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This is an archive of the results of all cases completed by the Arbitration Committee in 2019.

More recently-closed cases on top

2019

9 cases.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Palestine-Israel articles 4 closed 20 December 2019 (AN notice)

• Editors generally were both reminded and counselled about the context, expectations, and good practices that apply when editing this topic area
• The "area of conflict" was defined
• Area of conflict had the ARBPIA General Sanctions created and authorised, comprising:

• Discretionary Sanctions of the standard form
• the 500/30 rule prohibiting new editors from editing the area of conflict

• All article subjects within the area of conflict were placed under ARBPIA General Sanctions
• Related content was defined as content about the area of conflict located in articles about subjects not related to the area of conflict.
• All related content within the area of conflict was placed under ARBPIA General Sanctions
• Many existing remedies from prior cases were vacated, in some instances to be re-adopted in this decision for the sake of easy referencing

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Antisemitism in Poland closed 22 September 2019 (AN notice)
  • Icewhiz (talk · contribs) and Volunteer Marek (talk · contribs) are indefinitely prohibited from interacting with, or commenting on, each other anywhere on Wikipedia (subject to the ordinary exceptions).
  • Icewhiz is topic-banned from the history of Poland during World War II, including the Holocaust in Poland. This topic ban may be appealed after one year has elapsed.
  • Volunteer Marek is topic-banned from the history of Poland during World War II, including the Holocaust in Poland. This topic ban may be appealed after one year has elapsed.
  • The sourcing expectations applied to the article Collaboration in German-occupied Poland are expanded and adapted to cover all articles on the topic of Polish history during World War II (1933-45), including the Holocaust in Poland. Only high quality sources may be used, specifically peer-reviewed scholarly journals, academically focused books by reputable publishers, and/or articles published by reputable institutions. English-language sources are preferred over non-English ones when available and of equal quality and relevance. Editors repeatedly failing to meet this standard may be topic-banned as an arbitration enforcement action.
  • The committee acknowledges the lengthy delay in preparing the proposed decision for this case. We apologize to the case participants and to other editors interested in the topic area, and thank them for their patience.
• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Fram closed 21 September 2019 (AN notice)
  • The Committee decides that Fram's ban was not required, and therefore vacates it.
  • The behaviour shown in the case materials falls below the standards expected for an administrator. Accordingly, the committee takes over the decision to remove Fram's administrator tools. They may regain the administrative tools at any time via a successful request for adminship.
  • A Request for Comment will be opened under the Arbitration space, and managed by the Arbitration Clerks. This RfC will focus on how harassment and private complaints should be handled in the future.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Canadian politics closed 6 July 2019 (AN notice)
  • Curly Turkey is prohibited from editing SNC-Lavalin affair and its talk page for a period of six months. This restriction may be appealed at WP:ARCA after three months.
  • Curly Turkey is warned that future violations of Wikipedia's conduct policies and guidelines, including WP:BATTLEGROUND and WP:ASPERSIONS, may result in blocks or bans.
  • Curly Turkey, Darryl Kerrigan, Legacypac, Littleolive oil, PavelShk, Safrolic, and SWL36 are admonished for edit warring.
  • All editors are reminded to seek dispute resolution and to use appropriate resources, such as the dispute resolution noticeboard, for outside opinions and suggestions for resolving problems.
• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Reversion of office actions opened and resolved by motion 5 July 2019 (AN notice)
  • The community is advised that administrators and bureaucrats are normally expected not to act when they know they do not have all of the relevant facts, and that this is especially important with regard to office actions where those facts may be highly sensitive. As a general rule, wheel warring may be grounds for removal of administrative rights by the committee as well as by the WMF. Lack of sanctions under these exceptional circumstances should not set expectations around similar future actions.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Rama closed 6 June 2019 (AN notice)
  • For misuse of administrative tools and generally failing to meet community expectations and responsibilities as outlined in WP:ADMINACCT, Rama (talk · contribs) is desysopped. He may regain the administrative tools at any time via a successful request for adminship.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Enigmaman#Final decision closed 6 May 2019 (AN notice)
  • Enigmaman (talk · contribs) is desysopped for repeated misuse of administrative tools and the administrative logs, inadequate communication, and generally failing to meet community expectations and responsibilities of administrators as outlined in WP:ADMINACCT. He may regain the administrative tools at any time via a successful request for adminship.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Alex Shih#Motion to Suspend suspended 12 February 2019

  The "Alex Shih" request for arbitration is accepted. Given that Alex Shih (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has retired from the English Wikipedia, this case will be opened but suspended for a duration not to exceed one year, during which time Alex Shih will be temporarily desysopped.

  If Alex Shih should return to active editing on the English Wikipedia during this time and request that this case be resumed, the Arbitration Committee shall unsuspend the case by motion and proceed through the normal arbitration process. Such a request may be made by email to arbcom-enwikimedia.org or at the Clerks' noticeboard.

  If such a request is not made within one year of the "Alex Shih" case being opened and suspended, this case shall be automatically closed, and Alex Shih shall remain desysopped. He may regain the administrative tools at any time via a successful request for adminship.

• Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/GiantSnowman#Final decision closed 10 February 2019 (AN notice)
  • GiantSnowman is admonished for overuse of the rollback and blocking functions, and reminded to "lead by example" and "strive to model appropriate standards of courtesy"; to "respond promptly and civilly to queries about their Wikipedia-related conduct and administrative actions and to justify them when needed"; to not use admin tools in "cases in which they have been involved" including "conflicts with an editor" and "disputes on topics"; to "treat newcomers with kindness and patience"; and to apply these principles in all interactions with all editors. GiantSnowman is placed under review indefinitely; during the review, with the exception of obvious vandalism, he is subject to the following restrictions:
    1. He may not revert another editor's contribution without providing an explanation in the edit summary. This includes use of MediaWiki's rollback function, any tool or script that provides a similar function, and any manual revert without an edit summary. Default edit summaries, such as those provided by the undo function or Twinkle's rollback feature, are not sufficient for the purpose of this sanction
    2. He may not block an editor without first using at least three escalating messages and template warnings
    3. He may not consecutively block an editor; after one block he is advised to consult with another admin or bring the matter to the attention of the community
    4. He may not place a warning template on an editor's talk page without having first placed an appropriate self-composed message containing links to relevant policies and guidelines
    5. He may not place more than five consecutive warning templates or messages; after which he is advised to consult with another admin
    6. He may not use MassRollback.js

  Violations may be reported by any editor to WP:AE. GiantSnowman may appeal any or all of these sanctions, including the review itself, directly to the Arbitration Committee at any time.