always be the case.