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This is an archive of the results of all cases completed by the Arbitration Committee in 2015.

More recently-closed cases on top

2015 Information

19 cases.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Catflap08 and Hijiri88#Final decision closed 29 December 2015 ( AN notice)
  • 1) Catflap08 ( talk · contribs) is indefinitely topic-banned from all pages relating to Nichiren Buddhism and its adherents, broadly construed. Appeals of this ban may be requested no earlier than twelve months since the date the case closed.
  • 2.1) Subject to the usual exceptions, Catflap08 is prohibited from making any more than one revert on any one page in any 24-hour period. This applies for all pages on the English Wikipedia, except Catflap08's own user space. This restriction may be appealed to the Committee only after 12 months have elapsed from the closing of this case.
  • 3) Hijiri88 ( talk · contribs) is indefinitely topic-banned from all pages relating to Nichiren Buddhism and its adherents, broadly construed. Appeals of this ban may be requested no earlier than twelve months since the date the case closed.
  • 4) Hijiri88 is indefinitely topic-banned from all pages relating to Japanese culture. Appeals of this ban may be requested no earlier than twelve months since the date the case closed.
  • 5) Subject to the usual exceptions, Hijiri88 is prohibited from making any more than one revert on any one page in any 24-hour period. This applies for all pages on the English Wikipedia, except Hijiri88's own user space. This restriction may be appealed to the Committee only after 12 months have elapsed from the closing of this case.
  • 6.1) TH1980 ( talk · contribs) and Hijiri88 are indefinitely prohibited from interacting with, or commenting on, each other anywhere on Wikipedia (subject to the ordinary exceptions).
• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Arbitration enforcement 2#Final decision closed 25 December 2015 ( AN notice)
  • 1.1) The Arbitration Committee confirms the sanctions imposed on Eric Corbett as a result of the Interactions at GGTF case, but mandates that all enforcement requests relating to them be filed at arbitration enforcement and be kept open for at least 24 hours.
  • 3) For his breaches of the standards of conduct expected of editors and administrators, Black Kite is admonished.
  • 6) The community is reminded that discretionary sanctions have been authorised for any page relating to or any edit about: (i) the Gender Gap Task Force; (ii) the gender disparity among Wikipedians; and (iii) any process or discussion relating to these topics, all broadly construed.
• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Genetically modified organisms#Final decision closed 12 December 2015 ( AN notice)
  • 1) Standard discretionary sanctions are authorised for all pages relating to genetically modified organisms, agricultural biotechnology, and agricultural chemicals, broadly construed.
  • 2) Editors are prohibited from making more than one revert per page per day on any page relating to genetically modified organisms, agricultural biotechnology, and agricultural chemicals, broadly construed and subject to the usual exemptions.
  • 3) Jytdog and DrChrissy are placed indefinitely under a two-way interaction ban.
  • 7) DrChrissy is indefinitely topic-banned from all pages relating to genetically modified plants and agricultural chemicals, broadly interpreted; appeals of this ban may be requested no earlier than twelve months since the date the case closed.
  • 8) Jytdog is indefinitely topic-banned from all pages relating to genetically modified organisms and agricultural chemicals, broadly interpreted; appeals of this ban may be requested no earlier than twelve months since the date the case closed.
  • 9) Jytdog is admonished for their poor civility in relation to the locus of this case.
  • 11) SageRad is indefinitely topic-banned from all pages relating to genetically modified organisms and agricultural chemicals, broadly construed; appeals of this ban may be requested no earlier than twelve months since the date the case closed.
  • 12) Wuerzele is indefinitely topic-banned from all pages relating to genetically modified organisms and agricultural chemicals, broadly construed; appeals of this ban may be requested no earlier than twelve months since the date the case closed.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Neelix#Final decision closed 14 November 2015 ( AN notice)
• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Editor conduct in e-cigs articles#Final decision closed 17 November 2015 ( AN notice)
  • General Sanctions for the Electronic Cigarette topic area are rescinded. In its place, standard discretionary sanctions are authorized for the Electronic Cigarette topic area, broadly construed.
  • Discretionary Sanctions are explicitly extended for the Electronic Cigarettes topic area. Specifically, single purpose accounts may be topic banned or blocked (indefinite or otherwise), if in the view of an uninvolved administrator, they are being disruptive in the topic area.
  • Uninvolved administrators are encouraged to monitor the articles covered by discretionary sanctions in this case to ensure compliance. To assist in this, administrators are reminded that:
    • Accounts with a clear shared agenda may be blocked if they violate the sockpuppetry policy or other applicable policy;
    • Accounts whose primary purpose is disruption or making personal attacks may be blocked indefinitely;
    • Discretionary sanctions permit full and semi-page protections, including use of pending changes where warranted, and – once an editor has become aware of sanctions for the topic – any other appropriate remedy may be issued without further warning. The Arbitration Committee thanks those administrators who have been helping to enforce the community general sanctions, and thanks, once again, in advance those who help enforce the remedies adopted in this case.
  • QuackGuru ( talk · contribs) is warned that continuing to engage in a pattern of disruption to Wikipedia will result in further sanctions.
  • CFCF ( talk · contribs) is restricted to one revert per article per every 72 hour period in the Electronic Cigarette topic area, broadly construed.
• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Palestine-Israel articles 3#Final decision closed 22 November 2015 ( AN notice)
  • All anonymous IP editors and accounts with less than 500 edits and 30 days tenure are prohibited from editing any page that could be reasonably construed as being related to the Arab-Israeli conflict. This prohibition may be enforced by reverts, page protections, blocks, the use of Pending Changes, and appropriate edit filters.
  • Uninvolved administrators are encouraged to monitor the articles covered by discretionary sanctions in the original Palestine-Israel case to ensure compliance. To assist in this, administrators are reminded that:

