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Wikipedia:Block protocol

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Note: A previous version put forth as a proposal failed.

The Wikipedia collegial, consensus over rigid rules atmosphere breaks down when high profile borderline editor behavior is under review. While WP:WHEEL works well in most cases, this block protocol will help Wikipedia operate more smoothly and require less expenditure of wikipedian hours.

Principles

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  • No one has a right to edit Wikipedia. As a privately owned resource, terms of usage are up to the Wikimedia Foundation.
  • The strength of Wikipedia is the entire community, not individual editors.
  • A transiently inappropriate block does not do significant harm to Wikipedia.
  • Allowing editors to remain unblocked may do harm to Wikipedia.
  • The past record of a block that the community later decided was inappropriate is too frequently used to attack editors.
  • While administrators work for the good of Wikipedia, as individuals their interpretation of situations will vary. Good faith must be assumed except in the most egregious cases. An administrator making a block or unblock which later turns out to not be the eventual consensus of the community should be respected. Accusations of malfeasance are generally not appropriate.
  • Accidents of timing, specifically which administrator evaluates a case first, should not be used to guide policy.
  • Individual administrators are entrusted with the sysop bit on behalf of the community, and act on behalf of the community when making a block. Therefore, blocks are not owned by the administrator who made them, but by the community.

Default is block

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Where a complex situation requires time and community discussion to come to consensus, any administrator may issue a block; a previous administrator statement to the effect that a block isn't appropriate shall not be considered an "action" in the sense of wheel war reversal. Additionally, after a block is made, any additional administrators who document support of the block should be given an opportunity to comment before reversal.

If consensus cannot quickly be achieved, a discussion should be opened at WP:ANI and continue until community consensus is achieved, with due regard to the WP:NOTBUREAUCRACY policy, as elucidated by the WP:SNOW essay.

Administrators should avoid blocking editors they have previously been in contention with.

I suggest block as a default for several logistical reasons:
  • A block action is unambiguous and has a well known single point of documentation. Consider the example of an edit warring editor making personal attacks. One admin may note a decision not to block on ANI while another may be evaluating the situation at 3rr. Would this be a policy violation? Or if an admin asks a clarifying question on an ANI without explicitly saying "I'm not blocking," does that constitute an action.
  • An unblocked editor may continue make contributions. If admin A decides not to block for long term disruption based on n contributions, can admin B impose such a block for n+1 contributions? A blocked editor presents a static picture which the community can come to consensus on.
  • If a block is truly and obviously bad, I have faith in the community to quickly snow overturn it.
  • The damage to the reputation of an inappropriately editor can be mitigated by redaction of the block log as outlined below.

Types of block removal

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Removal of blocks before they time out are broken into two categories:

  • Unblocking, where a block is removed per the blocked editor's request and commitment to refrain from the behavior which led to the block.
  • Overturning, where the community consensus after review is that the block was not necessary.

Permanent record

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better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer —William Blackstone

To avoid the stigma and inappropriate use of the block log in future misunderstandings, if a block is overturned the block log will indicate overturned for seven days following removal of the block. After a seven day period, the block log will be purged of both the block and overturned entries. Except as required by other policies, e.g. WP:OUTING, no other purging of the discussion surrounding the block will be performed.

Hold harmless

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The overturning of a block should not be used to impugn the motivation or judgement of the blocking administrator. Only if an individual administrator is consistently overturned over a period of time should a review of their actions be initiated.