Wikipedia Arbitration |
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Track related changes |
After considering /Evidence and discussing proposals with other Arbitrators, parties and others at /Workshop, Arbitrators may place proposals which are ready for voting here. Arbitrators should vote for or against each point or abstain. Only items that receive a majority "support" vote will be passed. Conditional votes for or against and abstentions should be explained by the Arbitrator before or after his/her time-stamped signature. For example, an Arbitrator can state that she/he would only favor a particular remedy based on whether or not another remedy/remedies were passed. Only Arbitrators or Clerks should edit this page; non-Arbitrators may comment on the talk page.
For this case, there are 13 active Arbitrators, so 7 votes are a majority.
If observing editors notice any discrepancies between the arbitrators' tallies and the final decision or the #Implementation notes, you should post to the Clerks' noticeboard. Similarly, arbitrators may request clerk assistance via the same method.
Arbitrators may place proposed motions affecting the case in this section for voting. Typical motions might be to close or dismiss a case without a full decision (a reason should normally be given), or to add an additional party (although this can also be done without a formal motion as long as the new party is on notice of the case). Suggestions by the parties or other non-arbitrators for motions or other requests should be placed on the
/Workshop page for consideration and discussion.
Motions have the same majority for passage as the final decision.
1) If a user not formally listed as a party on the Obama case, and evidence is brought up against or involving them on the evidence pages, then upon notification to them by the evidence submitter or arbitration clerk, they can be placed in the "involved parties" section at the drafting arbitrators' discretion.
2) ChildofMidnight ( talk · contribs) is added as a party to the case.
A temporary injunction is a directive from the Arbitration Committee that parties to the case, or other editors notified of the injunction, do or refrain from doing something while the case is pending.
Four net "support" votes needed to pass (each "oppose" vote subtracts a "support")
24 hours from the first vote is normally the fastest an injunction will be imposed.
1) {text of proposed orders}
1) The purpose of Wikipedia is to create a high-quality, free-content encyclopedia in an atmosphere of camaraderie and mutual respect among contributors. Use of the encyclopedia to advance personal agendas – such as advocacy or propaganda and philosophical, ideological or political dispute – or to publish or promote original research is prohibited.
2) Wikipedia adopts a neutral point of view, and advocacy for any particular view is prohibited. In particular, Wikipedia's conflict of interest guidelines strongly discourage editors from contributing "in order to promote their own interests." Neutrality is non-negotiable and requires that, whatever their personal feelings, all editors must strive to (i) ensure that articles accurately reflect all significant viewpoints published by reliable sources and (ii) give prominence to such viewpoints in proportion to the weight of the sources. Editors may contribute to Wikipedia only if they comply with Wikipedia's key policies.
3) Wikipedia users are expected to behave reasonably, calmly, and courteously in their interactions with other users. Unseemly conduct, such as personal attacks, incivility, assumptions of bad faith, harassment, disruptive point-making, and gaming the system, is prohibited. Making unsupported accusations of such misconduct by other editors, particularly where this is done in repeatedly or in a bad-faith attempt to gain an advantage in a content dispute, is also unacceptable.
4) All Wikipedia articles must be written from a neutral point of view. Merely presenting a plurality of viewpoints, especially from polarized sources, does not fulfill the neutral point of view. Articles should always verifiably use the best and most reputable sources, with prevalence in reliable sources determining proper weight. Relying on synthesized claims, or other "original research", is therefore contrary to the neutral point of view. The neutral point of view is the guiding editorial principle of Wikipedia, and is not optional.
5) Single purpose accounts are expected to contribute neutrally instead of following their own agenda and, in particular, should take care to avoid creating the impression that their focus on one topic is non-neutral, which could strongly suggest that their editing is not compatible with the goals of this project.
6) Editors must take particular care when adding biographical material about a living person to any Wikipedia page. Such material requires a high degree of sensitivity, and must adhere strictly to all our content policies, especially: neutral point of view, verifiability and no original research. Articles must use high quality references. Unsourced or poorly sourced contentious material about living persons—whether the material is negative, positive, or just questionable—should be removed immediately.
7) In appropriate instances, it is permissible to place a clean-up maintenance tag on an article in order to call attention to problems with the article. It is not, however, appropriate to place a tag on an article in order to further exacerbate a dispute.
7.1) Depending on the discretion of editors, it is permissible to place a clean-up maintenance tag on an article in order to call attention to problems with the article in instances where those editors are unable to fix them themselves. It is not, however, appropriate to place a tag on an article in order to further exacerbate a dispute.
