Case clerk: Penwhale ( Talk) Drafting arbitrators: Jclemens ( Talk) & Coren ( Talk)
Wikipedia Arbitration |
---|
|
Track related changes |
Case Opened on 04:54, 12 August 2011 (UTC)
Case Closed on 03:57, 28 November 2011 (UTC)
Case amended by motion on 12:06, 6 December 2011 (UTC)
Case amended by motion on 16:58, 22 September 2020 (UTC)
Case amended by motion on 21:36, 14 December 2022 (UTC)
Please do not edit this page directly unless you are either 1) an Arbitrator, 2) an Arbitration Clerk, or 3) adding yourself to this case. Statements on this page are original comments provided when the Committee was initially requested to Arbitrate this page (at Requests for arbitration), and serve as opening statements; as such, they should not be altered. Any evidence you wish to provide to the Arbitrators should go on the /Evidence subpage.
Arbitrators, the parties, and other editors may suggest proposed principles, findings, and remedies at /Workshop. That page may also be used for general comments on the evidence. Arbitrators will then vote on a final decision in the case at /Proposed decision.
Once the case is closed, editors may add to the #Log of blocks, bans, restrictions, and semiprotections as needed, but this page should not be edited otherwise. Please raise any questions at Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration#Requests for clarification, and report violations of remedies at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Arbitration enforcement.
I am presenting this case to the Arbitration Committee, as I have unfortunately done so in the past after a mediation (see Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Lapsed_Pacifist_2. I don't do this lightly (I hate RFAR) however I feel it's the only way forward in this situation, and in the best interests of the community, as the general sanctions these articles are under have been ineffective. This would encompass all abortion articles, however mainly the Abortion article, and the recently renamed (as a result of the Mediation Cabal case) Support for the legalisation of abortion and Opposition to the legalisation of abortion. It seems to me that while there are still niggly content issues with the articles, the major player is is user conduct. In my opinion as a mediator, the reason things aren't progressing is due to polarised opinions on the matter. This isn't something that can be resolved through discussion and consensus building. I feel that the conduct of all parties needs to be reviewed, and remedies implemented to provide long term stability to the articles. Edit warring has been an issue, with editors doing one revert a day to get around 1RR, so a temporary injunction to address this for the term of this arbitration case should maybe be looked at. Steven Zhang The clock is ticking.... 02:49, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
Note: Since this RFAR has been filed, a slow-mo edit war has continued at the Abortion article. While not in violation of 1RR, these edits continue to be made. Because of polarised views, talk page discussion is having little or no success. Please see the diffs I have provided, where in the lead sometimes is changed to the word usually, changed from usually to may be, and in a separate issue, before birth changed to other than birth, other than birth changed back to before birth, and again changed from before birth to other than birth. This is part of the reason why I initially proposed 0RR as a temporary injunction, though I realise the scope was too broad. A temporary injunction needs to be implemented here. There are users making these edits that are not listed as parties, so an injunction topic banning all listed parties from editing articles related to Abortion would be ineffective. The same applies to restricting listed parties to 0RR on abortion articles until the case is accepted, or resolved via motion. The only workable solution I can think of is full protection until a resolution is made on this case, whether by motion or acceptance of the case.
1) Due to continued edit warring on the Abortion article [1] [2] [3] [4] [5], even while an Arbitration case is pending, it is placed under indefinite full protection, pending resolution of this case either by motion or Arbitration finding. No administrator may lift this protection without the express permission of the Arbitration Committee.
I think this is the only way forward pending acceptance by the Arbitration Committee. Steven Zhang The clock is ticking.... 22:57, 5 August 2011 (UTC)
@Ohms law, I've only added parties to this case that I noticed contributed a bit to the MedCab, or on talk pages. It's not intended to drag users into the dispute that don't belong in it, and that can be sorted out by the clerks or arbitrators. Steven Zhang The clock is ticking.... 03:16, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
I have not been involved with the issue of the title of the pro-choice/ pro-life articles. Honestly, I think something along the lines of User:Ryan Postlethwaite/Mediation-Arbitration Referrals Subcommittee or Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Macedonia 2 is necessary to solve that, as it's getting kind of ridiculous right now.
Steve also mentions the dispute over the lead sentence of
Abortion, which I am far more familiar with, as it has wasted hours of my life allowed me to gain invaluable insight in how to find quality reliable sources. Despite the rather
ridiculous amounts of edit warring we have seen over the last two months, I think that the editors who have not been pushed away from the article have come to a rough agreement on the article. Hopefully. I don't think review by the Arbitration Committee would hurt a great deal, but neither do I think it's entirely necessary at this time.
NW (
Talk) 02:57, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
I'm not familiar with arbitration, so forgive me if I'm not supposed to make a statement. I filed the request for formal mediation. The fight over the titles has dragged on for six months now ( [6] [7] [8]), with three move proposals and an informal mediation. I would like to note that the initial proposal at pro-life resulted in what seemed to be, to me at least, a clear consensus to keep the title of pro-life. Requests were opened again and again by people who favored changing the title. This was highly disruptive; they were pushing the issue until they got the result they wanted. Now here we are. Again, I don't know how arbitration works so I don't know if this is a better or proper solution as opposed to formal mediation. I just want to draw attention to how we got here. NYyankees51 ( talk) 03:57, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
1. Yes, it is primarily about the titles of the articles. Though I'm not sure why the Abortion article, where there is a dispute about the lead sentence, was included in this request, since that is a different issue involving mostly different editors.
2. Yes, at Talk:Opposition to the legalization of abortion#Issues with new title, Talk:Opposition to the legalization of abortion#Do reliable sources really avoid "pro-life"?, Talk:Support for the legalisation of abortion#New title, and Wikipedia:Requests for mediation/Opposition to the legalisation of abortion.
3. I'm not familiar with the arbitration process, so I won't try to answer.
4. I still think we can accomplish something at the formal mediation. The only problem is editor fatigue. But again, I'm not too familiar with arbitration. I don't think editor conduct is the issue. Things have gotten heated, though there has been nothing exceedingly improper. So if arbitration is going to focus on editor conduct, I don't think it's a good solution. NYyankees51 ( talk) 19:22, 4 August 2011 (UTC)
I don't especially care about the titles of Wikipedia articles, except where a title can be extraordinarily misleading. "Pro-Life" appears to be such a title (per the definition of "hypocrisy"), and I will now explain why, an argument that so far as I know is generally unknown...it is categorized as "Original Research" here.
Getting back to the overall topic of this Request Page, I want to clearly indicate that however it finally closes, the titles of all the appropriate abortion-related articles need to be locked down in such a way that anyone who wants to change them should be directed to some sort of Final Decision page, where it is clearly stated that no other input will be accepted regarding title-changes (unless something truly extraordinary and relevant happens outside of Wikipedia). Thank you! V ( talk) 06:48, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
Agree with Floquenbeam and Casliber that 0RR is a terrible idea. Even 1RR cuts with one edge as it heals with the other: it helps cut down on edit wars, but it means that even the most ludicrously POV stuff can't always be reverted. Would it be a good idea to elect a team of respected and experienced editors to help deal with content issues? Roscelese ( talk ⋅ contribs) 04:07, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
Unfortunately I think this is the right venue. I looked at my talk page initially and saw the message pointing here first and was about to urge you to decline but I've changed my mind.