• Accounts with a clear shared agenda may be blocked if they violate the sockpuppetry policy or other applicable policy;
• Accounts whose primary purpose is disruption, violating the policy on biographies of living persons, or making personal attacks may be blocked indefinitely;
• There are special provisions in place to deal with editors who violate the BLP policy;
• Administrators may act on clear BLP violations with page protections, blocks, or warnings even if they have edited the article themselves or are otherwise involved;
• Discretionary sanctions permit full and semi-page protections, including use of pending changes where warranted, and – once an editor has become aware of sanctions for the topic – any other appropriate remedy may be issued without further warning.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Arbitration enforcement#Final decision closed 24 August 2015 ( AN notice)
  • The Arbitration Committee delegates the drafters of this case to amend and clarify the text of the policy at Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Discretionary sanctions and the text on Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Enforcement to bring them in line with the clarifications contained in this decision.
• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Kww and The Rambling Man#Final decision closed 3 August 2015 ( AN notice)
  • Kww ( talk · contribs)'s administrator permissions are revoked. He may regain the tools at any time through a successful request for adminship

  • Kww ( talk · contribs)'s edit filter manager permission is revoked. He may only regain them as follows: If he is desysopped as a result of this case, and is later successful at regaining the administrator tools through a successful request for adminship, this restriction will automatically expire. If he is not desysopped as a result of this case, he may appeal this remedy after 12 months to the Arbitration Committee.