8) Contributors to Wikipedia may benefit the project by participating in a variety of ways. Good-faith participation is welcome whether it comes in the form of editorial contributions, tagging articles for clean-up, initiating or participating in community deletion discussions, or performing of administrative tasks. Editors making any or all of these types of contributions are welcome. The project and progress toward our goals are diminished if we drive away or demoralize a good-faith editor who contributes or has the potential to contribute, while complying with Wikipedia policies, in any or all of these areas.
9) Wikipedia relies on a consensus model. When there is a good-faith dispute, editors are expected to participate in the consensus-building process, in lieu of soapboxing, edit warring, or other inappropriate behavior. Abuse of the consensus model and process, such as misrepresenting consensus or poisoning the well, is disruptive.
10) Consensus is not immutable. It is reasonable, and sometimes necessary, for both individual editors and particularly the community as a whole to change its mind. Long-held consensus cannot be used as an excuse against a change that follows Wikipedia's policies. However, the idea that consensus can change does not allow for the same point being brought up repeatedly over the course of months or years in an attempt to shift consensus.
11) Edit-warring is harmful. When disagreements arise, users are expected to discuss their differences rationally rather than reverting ad infinitum. Revert rules should not be construed as an entitlement or inalienable right to revert, nor do they endorse reverts as an editing technique.
12) Users who disrupt the editing of articles by engaging in sustained aggressive point-of-view editing may be banned from the affected articles. In extreme cases they may be banned from the site.
13) The purpose of a Wikipedia talk page is to provide space for editors to discuss changes to its associated article or project page. Article talk pages should not be used by editors as platforms for their personal views.
14) The purpose of a FAQ for more active talk pages is to answer often-asked questions about the article, so as not to weigh down the talk page with answering the same questions repeatedly.
15) An attack page is a Wikipedia article, page, template, category, redirect or image that exists primarily to disparage its subject. If the subject of the article is notable, but the existing page consists primarily of personal attacks against that subject and there is no good revision to revert to, then the attack page should be deleted and an appropriate stub article should be written in its place. This is especially important if the page contains biographical material about a living person.
16) All criticism articles must follow the same guidelines as other articles and use reliable sources. They are not to be used as POV forks or attack pages.
17) The deletion process is the Wikipedia process involved in recording and executing the community's decisions to delete or keep a page. If an editor is unsatisfied with the decision made by the closing administrator in regards to a deletion discussion, it may be brought to deletion review. The deletion review closer generally has the final word on the state of the article.
18) Articles may be placed on probation by the Arbitration Committee or the community. When an article is under probation, editors making disruptive edits may be subject to various administrative sanctions, depending on the terms of probation.
19) While wider community participation can help resolve disputes, participating editors are expected to remain civil and to assume good faith to avoid further inflaming the dispute.
20) Users may freely remove comments from their own talk pages, though archiving is preferred. A user's removal of a warning on his or her talk page is taken as evidence that the warning has been read by the user. This specifically includes both registered and anonymous users.
1) The scope of this case is the Barack Obama article, all related articles, and the involved parties’ conduct in relation to these articles.
2) While there has been some disruption in the past on this article, a catalyst to increased disputes occurred on March 9, 2009, when WorldNetDaily published a piece labeling Wikipedia as a pro-Obama site, leading to a spike in traffic. [2] A proposal to include a "criticism" section or article followed the next day, [3], which was sent to AFD, speedily deleted, and sent to DRV. [4]. After the DRV began, edit-warring on an a FAQ relating to Obama began as well, leading to an ANI thread and this case. [5]
3) The Barack Obama article and related articles were placed on article probation on July 29, 2008. Since then, a myriad of administrative actions have been logged under the probation, and several users officially put under probation.
4) Although the aforementioned probationary measure was very effective for a reasonable period of time after it was implemented, during this year, it has proved difficult to enforce. While some sanctions have been applied under it, a number of noticeboard discussions have generally been intractable and unproductive, with many descending into arguments amongst disputants. Some editors have expressed concerns that the measure has failed to address, at least, some of the underlying issues, while others have suggested that there is a reluctance to enforce the remedy in some cases. Talk:Barack Obama/Article probation
5) The main Barack Obama article and Talk:Barack Obama are two of the most active wiki pages, with over 17,000 and 29,000 revisions, respectively. [6]
6) During the influx of traffic triggered by the WorldNetDaily report on March 9, as well as during other times, many IPs and new accounts have contributed to the main article and talk page of the Barack Obama article, often behaving disruptively. [7]
7) Stevertigo ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in edit-warring [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] and engaged in edit summary attacks on the Obama FAQ, [16].