Its obvious to anyone who is prepared to take a step back that pro-life and pro-choice have POV issues and that even though the new titles aren't perfect they are better as they meet that. Its also obvious that WP:NPOV takes priority over WP:COMMONNAME and its pretty clear from the extensive data gathered in the mediation cabal case that WP:POVTITLE doesn't apply in this case. Overall Chase me I'm the cavalry made an excellent closing statement on the matter and I am fully satisfied by it.
I honestly don't see what formal mediation can do to improve the decision that has already been made other than waste a huge amount of time. Given that other people seem to continue to want to revisit this I think Arbcom is the right venue. -- Eraserhead1 < talk> 07:28, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
I think Arbcom involvement is appropriate. I agree with Eraserhead1 and Steven Zhang. I largely dropped out of this issue earlier in the year and won't participate any further. DeCausa ( talk) 09:35, 5 August 2011 (UTC)
NYYankees51 is essentially right on all points. What has happened is a group of idealogues has pushed their political agenda for about 8 months now. After failing a few times to get the pro-life article moved, they tried again through a mediation process. Despite the fact that the old titles are about as NPOV as the others, and despite the overwhelming evidence of WP:Commonname, and despite the fact that the current titles are highly inaccurate and unwieldly, many people joined the POV-pushers merely as a way to end the endless debates. That is not how Wikipedia should work. We should not allow a small group of people to circumvent WP procedures and policies to get their way at the expense of a clear and precise encyclopedia. Many, like myself, have become disillusioned with the process and have removed themselves from it. LedRush ( talk) 14:25, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
That the parties now trying immediately to overturn the informal mediation outcome had agreed to that process in the first place is very problematic. What's more, they are doing this by severely misrepresenting the informal mediation discussion and its closing. They claim that policies such as WP:commonname were either ignored (they weren't, in both debate and closing), that there was never reasonable challenge made to the evidence backing up a commonname claim for "pro-life" (there was), and that the issue of a descriptive title (what they call "invented") was never addressed, when it was. The evidence against pro-life as a common name (major mainstream media stylebooks reject it as POV) was clearly substantial enough to at least be taken into consideration by those interested in mediation, even if it was ultimately rejected. But it was neither critiqued nor disputed. It was simply ignored, over and over again. Comments in there and on other pages lead me to believe that there was little intention on the part of a few editors ever to accept a mediated outcome that did not end in precisely what they wanted. I am also concerned that one or two editors seem pretty open about editing wikipedia for POV purposes (something also mentioned in the closing). This is not a healthy state of affairs. VsevolodKrolikov ( talk) 15:45, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
As far as I can see, it's basically about the titles.
Yes, insofar as the problem is the continued distraction of editors from building content and the raising of wikistress levels. Discussion on the dispute has continued in various places. However, there was a whole month to get out all the issues in mediation; these subsequent discussions are inevitably a rehash of that mediation. Once we get past issues of not hearing, I think it boils down to (a) the extent to which NPOV is primary in article titling (including the use of descriptive titles to meet NPOV) and (b) the threshold and quality of evidence needed to establish the existence of a "common name", and the interplay between (a) and (b). That will just go round and round in circles until a binding process establishes an outcome. (The mediation process that addressed these issues and found consensus has been rejected by a number of editors who had originally agreed to that process.)
I think so. I do think removing the issue from Wikipedia would allow everyone to contribute to building the encyclopedia both in this topic area and elsewhere. Given the manner of the rejection of the mediation closing by some parties, I am not persuaded that further prolonged mediation attempts will do the encyclopedia or the community any good.
A motion, absolutely. As can be witnessed by the comments from named parties in the request for formal mediation, people are getting tired and frustrated over disputes on this single issue. Trust is breaking down, and that needs to be nipped in the bud as soon as possible. VsevolodKrolikov ( talk) 23:09, 4 August 2011 (UTC)
I'm not at all clear what Steven Zhang is proposing here. This forum addresses conduct problems, right? Is SZ proposing that the Arbitration Committee review the conduct of all 62 listed editors for edit-warring? The proposal seems very vaguely stated. -- Kenatipo speak! 17:21, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
So, what Steven Zhang is proposing is that the listed 19 editors be investigated by an ArbCom committee for edit-warring and ... saying things on talk pages and at informal Mediation that hurt other people's feelings???? -- Kenatipo speak! 04:27, 4 August 2011 (UTC)
It looks like we have 2 issues:
1. Did Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry properly close the informal Mediation Cabal on changing the name of the
Pro-life movement article? No, he didn't, and Born2cycle's statement gives the reasons.
2. Steven Zhang would like the conduct of 19 18 editors investigated: "Generally, the Arbitration Committee will review the the background to the disputes brought to RFAR, as well as evidence presented. Conduct by users is also investigated, with issues such as edit warring, personal attacks, or using Wikipedia as a soapbox or battleground, as well as being unable to be objective and neutral are considered. If they find reason that these issues are causing significant issues on the articles these users edit, they may impose topic bans, prohibiting the users from editing articles related to the dispute. At times they impose site bans, prohibiting editing anywhere on the Wikipedia project, and sometimes they impose discretionary sanctions on articles related to the conflict, so in future if issues remarries administrators can take action to solve these issues. Arbcom does a lot of discussion and thought before imposing these measures, and generally only as a last resort or when in Wikipepdia's best interests." My only comment about this proposed witch hunt is that it looks like somebody's feelings got hurt. --
Kenatipo
speak! 15:54, 4 August 2011 (UTC)
I don't know the difference between arbitration and mediation or what is the proper venue or what. I pretty much care about one thing, and that is this: I want the article titles for these two articles to be settled and locked in, so that people will spend their time improving the articles instead of wasting time arguing about the titles. Beyond that, I think it would be nice if the titles were parallel (Anti-abortion/Abortion rights, or Pro-life/Pro-choice, or even Steven's well-intentioned if inelegant solution). But, for the record, I still believe the best solution to this would be that made by User:DeCausa back on May 1 [9] to unite these two articles into Abortion debate, thus ending this mess fairly and equitably. HuskyHuskie ( talk) 02:49, 4 August 2011 (UTC)
Hello I must be going, so I'll chime in briefly. Regarding the article naming issue, I hope ArbCom will not finalize or otherwise salute the results of the informal mediation, which ended up (perhaps inadvertently) characterizing one side of the issue as unsupportive naysayers. [10] Regarding sanctions at the abortion article, they were imposed without any notice or discussion at the abortion talk page, and have been enforced selectively and unfairly. [11] [12]. Finally, regarding the abortion article, I hope to address the issue of censorship soon; we had a huge RFC in 2009 about how to show readers what is aborted in a typical abortion, and subsequently this non-bloody image was in the article for over a year. This image was removed without consensus this summer via edit-warring, in no small part because of POV typified by the following remark by an editor who was involved at that article: "It's just a bunch of fucking cells you sanctimonious obsessive little fuck." [13]. Hopefully that editor is recuperatimg nicely from recent surgery. Normal Wikipedia articles include pertinent images, and we all know that Wikipedia has leaned over backward in this regard. Anyway, I hope this helps ArbCom as you try to see the big picture. Anythingyouwant ( talk) 00:38, 5 August 2011 (UTC)
The way I saw it, the mediation cabal result was really only a temporary solution to get away from the unacceptable situation of unparallel titles created by User:Anthony Appleyard. I still have not seen any good arguments for abandoning using a common name titles, other than to make the sort of compromise specifically advised against at WP:TITLECHANGES. I think it has been credibly shown by VsevolodKrolikov that the terms "Pro-life" and "Pro-choice" are avoided by high quality sources, especially major news outlets, because of partisan nature of the terms. But I just do not see how that gets one to the conclusion that we must therefore invent our own terms for describing this subject. Rather I think the logical conclusion must then be that we use the terms high quality sources use instead, and the AP Stylebook advises that we should "anti-abortion" instead of "pro-life" and "abortion rights" instead of "pro-choice" ( [14], page 5). Clearly these terms are viewed as neutral by reliable sources, and in that case I do not think we should give any weight to personal opinions of editors on what is neutral. Especially not given the high proportion of editors involved here who do not even attempt to look at this issue in a disinterested fashion. TheFreeloader ( talk) 16:15, 13 August 2011 (UTC)
However, I think the driving precedent in this case is more likely to be Ireland article names than Macedonia given the stability issue about how the dispute is framed in the first place. — Coren (talk) 13:31, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
All numbering based on /Proposed decision, where vote counts and comments are also available.