  • The community is encouraged to establish a policy or guideline for the use of edit filters, and a process by which existing and proposed edit filters may be judged against these.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Lightbreather#Final decision closed 17 July 2015 ( AN notice)
  • Lightbreather ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is site-banned. They may request reconsideration of the ban no earlier than one year after it is enacted.
  • Lightbreather ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is indefinitely topic-banned from the Gun control topic, broadly construed.
  • Lightbreather ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is restricted to editing from one account. They must obtain the Committee's prior approval if they wish to edit from a different account. They are prohibited from making edits without logging in.
  • Subject to the usual exceptions, Lightbreather is prohibited from making any more than one revert to any page, except Lightbreather's own user space, in any 24-hour period.
  • Lightbreather ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is restricted to editing articles, their talk pages, and Lightbreather's user and user talk pages. Further, they may not edit articles in topics from which they are banned. They may post elsewhere only to respond to unambiguous criticism of them in dispute resolution fora. The default interaction-ban exceptions remain in place but improper use of them by Lightbreather is sanctionable as an i-ban evasion. Should Lightbreather wish to initiate action against any user for whatever reason they may do so only by email to the Arbitration Committee.
  • All interactions bans affecting Lightbreather are taken over by the Arbitration Committee and placed under the committee's direct jurisdiction. The default i-ban exceptions remain in place but improper use of them by Lightbreather is sanctionable as an i-ban evasion. For consistency and ease of administration, the i-bans may be enforced by any uninvolved administrator as an arbitration enforcement action but any resultant appeals may be made only to the committee and only by email. For the avoidance of doubt, this paragraph applies to the following interaction bans:
    1. Mike Searson (one-way)
    2. Hell in a Bucket (two-way)
    3. Eric Corbett (two-way)
    4. Sitush (one-way)
    5. Scalhotrod (two-way)
  • The community is invited to create and maintain a page containing practical advice and guidance on dealing with serious harassment.
  • The Wikimedia Foundation is currently working on improved trust and safety policies for the site. [1], [2] and the community is urged to offer what assistance it can.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Technical 13#Motion closed 26 June 2015 ( AN notice)
  • Technical 13 ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)'s indefinite block is converted to an indefinite ban imposed by the Arbitration Committee. Technical 13 may appeal this ban at any time to the Arbitration Committee if he wishes to return to editing.
  • Technical 13 ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is limited to one account, and may not edit through any account other than "Technical 13". He is explicitly denied the right to any sort of clean start.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/American politics 2#Final decision closed 19 June 2015 ( AN notice)
  • Remedy 1 of the American Politics case is rescinded. In its place, the following is adopted: standard discretionary sanctions are authorized for all edits about, and all pages related to post-1932 politics of the United States and closely related people.
  • Ubikwit ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is banned from any page relating to or making any edit about post-1932 politics of the United States, and closely related people, in any namespace. This ban may be appealed no earlier than 18 months after its adoption.
  • MONGO ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is admonished for adding to the hostility in the topic area.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Sockpuppet investigation block#Final decision closed 09 June 2015 ( AN notice)
  • The CheckUser permissions of Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) are revoked. He may seek to regain them only by the usual appointment methods.
  • The oversight permissions of Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) are revoked. He may seek to regain them only by the usual appointment methods.
  • Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is desysopped. He may regain the tools at any time through a successful request for adminship.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/OccultZone and others#Final decision closed 03 June 2015 ( AN notice)
  • OccultZone ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is banned indefinitely from English Wikipedia. They may appeal the ban after twelve months, and every six months thereafter.
  • OccultZone ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is also topic banned from making edits related to a) sexual assault or b) crime on the Indian Subcontinent, both broadly construed.
  • OccultZone ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is indefinitely limited to operating a single account.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Collect and others#Final decision closed 09 May 2015 ( AN notice)
  • 1. Collect ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is banned from any page relating to or making any edit about US politics or US political figures, in any namespace. This ban may be appealed no earlier than 18 months after its adoption.
  • 2. Collect ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is indefinitely limited to one revert per article in any 24 hour period. This restriction excepts the reversal of unambiguous vandalism.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Christianity_and_Sexuality#Final_decision closed 7 March 2015 ( AN notice)
  • 1) Esoglou ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is indefinitely banned from the English Wikipedia. They may request reconsideration of the ban twelve months after the enactment of this remedy, and every twelve months thereafter.
  • 2) Roscelese ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is subject to the following restrictions. She is:
    • indefinitely restricted to making no more than one revert per page per day (except for indisputable vandalism and BLP violations), and is required to discuss any content reversions on the page's talk page;
    • indefinitely prohibited from making rollback-type reverts that fail to provide an explanation for the revert;
    • indefinitely prohibited from engaging in conduct which, in the opinion of any uninvolved administrator, casts aspersions, or personalises disputes.

    These restrictions may be appealed to the committee twelve months after the enactment of this remedy, and every twelve months thereafter. Should Roscelese breach any of these restrictions, she may be blocked for per the standard Enforcement provision below.

  • 3) Padresfan94 ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is indefinitely banned from the English Wikipedia. They may request reconsideration of the ban twelve months after the enactment of this remedy, and every twelve months thereafter.
  • 4.1) Dominus Vobisdu ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is subject to an indefinite editing restriction from the date of enactment of this remedy. Dominus Vobisdu is limited to one revert per page per day (except for indisputable vandalism and BLP violations), and is required to discuss any content reversions on the page's talk page. Should Dominus Vobisdu exceed this limit or fail to discuss a content reversion, they may be blocked for per the standard Enforcement provision below. This restriction may be appealed to the committee twelve months after the enactment of this remedy, and every twelve months thereafter.
  • 4.2) Dominus Vobisdu ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is admonished for edit warring, and is strongly reminded to use discussion and dispute resolution rather than engage in future edit wars.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Infoboxes/Review#Final decision closed 4 March 2015 ( AN notice)
  • 1.1) Remedy 1.1 of the original Infoboxes case is rescinded. In its place, the following is adopted: Pigsonthewing ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is indefinitely restricted from adding an infobox to any article.
  • 2.1) Remedy 1 of the 2005 Pigsonthewing case is rescinded. The following is enacted as a restriction of this review: If Pigsonthewing ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) behaves disruptively in any discussion; any uninvolved administrator may ban Pigsonthewing ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) from further participation in that discussion. Any such restriction must be logged on the main case page of this review.
  • 3) Notwithstanding remedy 1.1 of this review, Pigsonthewing ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) may include an infobox in articles he has himself created within the prior fortnight.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Toddst1 closed after suspension by motion 3 March 2015
  • The "Toddst1" request for arbitration is accepted, but a formal case will not be opened unless and until Toddst1 returns to active status as an administrator. If Toddst1 resigns his administrative tools or is desysopped for inactivity the case will be closed with no further action. Toddst1 is instructed not to use his admin tools in any way while the case is pending; doing so will be grounds for summary desysopping.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Wifione#Final decision closed 13 Feburary 2015 ( AN notice)
  • 1) Wifione ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is indefinitely topic-banned from editing any pages relating to or making any edit about:
    1. any Indian commercial organisation founded after 1915;
    2. any Indian educational institution founded after 1915;
    3. biographies of any living or recently deceased person associated with (i) or (ii)
    and is restricted to one account.
  • 2.1) Wifione ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) may only regain administrative tools via a successful request for adminship.
  • 3) Wifione ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is indefinitely banned from the English Wikipedia. They may request reconsideration of the ban twelve months after the enactment of this remedy, and every twelve months thereafter.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/GamerGate closed 29 January 2015 ( AN notice)