7.1) Stevertigo ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) tried to mark WP:IAR historical, disrupting Wikipedia to prove a point. [17] [18]
7.1.1) Stevertigo ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) proposed to mark WP:IAR historical in its talk page, asking other users to discuss his proposal. [19]
8) Sceptre ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in edit-warring [20] [21] [22] and continued to revert Stevertigo outside of the Barack Obama FAQ. [23] [24] and engaged in edit summary attacks. [25]
9) Grsz11 ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in incivil edit summaries during the edit warring. [26] [27]
10) Wikidemon ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in edit-warring, teaming with Sceptre in removing comments, [28] [29] including adding comments back on a user talk page removed by the user. [30]
10.1) Wikidemon ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) violated talk page guidelines in removing sections of text and/or archiving them. [31] [32] [33] [34]
11) Tarc ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in incivility in comments and edit summaries. [35] [36] [37]
11.1) Tarc ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) violated talk page guidelines in removing sections of text and/or archiving them. [38] [39]
12) ChildofMidnight ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has deleted and/or refactored comments made by other parties on the Barack Obama talk page, [40] [41] [42] [43], and engaged in attacking the actions of other editors. [44]
12.1) ChildofMidnight ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in edit-warring, and was blocked during the case as a result. [45]
12.2) ChildofMidnight ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) created the appearance of templating other parties to the case. [46] [47]
13) Scjessey ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in incivility and personal attacks, [48] [49] [50] templated established editors, [51] [52] [53] [54], removed pieces of an AfD discussion, [55] and appeared to stalk ChildofMidnight’s edits. [56] [57] [58]
13.1) Scjessey ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in edit-warring, and was blocked during the case as a result. (Under “Blockery” tab, May 8th) [59]
13.1.1) Scjessey ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in edit-warring, and was blocked during the case as a result. [60] Scjessey then requested unblock, pledged to avoid edit-warring and to take a voluntary 24-hour wikibreak if requested of him. [61] As a consequence, administrator Toddst1 unblocked him. [62], [63]
14) Baseball Bugs ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in incivility, [64] [65] [66] and removed talk page discussions [67] [68] [69] while using the talk page as a forum himself. [70]
15) Grundle2600 ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in edit-warring, [71] [72] [73] [74] [75] [76] and was blocked during the case as a result. [77]
Note: All remedies that refer to a period of time, for example to a ban of X months or a revert parole of Y months, are to run concurrently unless otherwise stated.
1) The probation on Barack Obama will be reviewed by a group of involved and non-involved editors and administrators to see how effective it has been. The process will last two weeks. After the two weeks elapse, the Probation Reform subcommittee will provide their findings to us and the community, and will outline how the article probation will run in the future (i.e. what are the terms of article probation, what constitutes being involved and therefore required to be under it, etc.)
1.1) The probation on articles relating to Barack Obama will be reviewed by a group of involved and non-involved editors and administrators to see how effective it has been. The process will last two weeks. After the two weeks elapse, the working group will provide their findings to us and the community, and will outline how the article probation will run in the future (i.e. what are the terms of article probation, what constitutes being involved and therefore required to be under it, etc.)
2) The Arbitration Committee, in recognizing the traffic and difficulty of handling the Barack Obama talk page, as well as per talk page guidelines, finds the removal of soapboxing and off-topic discussion acceptable and encourages its continuation.
3) All involved editors in the Obama articles, parties or not, are encouraged to try to collaborate and work constructively instead of accusing others of misconduct.
4) Stevertigo ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is admonished for his edit-warring. Furthermore, Stevertigo is subject to an editing restriction for one year. Stevertigo is limited to one revert per page per week (except for undisputable vandalism and BLP violations), and is required to discuss any content reversions on the page's talk page. Should Stevertigo exceed this limit or fail to discuss a content reversion, he may be blocked for the duration specified in the enforcement ruling below.
5) Sceptre ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is admonished for his edit-warring. Furthermore, Sceptre is subject to an editing restriction for one year. Sceptre is limited to one revert per page per week (except for undisputable vandalism and BLP violations), and is required to discuss any content reversions on the page's talk page. Should Sceptre exceed this limit or fail to discuss a content reversion, he may be blocked for the duration specified in the enforcement ruling below.
6) Grsz11 ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is reminded to be civil when dealing with hot-button and controversial situations.