1) The purpose of Wikipedia is to create a high-quality, free-content online encyclopedia. This is best achieved in an atmosphere of collegiality, camaraderie, and mutual respect among contributors. Use of the site for other purposes, such as advocacy or propaganda, the furtherance of outside conflicts, publishing or promoting original research, and political or ideological struggle, is prohibited.
2) All Wikipedia articles must be written from a neutral point of view, with all relevant points of view represented in reasonable proportion to their importance and relevance to the subject-matter of the article. Undue weight should not be given to aspects which are peripheral to the topic. Relying on synthesized claims, or other "original research", is also contrary to this principle.
3) Wikipedia articles should be based on reliable, published secondary sources and, to a lesser extent, on tertiary sources. Secondary or tertiary sources are needed to establish the topic's notability and to avoid novel interpretations of primary sources, though primary sources are permitted if used carefully. Material based purely on primary sources should be avoided. All interpretive claims, analyses, or synthetic claims about primary sources must be referenced to a secondary source, rather than original analysis of the primary-source material by Wikipedia editors.
4) Misuse of sourcing guidelines by editors in a field is highly problematic. This is so not least because it can throw all past contributions to the area into question. Reviewing past contributions for compliance with sourcing guidelines can be extremely time-consuming and is hence a considerable drain on editor time and resources.
5) Wikipedia works by building consensus through the use of polite discussion—involving the wider community, if necessary—and dispute resolution, rather than through disruptive editing. Editors are each responsible for noticing when a debate is escalating into an edit war, and for helping the debate move to better approaches by discussing their differences rationally. This applies to any and all pages on Wikipedia, from articles to templates to project space.
6) Wikipedia editors are expected to behave reasonably, calmly, and courteously in their interactions with other editors; to approach even difficult situations in a dignified fashion and with a constructive and collaborative outlook; and to avoid acting in a manner that brings the project into disrepute. Unseemly conduct, such as personal attacks, incivility, assumptions of bad faith, harassment, disruptive point-making, and gaming the system, is prohibited.
7) Disagreements concerning article content are to be resolved by seeking to build consensus through the use of polite discussion. The dispute resolution process is designed to assist consensus-building when normal talk page communication has not worked, or when discussion has broken down. When there is a good-faith dispute, editors are expected to participate in the consensus-building process through discussion, collaboration and consideration, rather than simply edit-warring back-and-forth to competing versions. Sustained editorial conflict and using the dispute resolution processes to game the system is not an appropriate way of resolving conduct disputes.
8) Wikipedia is a reference work, not a battlefield. Each and every user is expected to interact with others civilly, calmly, and in a spirit of cooperation. Open discussion is encouraged in every area of the encyclopedia, as it is only by discussion that cooperation is possible. However, certain types of discourse – in particular, personal attacks – are not only discouraged but forbidden because they create a toxic atmosphere and thwart the building of consensus. For this reason, editors are expected to comment on the edits, not on the editor. Editors with concerns about other editors should use the community's dispute resolution processes calmly and civilly to resolve their differences rather than repeatedly engaging in strident personalised criticism in multiple forums. Editors who are unable to resolve their differences should seek to minimize the extent of any unnecessary interactions between them and, in extreme cases, may be directed to do so.
9) Edit warring, whether by reversion or otherwise, is prohibited; this is so even when the disputed content is clearly problematic, with very limited exceptions. The three-revert rule does not entitle users to revert a page three times each day, nor does it endorse reverting as an editing technique.
10) 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 on a subject, nor for proposing unpublished solutions, forwarding original ideas, redefining terms, and so forth (see Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not#Wikipedia is not a publisher of original thought). Although more general discussion may be permissible in some circumstances, it will not be tolerated when it becomes tendentious, overwhelms the page, impedes productive work, or is otherwise disruptive.
11) Wikipedia's policies and guidelines are meant to codify existing best practices. While edits to policy pages are often prompted by specific editing experiences, it is inappropriate to alter policy pages to further one's position in a specific dispute.
12) Single purpose accounts and editors who hold a strong personal viewpoint on a particular topic covered within Wikipedia 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.
13) In accordance with WP:LEAD, the opening paragraphs of a Wikipedia article should be an "introduction to the article and a summary of its most important aspects", "able to stand alone as a concise overview", and "written in a clear, accessible style with a neutral point of view to invite a reading of the full article." While the lead of an article, or its first sentence in particular, is an important facet of an article to improve, improvements to the lead of an article should fundamentally flow from the content of the article, itself compliant with Wikipedia content policies, and not from efforts to advance any particular point of view.
14) While many articles deal solely with scientific content or with philosophical/religious content, many public policy topics, including abortion, involve both descriptions of scientifically observable facts and religious or philosophical reactions to those observable findings. In order for a topic to be covered in an encyclopedic fashion, each sort of source must be used appropriately in such an article. Care must be taken with weighting and appropriate use of sources, such as avoiding undue prominence in the lead section or elsewhere.
16) Subsequent attempts at discussion of a topic previously settled by community discussion are often initiated by those not initially achieving their desired outcome. Those satisfied with the previous outcome are less likely to re-engage in subsequent discussions, creating an inappropriate bias toward change in subsequent discussions of the topic.
17) It is not the role of the Arbitration Committee to settle good-faith content disputes among editors.
18) The occurrence of protracted, apparently insoluble disputes—whether they involve conduct, content, or policy—is contrary to the purposes of the project and damaging to its health. The chief purpose of the Arbitration Committee is to protect the project from the disruption caused by such disputes, and it has the authority to issue binding resolutions in keeping with that purpose. The Committee has traditionally concentrated its attention on conduct disputes, and has avoided issuing binding rulings that would directly resolve matters of content or policy, leaving those questions to the community at large. However, in cases where the community has proven unable to resolve those questions using the methods normally available to it, and where the lack of resolution results in unacceptable disruption to the project, the Committee may impose an exceptional method for reaching a decision.