• 1.1)

(i) The community 
Gamergate general sanctions are hereby rescinded and are replaced by 
standard discretionary sanctions, which are authorized for all edits about, and all pages related to, (a) GamerGate, (b) any gender-related dispute or controversy, (c) people associated with (a) or (b), all broadly construed.

• 1.2)

• 2.1) Any editor subject to a topic-ban in this decision is indefinitely prohibited from making any edit about, and from editing any page relating to, (a) Gamergate, (b) any gender-related dispute or controversy, (c) people associated with (a) or (b), all broadly construed. These restrictions may be appealed to the Committee only after 12 months have elapsed from the closing of this case.
• 4.1) NorthBySouthBaranof ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is indefinitely restricted per the standard topic ban.
• 5.1) Ryulong ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is indefinitely restricted per the standard topic ban.
• 5.3) Ryulong ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is indefinitely banned from the English Language Wikipedia. They may request reconsideration of the ban twelve months after the enactment of this remedy, and every twelve months thereafter.
• 6.2) TaraInDC ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is admonished for treating Wikipedia as if it were a battleground and advised to better conduct themselves.
• 7.2) Tarc ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is indefinitely restricted per the standard topic ban.
• 7.3) Tarc ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is strongly warned that should future misconduct occur in any topic area, he may be banned from the English Wikipedia by motion of the Arbitration Committee.
• 8.2) The Devil's Advocate ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is indefinitely restricted per the standard topic ban.
• 8.3) Subject to the usual exceptions, The Devil's Advocate ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is prohibited from making any more than one revert on any one page in any 48-hour period. This applies for all pages on the English Wikipedia, except The Devil's Advocate's own user space. This restriction may be appealed to the Committee only after 12 months have elapsed from the closing of this case.
• 8.4) Subject to the usual exceptions, The Devil's Advocate ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is indefinitely prohibited from editing any administrative or conduct noticeboard (including, not not limited to; AN, AN/I, AN/EW, and AE), except for threads regarding situations that he was directly involved in when they were started. This restriction may be appealed to the Committee only after 12 months have elapsed from the closing of this case.
• 8.5) The Devil's Advocate ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is strongly warned that should future misconduct occur in any topic area, he may be banned from the English Wikipedia by motion of the Arbitration Committee. Further, the committee strongly suggests that The Devil's Advocate refrains from editing contentious topic areas in the future.
• 9) TheRedPenOfDoom ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is admonished for treating Wikipedia as if it were a battleground and advised to better conduct themselves.
• 10.1) The Arbitration Committee endorses the community-imposed topic ban preventing Tutelary ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) from editing under the Gamergate general sanctions. This ban is converted to an Arbitration Committee-imposed ban. Tutelary ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is indefinitely restricted per the standard topic ban.
• 12) The Arbitration Committee endorses the community-imposed topic bans preventing ArmyLine ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log), DungeonSiegeAddict510 ( talk · contribs), and Xander756 ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) from editing under the Gamergate general sanctions. The topic bans for these three editors are converted to indefinite restrictions per the standard topic ban.
• 13) The Arbitration Committee endorses the community-imposed topic ban preventing Titanium Dragon ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) from editing under BLP enforcement. This ban is converted to an Arbitration Committee-imposed ban. Titanium Dragon is indefinitely restricted per the standard topic ban.
• 14.1) Loganmac ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is indefinitely restricted per the standard topic ban.
• 15) Willhesucceed ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is indefinitely restricted per the standard topic ban.
• 18) The Arbitration Committee urges that knowledgeable and non-conflicted users not previously involved in editing GamerGate-related articles, especially GamerGate-related biographies of living people, should carefully review them for adherence to Wikipedia policies and address any perceived or discovered deficiencies. This is not a finding that the articles are or are not satisfactory in their present form, but an urging that independent members of the community examine the matter in light of the case.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Acupuncture motion passed 12 January 2015
  • The Arbitration Committee authorizes standard discretionary sanctions for any edit about, and for all pages relating to Complementary and Alternative Medicine.