7) Wikidemon ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is admonished for his part in the edit warring.
8) Tarc ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is reminded to be civil when dealing with hot button and controversial situations.
9) ChildofMidnight ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is topic-banned from Obama-related articles for six months, including talk pages.
9.1) ChildofMidnight ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is topic-banned from Obama-related articles for three months, including talk pages.
9.2) ChildofMidnight ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is admonished for his edit-warring. Furthermore, ChildofMidnight is subject to an editing restriction for one year. ChildofMidnight is limited to one revert per page per week (except for undisputable vandalism and BLP violations), and is required to discuss any content reversions on the page's talk page. Should ChildofMidnight exceed this limit or fail to discuss a content reversion, he may be blocked for the duration specified in the enforcement ruling below.
10) Scjessey ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is topic-banned from Obama-related articles for six months, including talk pages.
10.1) Scjessey ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is topic-banned from Obama-related articles for three months, including talk pages.
10.2) Scjessey ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is admonished for his edit-warring. Furthermore, Scjessey is subject to an editing restriction for one year. Scjessey is limited to one revert per page per week (except for undisputable vandalism and BLP violations), and is required to discuss any content reversions on the page's talk page. Should Scjessey exceed this limit or fail to discuss a content reversion, he may be blocked for the duration specified in the enforcement ruling below.
11) ChildofMidnight ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) and Scjessey ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) are not to interact with each other, including replying or reverting of each other’s actions. Doing so is grounds for blocking for the duration specified in the enforcement ruling below.
11.1) ChildofMidnight ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) and Wikidemon ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) are not to interact with each other, including replying or reverting of each other’s actions. Doing so is grounds for blocking for the duration specified in the enforcement ruling below.
12) Baseball Bugs ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is reminded to be more civil when dealing with users and to not use talk pages as a forum.
13) Grundle2600 ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is admonished for his edit-warring. Furthermore, Grundle2600 is subject to an editing restriction for one year. Grundle2600 is limited to one revert per page per week (except for undisputable vandalism and BLP violations), and is required to discuss any content reversions on the page's talk page. Should Grundle2600 exceed this limit or fail to discuss a content reversion, he may be blocked for the duration specified in the enforcement ruling below.
14) All articles relating directly to Barack Obama and their talk pages are to be permanently semi-protected, to be interpreted narrowly.
14.1) All articles relating directly to Barack Obama and their talk pages are to be semi-protected for one year, to be interpreted narrowly.
14.2) A low threshold for liberal and lengthy semiprotection shall be considered for all articles relating directly to Barack Obama and their talk pages.
14.3) All editor and administrators are reminded that lengthy and liberal use of semi-protection for managing all articles relating directly to Barack Obama and their talk pages is within policy. The use of page protection is subject to review and discretion by administrators based on comments from the Community.
1) Should any user subject to an editing restriction in this case violate that restriction, that user may be briefly blocked, up to a week in the event of repeated violations. After 5 blocks, the maximum block shall increase to one year. All blocks are to be logged at Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Obama articles#Log of blocks and bans.
Clerks and Arbitrators should use this section to clarify their understanding of the final decision--at a minimum, a list of items that have passed. Additionally, a list of which remedies are conditional on others (for instance a ban that should only be implemented if a mentorship should fail), and so on. Arbitrators should not pass the motion until they are satisfied with the implementation notes.
Passing
Not Passing (Insufficient majority in Italics)
Due to Carcharoth going inactive, majority is reduced to 7 from 8 which means it would meet proposed motion 1 now. Do we consider it passed at this point of time? - Mailer Diablo 22:33, 2 June 2009 (UTC)
Does FoF 7 or/and 7.1.1 pass? FoF 7 is 11-0-1 and FoF 7.1.1 is 6-0-4.
Also kindly confirm FoF 12.1 passes instead of 12 and 12.2.
FoF 13.1.1 instead of 13 and 13.1 as well.
For Rem 10/10.1, there are differences in first and second choices, which one should be preferred? - Mailer Diablo 15:11, 17 June 2009 (UTC)
Note also that F11 is incorrectly listed above as not passing. Paul August ☎ 16:36, 17 June 2009 (UTC)
Four net "support" votes needed to close case (each "oppose" vote subtracts a "support")
24 hours from the first motion is normally the fastest a case will close.
The
Clerks will close the case either immediately, or 24 hours after the fourth net support vote has been cast,
depending on whether the arbitrators have voted unanimously on the entirety of the case's proposed decision or not.