1) This case addresses longstanding disputes regarding editing of articles on the topic-area of abortion. Specific disputes in this area have included at least three separate areas:
2) Since 26 February, 2011, the entire topic area has been placed under discretionary sanctions by the community: ANI discussion Before the commencement of this case, 7 editors had been sanctioned: Log, including User:WikiManOne/ User:BelloWello who has been banned from the encyclopedia for disruption.
3) During the period of time under review, at least one sockpuppet of a previously banned user had been contributing to the discussion at Talk:Abortion in violation of that ban. (cf. Talk:Abortion/Archive_43)
5) User:Michael C Price has been repeatedly uncivil on Talk:Abortion: [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21].
6) User:Gandydancer has repeatedly used uncivil hyperbole and sarcasm in discussions at Talk:Abortion: [22], [23], [24].
7) Anythingyouwant, under his previous username Ferrylodge, has been previously sanctioned by the Arbitration Committee in November 2007 for his involvement in Abortion-related disputes. The basis for this included disruptive editing at pregnancy and abortion related articles. [25] [26] He has manipulated sources to present a POV contra sourcing guidelines. [27] He has edited the page on consensus on July 10 [28], giving the reason for an article he edited that day (presumably abortion which was the only contentious one [29], and then referred to it-as-policy 20 days later, hence manipulating policy pages to further a point in a dispute. [30] The policy change was removed by KillerChihuahua. [31]
8) NYyankees has engaged in an exchange that suggests a battlefield mentality. [32]
9) Geremia ( talk · contribs) has edit-warred [33] [34], in one case edit-warring to keep material at odds with secondary sources [35] in violation of medical article sourcing policies, and elsewhere pushed for sourcing at variance with sourcing guidelines in medical articles [36] (namely pitting primary sources against secondary sources), and used tagging inappropriately [37]. For a fuller explanation see Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Abortion/Evidence#Evidence_presented_by_NuclearWarfare.
10) DMSBel ( talk · contribs) has tendentiously edited abortion-related pages. He has engaged in a battlefield mentality, [38] [39] [40] including edit warring [41] [42], and tendentious editing on the talk page, [43] with a total of 686 edits to talk:abortion between June and September 2011. [44] DMSBel ( talk · contribs) has a history of tendentious editing on topics related to human sexuality, leading to a community topic ban from those areas in January 2011. [45]
11) Haymaker ( talk · contribs) has edited disruptively in topics related to abortion (see block log [46])
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 articles and corresponding talk pages relating to Abortion shall be semi-protected for a period of three years from the conclusion of this case, such that no non-autoconfirmed editor (including IP address editors) shall edit them. Editors in good standing who wish to edit such topics under a single additional account not linked to their identity may do so under the provisions of WP:SOCK#LEGIT and WP:SOCK#NOTIFY.
2.1) Administrators are instructed to only move or rename pages relating to the topic of abortion (broadly construed) in the presence of a demonstrable community consensus (such as the result of a proper Requested Move discussion).
3) Because of the controversial nature of the subject and the history of editing disputes, editors of abortion-related topics are reminded to adhere to this site's best practices. All editors are reminded that whatever their personal beliefs, their participation on this project is contingent on compliance with this site's policies. All editors are asked to review their own participation to ensure that it remains constructive and focused on the production of a neutral reference work rather than on promoting a specific agenda.
Superseded version
|
---|
4.1) Discretionary sanctions:
Standard discretionary sanctions are authorized for all pages†
|
4.1) Abortion, broadly construed, is designated as a contentious topic.
5.1) A structured discussion on the names of the Opposition to the legalization of abortion and Support for the legalization of abortion articles shall begin† following the conclusion of this case and continue for one month thereafter. During that time, editors should collect systematic evidence of the frequency with which various names for these topics are used in various English-speaking countries, as well as any other material which is relevant to the appropriateness of any proposed title, and present that evidence in an organised, structured and easy to navigate manner.
After one month has elapsed from the conclusion of this case, a community vote† on the titles for the articles in question will begin. Voters shall be asked to digest the presented evidence and its relation to Wikipedia's article naming policies, and to offer their opinion on the titles to be used. The vote will be coordinated by one or more administrators† appointed by the Committee. The vote will remain open for two months, and its result will be binding for a period of three years from the date it concludes.
6.1) Because Orangemarlin has been unable to participate in this arbitration, including answering findings of fact about his editing in the topic-area of Abortion, potential remedies are suspended until he returns to editing. He is instructed to contact the Arbitration Committee upon his return and before participating in the topic area.
7) Michael C Price is indefinitely topic-banned from abortion-related pages, broadly construed. This sanction may be appealed in one year.
8) Gandydancer is advised to subdue the tone of comments in heated discussions.
9) Anythingyouwant ( talk · contribs) is indefinitely topic-banned from abortion-related pages, broadly construed.
10.1)
Haymaker (
talk ·
contribs) is indefinitely topic-banned from abortion-related pages, broadly construed. This sanction may be appealed in one year.
11) NYyankees51 ( talk · contribs) is reminded to maintain a collegial and non-adversarial manner in posting in what is a very delicate topic area.
12) Geremia ( talk · contribs) is indefinitely topic-banned from abortion-related pages, broadly construed.
13) DMSBel ( talk · contribs) is indefinitely topic-banned from abortion-related pages, broadly construed.
0) Should any user subject to a restriction in this case violate that restriction, that user may be blocked, initially for up to one month, and then with blocks increasing in duration to a maximum of one year.
0) Appeals and modifications
|
---|
This procedure applies to appeals related to, and modifications of, actions taken by administrators to enforce the Committee's remedies. It does not apply to appeals related to the remedies directly enacted by the Committee.
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:
No administrator may modify or remove a sanction placed by another administrator without:
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:
|
Any uninvolved administrator may semi-protect articles relating to Abortion and their corresponding talk pages, at his or her discretion, for a period of up to three years from 7 December 2011. Pages semi-protected under this provision are to be logged.
The indefinite topic-ban of Haymaker ( talk · contribs) from the abortion-related pages is lifted.
The one-revert restriction on all articles related to abortion, authorized by the community here and modified by the Arbitration Committee in the Abortion arbitration case, is formally taken over by the committee and vacated. Discretionary sanctions remain authorized for all pages related to abortion, broadly construed.
21) Each reference to the prior discretionary sanctions procedure shall be treated as a reference to the contentious topics procedure. The arbitration clerks are directed to amend all existing remedies authorizing discretionary sanctions to instead designate contentious topics.