Wikipedia Arbitration |
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Track related changes |
After considering /Evidence and discussing proposals with other Arbitrators, parties and others at /Workshop, Arbitrators may place proposals which are ready for voting here. Arbitrators should vote for or against each point or abstain. Only items that receive a majority "support" vote will be passed. Conditional votes for or against and abstentions should be explained by the Arbitrator before or after his/her time-stamped signature. For example, an Arbitrator can state that she/he would only favor a particular remedy based on whether or not another remedy/remedies were passed. Only Arbitrators or Clerks should edit this page; non-Arbitrators may comment on the talk page.
For this case, there are 13 active Arbitrators, so 7 votes are a majority.
If observing editors notice any discrepancies between the arbitrators' tallies and the final decision or the #Implementation notes, you should post to the Clerks' noticeboard. Similarly, arbitrators may request clerk assistance via the same method.
Arbitrators may place proposed motions affecting the case in this section for voting. Typical motions might be to close or dismiss a case without a full decision (a reason should normally be given), or to add an additional party (although this can also be done without a formal motion as long as the new party is on notice of the case). Suggestions by the parties or other non-arbitrators for motions or other requests should be placed on the
/Workshop page for consideration and discussion.
Motions have the same majority for passage as the final decision.
1) If a user not formally listed as a party on the Obama case, and evidence is brought up against or involving them on the evidence pages, then upon notification to them by the evidence submitter or arbitration clerk, they can be placed in the "involved parties" section at the drafting arbitrators' discretion.
2) ChildofMidnight ( talk · contribs) is added as a party to the case.
A temporary injunction is a directive from the Arbitration Committee that parties to the case, or other editors notified of the injunction, do or refrain from doing something while the case is pending.
Four net "support" votes needed to pass (each "oppose" vote subtracts a "support")
24 hours from the first vote is normally the fastest an injunction will be imposed.
1) {text of proposed orders}
1) The purpose of Wikipedia is to create a high-quality, free-content encyclopedia in an atmosphere of camaraderie and mutual respect among contributors. Use of the encyclopedia to advance personal agendas – such as advocacy or propaganda and philosophical, ideological or political dispute – or to publish or promote original research is prohibited.
2) Wikipedia adopts a neutral point of view, and advocacy for any particular view is prohibited. In particular, Wikipedia's conflict of interest guidelines strongly discourage editors from contributing "in order to promote their own interests." Neutrality is non-negotiable and requires that, whatever their personal feelings, all editors must strive to (i) ensure that articles accurately reflect all significant viewpoints published by reliable sources and (ii) give prominence to such viewpoints in proportion to the weight of the sources. Editors may contribute to Wikipedia only if they comply with Wikipedia's key policies.
3) Wikipedia users are expected to behave reasonably, calmly, and courteously in their interactions with other users. Unseemly conduct, such as personal attacks, incivility, assumptions of bad faith, harassment, disruptive point-making, and gaming the system, is prohibited. Making unsupported accusations of such misconduct by other editors, particularly where this is done in repeatedly or in a bad-faith attempt to gain an advantage in a content dispute, is also unacceptable.
4) All Wikipedia articles must be written from a neutral point of view. Merely presenting a plurality of viewpoints, especially from polarized sources, does not fulfill the neutral point of view. Articles should always verifiably use the best and most reputable sources, with prevalence in reliable sources determining proper weight. Relying on synthesized claims, or other "original research", is therefore contrary to the neutral point of view. The neutral point of view is the guiding editorial principle of Wikipedia, and is not optional.
5) Single purpose accounts are expected to contribute neutrally instead of following their own agenda and, in particular, should take care to avoid creating the impression that their focus on one topic is non-neutral, which could strongly suggest that their editing is not compatible with the goals of this project.
6) Editors must take particular care when adding biographical material about a living person to any Wikipedia page. Such material requires a high degree of sensitivity, and must adhere strictly to all our content policies, especially: neutral point of view, verifiability and no original research. Articles must use high quality references. Unsourced or poorly sourced contentious material about living persons—whether the material is negative, positive, or just questionable—should be removed immediately.
7) In appropriate instances, it is permissible to place a clean-up maintenance tag on an article in order to call attention to problems with the article. It is not, however, appropriate to place a tag on an article in order to further exacerbate a dispute.
7.1) Depending on the discretion of editors, it is permissible to place a clean-up maintenance tag on an article in order to call attention to problems with the article in instances where those editors are unable to fix them themselves. It is not, however, appropriate to place a tag on an article in order to further exacerbate a dispute.
8) Contributors to Wikipedia may benefit the project by participating in a variety of ways. Good-faith participation is welcome whether it comes in the form of editorial contributions, tagging articles for clean-up, initiating or participating in community deletion discussions, or performing of administrative tasks. Editors making any or all of these types of contributions are welcome. The project and progress toward our goals are diminished if we drive away or demoralize a good-faith editor who contributes or has the potential to contribute, while complying with Wikipedia policies, in any or all of these areas.
9) Wikipedia relies on a consensus model. When there is a good-faith dispute, editors are expected to participate in the consensus-building process, in lieu of soapboxing, edit warring, or other inappropriate behavior. Abuse of the consensus model and process, such as misrepresenting consensus or poisoning the well, is disruptive.
10) Consensus is not immutable. It is reasonable, and sometimes necessary, for both individual editors and particularly the community as a whole to change its mind. Long-held consensus cannot be used as an excuse against a change that follows Wikipedia's policies. However, the idea that consensus can change does not allow for the same point being brought up repeatedly over the course of months or years in an attempt to shift consensus.
11) Edit-warring is harmful. When disagreements arise, users are expected to discuss their differences rationally rather than reverting ad infinitum. Revert rules should not be construed as an entitlement or inalienable right to revert, nor do they endorse reverts as an editing technique.
12) Users who disrupt the editing of articles by engaging in sustained aggressive point-of-view editing may be banned from the affected articles. In extreme cases they may be banned from the site.
13) The purpose of a Wikipedia talk page is to provide space for editors to discuss changes to its associated article or project page. Article talk pages should not be used by editors as platforms for their personal views.
14) The purpose of a FAQ for more active talk pages is to answer often-asked questions about the article, so as not to weigh down the talk page with answering the same questions repeatedly.
15) An attack page is a Wikipedia article, page, template, category, redirect or image that exists primarily to disparage its subject. If the subject of the article is notable, but the existing page consists primarily of personal attacks against that subject and there is no good revision to revert to, then the attack page should be deleted and an appropriate stub article should be written in its place. This is especially important if the page contains biographical material about a living person.
16) All criticism articles must follow the same guidelines as other articles and use reliable sources. They are not to be used as POV forks or attack pages.
17) The deletion process is the Wikipedia process involved in recording and executing the community's decisions to delete or keep a page. If an editor is unsatisfied with the decision made by the closing administrator in regards to a deletion discussion, it may be brought to deletion review. The deletion review closer generally has the final word on the state of the article.
18) Articles may be placed on probation by the Arbitration Committee or the community. When an article is under probation, editors making disruptive edits may be subject to various administrative sanctions, depending on the terms of probation.
19) While wider community participation can help resolve disputes, participating editors are expected to remain civil and to assume good faith to avoid further inflaming the dispute.
20) Users may freely remove comments from their own talk pages, though archiving is preferred. A user's removal of a warning on his or her talk page is taken as evidence that the warning has been read by the user. This specifically includes both registered and anonymous users.
1) The scope of this case is the Barack Obama article, all related articles, and the involved parties’ conduct in relation to these articles.
2) While there has been some disruption in the past on this article, a catalyst to increased disputes occurred on March 9, 2009, when WorldNetDaily published a piece labeling Wikipedia as a pro-Obama site, leading to a spike in traffic. [2] A proposal to include a "criticism" section or article followed the next day, [3], which was sent to AFD, speedily deleted, and sent to DRV. [4]. After the DRV began, edit-warring on an a FAQ relating to Obama began as well, leading to an ANI thread and this case. [5]
3) The Barack Obama article and related articles were placed on article probation on July 29, 2008. Since then, a myriad of administrative actions have been logged under the probation, and several users officially put under probation.
4) Although the aforementioned probationary measure was very effective for a reasonable period of time after it was implemented, during this year, it has proved difficult to enforce. While some sanctions have been applied under it, a number of noticeboard discussions have generally been intractable and unproductive, with many descending into arguments amongst disputants. Some editors have expressed concerns that the measure has failed to address, at least, some of the underlying issues, while others have suggested that there is a reluctance to enforce the remedy in some cases. Talk:Barack Obama/Article probation
5) The main Barack Obama article and Talk:Barack Obama are two of the most active wiki pages, with over 17,000 and 29,000 revisions, respectively. [6]
6) During the influx of traffic triggered by the WorldNetDaily report on March 9, as well as during other times, many IPs and new accounts have contributed to the main article and talk page of the Barack Obama article, often behaving disruptively. [7]
7) Stevertigo ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in edit-warring [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] and engaged in edit summary attacks on the Obama FAQ, [16].