Any block, restriction, ban, or sanction performed under the authorisation of a remedy for this case must be logged at Wikipedia:Arbitration enforcement log, not here.
old |
---|
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it. |
Log any block, restriction, ban, article/talk page semiprotection, or extension under any remedy in this decision here. Minimum information includes name of administrator, date and time, what was done and the rationale for doing it. Inherited from community-imposed sanctions
Since case closurePage protections
Other sanctions
|
Case clerk: Penwhale ( Talk) Drafting arbitrators: Jclemens ( Talk) & Coren ( Talk)
Wikipedia Arbitration |
---|
|
Track related changes |
Case Opened on 04:54, 12 August 2011 (UTC)
Case Closed on 03:57, 28 November 2011 (UTC)
Case amended by motion on 12:06, 6 December 2011 (UTC)
Case amended by motion on 16:58, 22 September 2020 (UTC)
Case amended by motion on 21:36, 14 December 2022 (UTC)
Please do not edit this page directly unless you are either 1) an Arbitrator, 2) an Arbitration Clerk, or 3) adding yourself to this case. Statements on this page are original comments provided when the Committee was initially requested to Arbitrate this page (at Requests for arbitration), and serve as opening statements; as such, they should not be altered. Any evidence you wish to provide to the Arbitrators should go on the /Evidence subpage.
Arbitrators, the parties, and other editors may suggest proposed principles, findings, and remedies at /Workshop. That page may also be used for general comments on the evidence. Arbitrators will then vote on a final decision in the case at /Proposed decision.
Once the case is closed, editors may add to the #Log of blocks, bans, restrictions, and semiprotections as needed, but this page should not be edited otherwise. Please raise any questions at Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration#Requests for clarification, and report violations of remedies at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Arbitration enforcement.
I am presenting this case to the Arbitration Committee, as I have unfortunately done so in the past after a mediation (see Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Lapsed_Pacifist_2. I don't do this lightly (I hate RFAR) however I feel it's the only way forward in this situation, and in the best interests of the community, as the general sanctions these articles are under have been ineffective. This would encompass all abortion articles, however mainly the Abortion article, and the recently renamed (as a result of the Mediation Cabal case) Support for the legalisation of abortion and Opposition to the legalisation of abortion. It seems to me that while there are still niggly content issues with the articles, the major player is is user conduct. In my opinion as a mediator, the reason things aren't progressing is due to polarised opinions on the matter. This isn't something that can be resolved through discussion and consensus building. I feel that the conduct of all parties needs to be reviewed, and remedies implemented to provide long term stability to the articles. Edit warring has been an issue, with editors doing one revert a day to get around 1RR, so a temporary injunction to address this for the term of this arbitration case should maybe be looked at. Steven Zhang The clock is ticking.... 02:49, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
Note: Since this RFAR has been filed, a slow-mo edit war has continued at the Abortion article. While not in violation of 1RR, these edits continue to be made. Because of polarised views, talk page discussion is having little or no success. Please see the diffs I have provided, where in the lead sometimes is changed to the word usually, changed from usually to may be, and in a separate issue, before birth changed to other than birth, other than birth changed back to before birth, and again changed from before birth to other than birth. This is part of the reason why I initially proposed 0RR as a temporary injunction, though I realise the scope was too broad. A temporary injunction needs to be implemented here. There are users making these edits that are not listed as parties, so an injunction topic banning all listed parties from editing articles related to Abortion would be ineffective. The same applies to restricting listed parties to 0RR on abortion articles until the case is accepted, or resolved via motion. The only workable solution I can think of is full protection until a resolution is made on this case, whether by motion or acceptance of the case.
1) Due to continued edit warring on the Abortion article [1] [2] [3] [4] [5], even while an Arbitration case is pending, it is placed under indefinite full protection, pending resolution of this case either by motion or Arbitration finding. No administrator may lift this protection without the express permission of the Arbitration Committee.
I think this is the only way forward pending acceptance by the Arbitration Committee. Steven Zhang The clock is ticking.... 22:57, 5 August 2011 (UTC)
@Ohms law, I've only added parties to this case that I noticed contributed a bit to the MedCab, or on talk pages. It's not intended to drag users into the dispute that don't belong in it, and that can be sorted out by the clerks or arbitrators. Steven Zhang The clock is ticking.... 03:16, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
I have not been involved with the issue of the title of the pro-choice/ pro-life articles. Honestly, I think something along the lines of User:Ryan Postlethwaite/Mediation-Arbitration Referrals Subcommittee or Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Macedonia 2 is necessary to solve that, as it's getting kind of ridiculous right now.
Steve also mentions the dispute over the lead sentence of
Abortion, which I am far more familiar with, as it has wasted hours of my life allowed me to gain invaluable insight in how to find quality reliable sources. Despite the rather
ridiculous amounts of edit warring we have seen over the last two months, I think that the editors who have not been pushed away from the article have come to a rough agreement on the article. Hopefully. I don't think review by the Arbitration Committee would hurt a great deal, but neither do I think it's entirely necessary at this time.
NW (
Talk) 02:57, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
I'm not familiar with arbitration, so forgive me if I'm not supposed to make a statement. I filed the request for formal mediation. The fight over the titles has dragged on for six months now ( [6] [7] [8]), with three move proposals and an informal mediation. I would like to note that the initial proposal at pro-life resulted in what seemed to be, to me at least, a clear consensus to keep the title of pro-life. Requests were opened again and again by people who favored changing the title. This was highly disruptive; they were pushing the issue until they got the result they wanted. Now here we are. Again, I don't know how arbitration works so I don't know if this is a better or proper solution as opposed to formal mediation. I just want to draw attention to how we got here. NYyankees51 ( talk) 03:57, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
1. Yes, it is primarily about the titles of the articles. Though I'm not sure why the Abortion article, where there is a dispute about the lead sentence, was included in this request, since that is a different issue involving mostly different editors.
2. Yes, at Talk:Opposition to the legalization of abortion#Issues with new title, Talk:Opposition to the legalization of abortion#Do reliable sources really avoid "pro-life"?, Talk:Support for the legalisation of abortion#New title, and Wikipedia:Requests for mediation/Opposition to the legalisation of abortion.
3. I'm not familiar with the arbitration process, so I won't try to answer.
4. I still think we can accomplish something at the formal mediation. The only problem is editor fatigue. But again, I'm not too familiar with arbitration. I don't think editor conduct is the issue. Things have gotten heated, though there has been nothing exceedingly improper. So if arbitration is going to focus on editor conduct, I don't think it's a good solution. NYyankees51 ( talk) 19:22, 4 August 2011 (UTC)
I don't especially care about the titles of Wikipedia articles, except where a title can be extraordinarily misleading. "Pro-Life" appears to be such a title (per the definition of "hypocrisy"), and I will now explain why, an argument that so far as I know is generally unknown...it is categorized as "Original Research" here.
Getting back to the overall topic of this Request Page, I want to clearly indicate that however it finally closes, the titles of all the appropriate abortion-related articles need to be locked down in such a way that anyone who wants to change them should be directed to some sort of Final Decision page, where it is clearly stated that no other input will be accepted regarding title-changes (unless something truly extraordinary and relevant happens outside of Wikipedia). Thank you! V ( talk) 06:48, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
Agree with Floquenbeam and Casliber that 0RR is a terrible idea. Even 1RR cuts with one edge as it heals with the other: it helps cut down on edit wars, but it means that even the most ludicrously POV stuff can't always be reverted. Would it be a good idea to elect a team of respected and experienced editors to help deal with content issues? Roscelese ( talk ⋅ contribs) 04:07, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
Unfortunately I think this is the right venue. I looked at my talk page initially and saw the message pointing here first and was about to urge you to decline but I've changed my mind.
Its obvious to anyone who is prepared to take a step back that pro-life and pro-choice have POV issues and that even though the new titles aren't perfect they are better as they meet that. Its also obvious that WP:NPOV takes priority over WP:COMMONNAME and its pretty clear from the extensive data gathered in the mediation cabal case that WP:POVTITLE doesn't apply in this case. Overall Chase me I'm the cavalry made an excellent closing statement on the matter and I am fully satisfied by it.
I honestly don't see what formal mediation can do to improve the decision that has already been made other than waste a huge amount of time. Given that other people seem to continue to want to revisit this I think Arbcom is the right venue. -- Eraserhead1 < talk> 07:28, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
I think Arbcom involvement is appropriate. I agree with Eraserhead1 and Steven Zhang. I largely dropped out of this issue earlier in the year and won't participate any further. DeCausa ( talk) 09:35, 5 August 2011 (UTC)
NYYankees51 is essentially right on all points. What has happened is a group of idealogues has pushed their political agenda for about 8 months now. After failing a few times to get the pro-life article moved, they tried again through a mediation process. Despite the fact that the old titles are about as NPOV as the others, and despite the overwhelming evidence of WP:Commonname, and despite the fact that the current titles are highly inaccurate and unwieldly, many people joined the POV-pushers merely as a way to end the endless debates. That is not how Wikipedia should work. We should not allow a small group of people to circumvent WP procedures and policies to get their way at the expense of a clear and precise encyclopedia. Many, like myself, have become disillusioned with the process and have removed themselves from it. LedRush ( talk) 14:25, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
That the parties now trying immediately to overturn the informal mediation outcome had agreed to that process in the first place is very problematic. What's more, they are doing this by severely misrepresenting the informal mediation discussion and its closing. They claim that policies such as WP:commonname were either ignored (they weren't, in both debate and closing), that there was never reasonable challenge made to the evidence backing up a commonname claim for "pro-life" (there was), and that the issue of a descriptive title (what they call "invented") was never addressed, when it was. The evidence against pro-life as a common name (major mainstream media stylebooks reject it as POV) was clearly substantial enough to at least be taken into consideration by those interested in mediation, even if it was ultimately rejected. But it was neither critiqued nor disputed. It was simply ignored, over and over again. Comments in there and on other pages lead me to believe that there was little intention on the part of a few editors ever to accept a mediated outcome that did not end in precisely what they wanted. I am also concerned that one or two editors seem pretty open about editing wikipedia for POV purposes (something also mentioned in the closing). This is not a healthy state of affairs. VsevolodKrolikov ( talk) 15:45, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
As far as I can see, it's basically about the titles.
Yes, insofar as the problem is the continued distraction of editors from building content and the raising of wikistress levels. Discussion on the dispute has continued in various places. However, there was a whole month to get out all the issues in mediation; these subsequent discussions are inevitably a rehash of that mediation. Once we get past issues of not hearing, I think it boils down to (a) the extent to which NPOV is primary in article titling (including the use of descriptive titles to meet NPOV) and (b) the threshold and quality of evidence needed to establish the existence of a "common name", and the interplay between (a) and (b). That will just go round and round in circles until a binding process establishes an outcome. (The mediation process that addressed these issues and found consensus has been rejected by a number of editors who had originally agreed to that process.)
I think so. I do think removing the issue from Wikipedia would allow everyone to contribute to building the encyclopedia both in this topic area and elsewhere. Given the manner of the rejection of the mediation closing by some parties, I am not persuaded that further prolonged mediation attempts will do the encyclopedia or the community any good.
A motion, absolutely. As can be witnessed by the comments from named parties in the request for formal mediation, people are getting tired and frustrated over disputes on this single issue. Trust is breaking down, and that needs to be nipped in the bud as soon as possible. VsevolodKrolikov ( talk) 23:09, 4 August 2011 (UTC)
I'm not at all clear what Steven Zhang is proposing here. This forum addresses conduct problems, right? Is SZ proposing that the Arbitration Committee review the conduct of all 62 listed editors for edit-warring? The proposal seems very vaguely stated. -- Kenatipo speak! 17:21, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
So, what Steven Zhang is proposing is that the listed 19 editors be investigated by an ArbCom committee for edit-warring and ... saying things on talk pages and at informal Mediation that hurt other people's feelings???? -- Kenatipo speak! 04:27, 4 August 2011 (UTC)
It looks like we have 2 issues:
1. Did Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry properly close the informal Mediation Cabal on changing the name of the
Pro-life movement article? No, he didn't, and Born2cycle's statement gives the reasons.
2. Steven Zhang would like the conduct of 19 18 editors investigated: "Generally, the Arbitration Committee will review the the background to the disputes brought to RFAR, as well as evidence presented. Conduct by users is also investigated, with issues such as edit warring, personal attacks, or using Wikipedia as a soapbox or battleground, as well as being unable to be objective and neutral are considered. If they find reason that these issues are causing significant issues on the articles these users edit, they may impose topic bans, prohibiting the users from editing articles related to the dispute. At times they impose site bans, prohibiting editing anywhere on the Wikipedia project, and sometimes they impose discretionary sanctions on articles related to the conflict, so in future if issues remarries administrators can take action to solve these issues. Arbcom does a lot of discussion and thought before imposing these measures, and generally only as a last resort or when in Wikipepdia's best interests." My only comment about this proposed witch hunt is that it looks like somebody's feelings got hurt. --
Kenatipo
speak! 15:54, 4 August 2011 (UTC)
I don't know the difference between arbitration and mediation or what is the proper venue or what. I pretty much care about one thing, and that is this: I want the article titles for these two articles to be settled and locked in, so that people will spend their time improving the articles instead of wasting time arguing about the titles. Beyond that, I think it would be nice if the titles were parallel (Anti-abortion/Abortion rights, or Pro-life/Pro-choice, or even Steven's well-intentioned if inelegant solution). But, for the record, I still believe the best solution to this would be that made by User:DeCausa back on May 1 [9] to unite these two articles into Abortion debate, thus ending this mess fairly and equitably. HuskyHuskie ( talk) 02:49, 4 August 2011 (UTC)
Hello I must be going, so I'll chime in briefly. Regarding the article naming issue, I hope ArbCom will not finalize or otherwise salute the results of the informal mediation, which ended up (perhaps inadvertently) characterizing one side of the issue as unsupportive naysayers. [10] Regarding sanctions at the abortion article, they were imposed without any notice or discussion at the abortion talk page, and have been enforced selectively and unfairly. [11] [12]. Finally, regarding the abortion article, I hope to address the issue of censorship soon; we had a huge RFC in 2009 about how to show readers what is aborted in a typical abortion, and subsequently this non-bloody image was in the article for over a year. This image was removed without consensus this summer via edit-warring, in no small part because of POV typified by the following remark by an editor who was involved at that article: "It's just a bunch of fucking cells you sanctimonious obsessive little fuck." [13]. Hopefully that editor is recuperatimg nicely from recent surgery. Normal Wikipedia articles include pertinent images, and we all know that Wikipedia has leaned over backward in this regard. Anyway, I hope this helps ArbCom as you try to see the big picture. Anythingyouwant ( talk) 00:38, 5 August 2011 (UTC)
The way I saw it, the mediation cabal result was really only a temporary solution to get away from the unacceptable situation of unparallel titles created by User:Anthony Appleyard. I still have not seen any good arguments for abandoning using a common name titles, other than to make the sort of compromise specifically advised against at WP:TITLECHANGES. I think it has been credibly shown by VsevolodKrolikov that the terms "Pro-life" and "Pro-choice" are avoided by high quality sources, especially major news outlets, because of partisan nature of the terms. But I just do not see how that gets one to the conclusion that we must therefore invent our own terms for describing this subject. Rather I think the logical conclusion must then be that we use the terms high quality sources use instead, and the AP Stylebook advises that we should "anti-abortion" instead of "pro-life" and "abortion rights" instead of "pro-choice" ( [14], page 5). Clearly these terms are viewed as neutral by reliable sources, and in that case I do not think we should give any weight to personal opinions of editors on what is neutral. Especially not given the high proportion of editors involved here who do not even attempt to look at this issue in a disinterested fashion. TheFreeloader ( talk) 16:15, 13 August 2011 (UTC)
However, I think the driving precedent in this case is more likely to be Ireland article names than Macedonia given the stability issue about how the dispute is framed in the first place. — Coren (talk) 13:31, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
All numbering based on /Proposed decision, where vote counts and comments are also available.