7.1) Stevertigo ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) tried to mark WP:IAR historical, disrupting Wikipedia to prove a point. [17] [18]
7.1.1) Stevertigo ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) proposed to mark WP:IAR historical in its talk page, asking other users to discuss his proposal. [19]
8) Sceptre ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in edit-warring [20] [21] [22] and continued to revert Stevertigo outside of the Barack Obama FAQ. [23] [24] and engaged in edit summary attacks. [25]
9) Grsz11 ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in incivil edit summaries during the edit warring. [26] [27]
10) Wikidemon ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in edit-warring, teaming with Sceptre in removing comments, [28] [29] including adding comments back on a user talk page removed by the user. [30]
10.1) Wikidemon ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) violated talk page guidelines in removing sections of text and/or archiving them. [31] [32] [33] [34]
11) Tarc ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in incivility in comments and edit summaries. [35] [36] [37]
11.1) Tarc ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) violated talk page guidelines in removing sections of text and/or archiving them. [38] [39]
12) ChildofMidnight ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has deleted and/or refactored comments made by other parties on the Barack Obama talk page, [40] [41] [42] [43], and engaged in attacking the actions of other editors. [44]
12.1) ChildofMidnight ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in edit-warring, and was blocked during the case as a result. [45]
12.2) ChildofMidnight ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) created the appearance of templating other parties to the case. [46] [47]
13) Scjessey ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in incivility and personal attacks, [48] [49] [50] templated established editors, [51] [52] [53] [54], removed pieces of an AfD discussion, [55] and appeared to stalk ChildofMidnight’s edits. [56] [57] [58]
13.1) Scjessey ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in edit-warring, and was blocked during the case as a result. (Under “Blockery” tab, May 8th) [59]
13.1.1) Scjessey ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in edit-warring, and was blocked during the case as a result. [60] Scjessey then requested unblock, pledged to avoid edit-warring and to take a voluntary 24-hour wikibreak if requested of him. [61] As a consequence, administrator Toddst1 unblocked him. [62], [63]
14) Baseball Bugs ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in incivility, [64] [65] [66] and removed talk page discussions [67] [68] [69] while using the talk page as a forum himself. [70]
15) Grundle2600 ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has engaged in edit-warring, [71] [72] [73] [74] [75] [76] and was blocked during the case as a result. [77]
Note: All remedies that refer to a period of time, for example to a ban of X months or a revert parole of Y months, are to run concurrently unless otherwise stated.
1) The probation on Barack Obama will be reviewed by a group of involved and non-involved editors and administrators to see how effective it has been. The process will last two weeks. After the two weeks elapse, the Probation Reform subcommittee will provide their findings to us and the community, and will outline how the article probation will run in the future (i.e. what are the terms of article probation, what constitutes being involved and therefore required to be under it, etc.)
1.1) The probation on articles relating to Barack Obama will be reviewed by a group of involved and non-involved editors and administrators to see how effective it has been. The process will last two weeks. After the two weeks elapse, the working group will provide their findings to us and the community, and will outline how the article probation will run in the future (i.e. what are the terms of article probation, what constitutes being involved and therefore required to be under it, etc.)
2) The Arbitration Committee, in recognizing the traffic and difficulty of handling the Barack Obama talk page, as well as per talk page guidelines, finds the removal of soapboxing and off-topic discussion acceptable and encourages its continuation.
3) All involved editors in the Obama articles, parties or not, are encouraged to try to collaborate and work constructively instead of accusing others of misconduct.
4) Stevertigo ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is admonished for his edit-warring. Furthermore, Stevertigo is subject to an editing restriction for one year. Stevertigo is limited to one revert per page per week (except for undisputable vandalism and BLP violations), and is required to discuss any content reversions on the page's talk page. Should Stevertigo exceed this limit or fail to discuss a content reversion, he may be blocked for the duration specified in the enforcement ruling below.
5) Sceptre ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is admonished for his edit-warring. Furthermore, Sceptre is subject to an editing restriction for one year. Sceptre is limited to one revert per page per week (except for undisputable vandalism and BLP violations), and is required to discuss any content reversions on the page's talk page. Should Sceptre exceed this limit or fail to discuss a content reversion, he may be blocked for the duration specified in the enforcement ruling below.
6) Grsz11 ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is reminded to be civil when dealing with hot-button and controversial situations.