1) The purpose of Wikipedia is to create a high-quality, free-content online encyclopedia. This is best achieved in an atmosphere of collegiality, camaraderie, and mutual respect among contributors. Use of the site for other purposes, such as advocacy or propaganda, the furtherance of outside conflicts, publishing or promoting original research, and political or ideological struggle, is prohibited.
2) All Wikipedia articles must be written from a neutral point of view, with all relevant points of view represented in reasonable proportion to their importance and relevance to the subject-matter of the article. Undue weight should not be given to aspects which are peripheral to the topic. Relying on synthesized claims, or other "original research", is also contrary to this principle.
3) Wikipedia articles should be based on reliable, published secondary sources and, to a lesser extent, on tertiary sources. Secondary or tertiary sources are needed to establish the topic's notability and to avoid novel interpretations of primary sources, though primary sources are permitted if used carefully. Material based purely on primary sources should be avoided. All interpretive claims, analyses, or synthetic claims about primary sources must be referenced to a secondary source, rather than original analysis of the primary-source material by Wikipedia editors.
4) Misuse of sourcing guidelines by editors in a field is highly problematic. This is so not least because it can throw all past contributions to the area into question. Reviewing past contributions for compliance with sourcing guidelines can be extremely time-consuming and is hence a considerable drain on editor time and resources.
5) Wikipedia works by building consensus through the use of polite discussion—involving the wider community, if necessary—and dispute resolution, rather than through disruptive editing. Editors are each responsible for noticing when a debate is escalating into an edit war, and for helping the debate move to better approaches by discussing their differences rationally. This applies to any and all pages on Wikipedia, from articles to templates to project space.
6) Wikipedia editors are expected to behave reasonably, calmly, and courteously in their interactions with other editors; to approach even difficult situations in a dignified fashion and with a constructive and collaborative outlook; and to avoid acting in a manner that brings the project into disrepute. Unseemly conduct, such as personal attacks, incivility, assumptions of bad faith, harassment, disruptive point-making, and gaming the system, is prohibited.
7) Disagreements concerning article content are to be resolved by seeking to build consensus through the use of polite discussion. The dispute resolution process is designed to assist consensus-building when normal talk page communication has not worked, or when discussion has broken down. When there is a good-faith dispute, editors are expected to participate in the consensus-building process through discussion, collaboration and consideration, rather than simply edit-warring back-and-forth to competing versions. Sustained editorial conflict and using the dispute resolution processes to game the system is not an appropriate way of resolving conduct disputes.
8) Wikipedia is a reference work, not a battlefield. Each and every user is expected to interact with others civilly, calmly, and in a spirit of cooperation. Open discussion is encouraged in every area of the encyclopedia, as it is only by discussion that cooperation is possible. However, certain types of discourse – in particular, personal attacks – are not only discouraged but forbidden because they create a toxic atmosphere and thwart the building of consensus. For this reason, editors are expected to comment on the edits, not on the editor. Editors with concerns about other editors should use the community's dispute resolution processes calmly and civilly to resolve their differences rather than repeatedly engaging in strident personalised criticism in multiple forums. Editors who are unable to resolve their differences should seek to minimize the extent of any unnecessary interactions between them and, in extreme cases, may be directed to do so.
9) Edit warring, whether by reversion or otherwise, is prohibited; this is so even when the disputed content is clearly problematic, with very limited exceptions. The three-revert rule does not entitle users to revert a page three times each day, nor does it endorse reverting as an editing technique.
10) 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 on a subject, nor for proposing unpublished solutions, forwarding original ideas, redefining terms, and so forth (see Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not#Wikipedia is not a publisher of original thought). Although more general discussion may be permissible in some circumstances, it will not be tolerated when it becomes tendentious, overwhelms the page, impedes productive work, or is otherwise disruptive.
11) Wikipedia's policies and guidelines are meant to codify existing best practices. While edits to policy pages are often prompted by specific editing experiences, it is inappropriate to alter policy pages to further one's position in a specific dispute.
12) Single purpose accounts and editors who hold a strong personal viewpoint on a particular topic covered within Wikipedia 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.
13) In accordance with WP:LEAD, the opening paragraphs of a Wikipedia article should be an "introduction to the article and a summary of its most important aspects", "able to stand alone as a concise overview", and "written in a clear, accessible style with a neutral point of view to invite a reading of the full article." While the lead of an article, or its first sentence in particular, is an important facet of an article to improve, improvements to the lead of an article should fundamentally flow from the content of the article, itself compliant with Wikipedia content policies, and not from efforts to advance any particular point of view.
14) While many articles deal solely with scientific content or with philosophical/religious content, many public policy topics, including abortion, involve both descriptions of scientifically observable facts and religious or philosophical reactions to those observable findings. In order for a topic to be covered in an encyclopedic fashion, each sort of source must be used appropriately in such an article. Care must be taken with weighting and appropriate use of sources, such as avoiding undue prominence in the lead section or elsewhere.
16) Subsequent attempts at discussion of a topic previously settled by community discussion are often initiated by those not initially achieving their desired outcome. Those satisfied with the previous outcome are less likely to re-engage in subsequent discussions, creating an inappropriate bias toward change in subsequent discussions of the topic.
17) It is not the role of the Arbitration Committee to settle good-faith content disputes among editors.
18) The occurrence of protracted, apparently insoluble disputes—whether they involve conduct, content, or policy—is contrary to the purposes of the project and damaging to its health. The chief purpose of the Arbitration Committee is to protect the project from the disruption caused by such disputes, and it has the authority to issue binding resolutions in keeping with that purpose. The Committee has traditionally concentrated its attention on conduct disputes, and has avoided issuing binding rulings that would directly resolve matters of content or policy, leaving those questions to the community at large. However, in cases where the community has proven unable to resolve those questions using the methods normally available to it, and where the lack of resolution results in unacceptable disruption to the project, the Committee may impose an exceptional method for reaching a decision.