7) Wikidemon ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is admonished for his part in the edit warring.
8) Tarc ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is reminded to be civil when dealing with hot button and controversial situations.
9) ChildofMidnight ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is topic-banned from Obama-related articles for six months, including talk pages.
9.1) ChildofMidnight ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is topic-banned from Obama-related articles for three months, including talk pages.
9.2) ChildofMidnight ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is admonished for his edit-warring. Furthermore, ChildofMidnight is subject to an editing restriction for one year. ChildofMidnight is limited to one revert per page per week (except for undisputable vandalism and BLP violations), and is required to discuss any content reversions on the page's talk page. Should ChildofMidnight exceed this limit or fail to discuss a content reversion, he may be blocked for the duration specified in the enforcement ruling below.
10) Scjessey ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is topic-banned from Obama-related articles for six months, including talk pages.
10.1) Scjessey ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is topic-banned from Obama-related articles for three months, including talk pages.
10.2) Scjessey ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is admonished for his edit-warring. Furthermore, Scjessey is subject to an editing restriction for one year. Scjessey is limited to one revert per page per week (except for undisputable vandalism and BLP violations), and is required to discuss any content reversions on the page's talk page. Should Scjessey exceed this limit or fail to discuss a content reversion, he may be blocked for the duration specified in the enforcement ruling below.
11) ChildofMidnight ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) and Scjessey ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) are not to interact with each other, including replying or reverting of each other’s actions. Doing so is grounds for blocking for the duration specified in the enforcement ruling below.
11.1) ChildofMidnight ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) and Wikidemon ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) are not to interact with each other, including replying or reverting of each other’s actions. Doing so is grounds for blocking for the duration specified in the enforcement ruling below.
12) Baseball Bugs ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is reminded to be more civil when dealing with users and to not use talk pages as a forum.
13) Grundle2600 ( talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) is admonished for his edit-warring. Furthermore, Grundle2600 is subject to an editing restriction for one year. Grundle2600 is limited to one revert per page per week (except for undisputable vandalism and BLP violations), and is required to discuss any content reversions on the page's talk page. Should Grundle2600 exceed this limit or fail to discuss a content reversion, he may be blocked for the duration specified in the enforcement ruling below.
14) All articles relating directly to Barack Obama and their talk pages are to be permanently semi-protected, to be interpreted narrowly.
14.1) All articles relating directly to Barack Obama and their talk pages are to be semi-protected for one year, to be interpreted narrowly.
14.2) A low threshold for liberal and lengthy semiprotection shall be considered for all articles relating directly to Barack Obama and their talk pages.
14.3) All editor and administrators are reminded that lengthy and liberal use of semi-protection for managing all articles relating directly to Barack Obama and their talk pages is within policy. The use of page protection is subject to review and discretion by administrators based on comments from the Community.
1) Should any user subject to an editing restriction in this case violate that restriction, that user may be briefly blocked, up to a week in the event of repeated violations. After 5 blocks, the maximum block shall increase to one year. All blocks are to be logged at Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Obama articles#Log of blocks and bans.
Clerks and Arbitrators should use this section to clarify their understanding of the final decision--at a minimum, a list of items that have passed. Additionally, a list of which remedies are conditional on others (for instance a ban that should only be implemented if a mentorship should fail), and so on. Arbitrators should not pass the motion until they are satisfied with the implementation notes.
Passing
Not Passing (Insufficient majority in Italics)
Due to Carcharoth going inactive, majority is reduced to 7 from 8 which means it would meet proposed motion 1 now. Do we consider it passed at this point of time? - Mailer Diablo 22:33, 2 June 2009 (UTC)
Does FoF 7 or/and 7.1.1 pass? FoF 7 is 11-0-1 and FoF 7.1.1 is 6-0-4.
Also kindly confirm FoF 12.1 passes instead of 12 and 12.2.
FoF 13.1.1 instead of 13 and 13.1 as well.
For Rem 10/10.1, there are differences in first and second choices, which one should be preferred? - Mailer Diablo 15:11, 17 June 2009 (UTC)
Note also that F11 is incorrectly listed above as not passing. Paul August ☎ 16:36, 17 June 2009 (UTC)
Four net "support" votes needed to close case (each "oppose" vote subtracts a "support")
24 hours from the first motion is normally the fastest a case will close.
The
Clerks will close the case either immediately, or 24 hours after the fourth net support vote has been cast,
depending on whether the arbitrators have voted unanimously on the entirety of the case's proposed decision or not.