1) This case addresses longstanding disputes regarding editing of articles on the topic-area of abortion. Specific disputes in this area have included at least three separate areas:
2) Since 26 February, 2011, the entire topic area has been placed under discretionary sanctions by the community: ANI discussion Before the commencement of this case, 7 editors had been sanctioned: Log, including User:WikiManOne/ User:BelloWello who has been banned from the encyclopedia for disruption.
3) During the period of time under review, at least one sockpuppet of a previously banned user had been contributing to the discussion at Talk:Abortion in violation of that ban. (cf. Talk:Abortion/Archive_43)
5) User:Michael C Price has been repeatedly uncivil on Talk:Abortion: [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21].
6) User:Gandydancer has repeatedly used uncivil hyperbole and sarcasm in discussions at Talk:Abortion: [22], [23], [24].
7) Anythingyouwant, under his previous username Ferrylodge, has been previously sanctioned by the Arbitration Committee in November 2007 for his involvement in Abortion-related disputes. The basis for this included disruptive editing at pregnancy and abortion related articles. [25] [26] He has manipulated sources to present a POV contra sourcing guidelines. [27] He has edited the page on consensus on July 10 [28], giving the reason for an article he edited that day (presumably abortion which was the only contentious one [29], and then referred to it-as-policy 20 days later, hence manipulating policy pages to further a point in a dispute. [30] The policy change was removed by KillerChihuahua. [31]
8) NYyankees has engaged in an exchange that suggests a battlefield mentality. [32]
9) Geremia ( talk · contribs) has edit-warred [33] [34], in one case edit-warring to keep material at odds with secondary sources [35] in violation of medical article sourcing policies, and elsewhere pushed for sourcing at variance with sourcing guidelines in medical articles [36] (namely pitting primary sources against secondary sources), and used tagging inappropriately [37]. For a fuller explanation see Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Abortion/Evidence#Evidence_presented_by_NuclearWarfare.
10) DMSBel ( talk · contribs) has tendentiously edited abortion-related pages. He has engaged in a battlefield mentality, [38] [39] [40] including edit warring [41] [42], and tendentious editing on the talk page, [43] with a total of 686 edits to talk:abortion between June and September 2011. [44] DMSBel ( talk · contribs) has a history of tendentious editing on topics related to human sexuality, leading to a community topic ban from those areas in January 2011. [45]
11) Haymaker ( talk · contribs) has edited disruptively in topics related to abortion (see block log [46])
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 articles and corresponding talk pages relating to Abortion shall be semi-protected for a period of three years from the conclusion of this case, such that no non-autoconfirmed editor (including IP address editors) shall edit them. Editors in good standing who wish to edit such topics under a single additional account not linked to their identity may do so under the provisions of WP:SOCK#LEGIT and WP:SOCK#NOTIFY.
2.1) Administrators are instructed to only move or rename pages relating to the topic of abortion (broadly construed) in the presence of a demonstrable community consensus (such as the result of a proper Requested Move discussion).
3) Because of the controversial nature of the subject and the history of editing disputes, editors of abortion-related topics are reminded to adhere to this site's best practices. All editors are reminded that whatever their personal beliefs, their participation on this project is contingent on compliance with this site's policies. All editors are asked to review their own participation to ensure that it remains constructive and focused on the production of a neutral reference work rather than on promoting a specific agenda.
Superseded version
|
---|
4.1) Discretionary sanctions:
Standard discretionary sanctions are authorized for all pages†
|
4.1) Abortion, broadly construed, is designated as a contentious topic.
5.1) A structured discussion on the names of the Opposition to the legalization of abortion and Support for the legalization of abortion articles shall begin† following the conclusion of this case and continue for one month thereafter. During that time, editors should collect systematic evidence of the frequency with which various names for these topics are used in various English-speaking countries, as well as any other material which is relevant to the appropriateness of any proposed title, and present that evidence in an organised, structured and easy to navigate manner.
After one month has elapsed from the conclusion of this case, a community vote† on the titles for the articles in question will begin. Voters shall be asked to digest the presented evidence and its relation to Wikipedia's article naming policies, and to offer their opinion on the titles to be used. The vote will be coordinated by one or more administrators† appointed by the Committee. The vote will remain open for two months, and its result will be binding for a period of three years from the date it concludes.
6.1) Because Orangemarlin has been unable to participate in this arbitration, including answering findings of fact about his editing in the topic-area of Abortion, potential remedies are suspended until he returns to editing. He is instructed to contact the Arbitration Committee upon his return and before participating in the topic area.
7) Michael C Price is indefinitely topic-banned from abortion-related pages, broadly construed. This sanction may be appealed in one year.
8) Gandydancer is advised to subdue the tone of comments in heated discussions.
9) Anythingyouwant ( talk · contribs) is indefinitely topic-banned from abortion-related pages, broadly construed.
10.1)
Haymaker (
talk ·
contribs) is indefinitely topic-banned from abortion-related pages, broadly construed. This sanction may be appealed in one year.
11) NYyankees51 ( talk · contribs) is reminded to maintain a collegial and non-adversarial manner in posting in what is a very delicate topic area.
12) Geremia ( talk · contribs) is indefinitely topic-banned from abortion-related pages, broadly construed.
13) DMSBel ( talk · contribs) is indefinitely topic-banned from abortion-related pages, broadly construed.
0) Should any user subject to a restriction in this case violate that restriction, that user may be blocked, initially for up to one month, and then with blocks increasing in duration to a maximum of one year.
0) Appeals and modifications
|
---|
This procedure applies to appeals related to, and modifications of, actions taken by administrators to enforce the Committee's remedies. It does not apply to appeals related to the remedies directly enacted by the Committee.
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:
No administrator may modify or remove a sanction placed by another administrator without:
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:
|
Any uninvolved administrator may semi-protect articles relating to Abortion and their corresponding talk pages, at his or her discretion, for a period of up to three years from 7 December 2011. Pages semi-protected under this provision are to be logged.
The indefinite topic-ban of Haymaker ( talk · contribs) from the abortion-related pages is lifted.
The one-revert restriction on all articles related to abortion, authorized by the community here and modified by the Arbitration Committee in the Abortion arbitration case, is formally taken over by the committee and vacated. Discretionary sanctions remain authorized for all pages related to abortion, broadly construed.
21) Each reference to the prior discretionary sanctions procedure shall be treated as a reference to the contentious topics procedure. The arbitration clerks are directed to amend all existing remedies authorizing discretionary sanctions to instead designate contentious topics.
Any block, restriction, ban, or sanction performed under the authorisation of a remedy for this case must be logged at Wikipedia:Arbitration enforcement log, not here.
old |
---|
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it. |
Log any block, restriction, ban, article/talk page semiprotection, or extension under any remedy in this decision here. Minimum information includes name of administrator, date and time, what was done and the rationale for doing it. Inherited from community-imposed sanctions
Since case closurePage protections
Other sanctions
|