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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Izno (talk | contribs) at 22:36, 26 November 2022 (→Community ECR request: Arbitrator views and discussion: adj). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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Case name Closed
Yasuke 13 Nov 2024
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Amendment request: Community ECR request none (orig. case) 23 November 2022
Clarification request: Iranian politics none (orig. case) 24 November 2022

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Amendment request: Community ECR request

Initiated by El C at 22:44, 23 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Case or decision affected
Armenia-Azerbaijan_2 arbitration case (t) (ev / t) (w / t) (pd / t)
Kurds and Kurdistan arbitration case (t) (ev / t) (w / t) (pd / t)
Clauses to which an amendment is requested
  1. Extended confirmed restriction: The extended confirmed restriction is imposed on the area of conflict (from Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Palestine-Israel_articles_4#ARBPIA_General_Sanctions)
  2. Extended confirmed restriction: The extended confirmed restriction is imposed on the area of conflict (from Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Palestine-Israel_articles_4#ARBPIA_General_Sanctions)
List of any users involved or directly affected, and confirmation that all are aware of the request
Confirmation that all parties are aware of the request
Information about amendment request

Statement by El C

I realize I'm a broken record, but how record broken is this template? Anyway, there was a proposal at AN (live, permalink) which read:

Proposal: WP:ARBECR (which includes a 500edits/30days restriction) over WP:AA2 and WP:KURDS articles.

That proposal has seen a unanimous 17/17 support, but the proposer (HistoryofIran) and others weren't sure how to affect that resolution. Arb L235 recommended to wait for a WP:CLOSE to do the WP:ARBEE → WP:GS/RUSUKR thing. I said that it'd be better to amend AA2 and KURDS by motion rather than create a new GS with separate logs, alerts, page notices, etc., which is what should have happened with RUSUKR (→ ARBEE).

I think most participants don't really care either way, they just want to see that community consensus affected. Personally, I'm for streamlining rather than adding further to the maze of DS/GS pages, so I'm bringing it here. Needless to say, ARCA is intimidating and has a very high access ceiling (one of the least accessible areas of the project). And I still fucked up that impossible template, but that was always a given (but it sort of displays, so there you go). Thank you for your time and attention. El_C 22:44, 23 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Barkeep49, yes. As stated, the proposal reads: over WP:AA2 and WP:KURDS articles. El_C 22:56, 23 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry, writing in haste, but a few quick notes. First, I actually have no firm opinion if the mentioned (17/17) community consensus is an appropriate re/action to whatever influx it represents (long term, etc.). It probably is, but I've not reviewed the material closely, so ultimately can't say that I'm certain about it. Here, I'm mostly just serving as an informal clerk (but also the best clerk!). That said, note that the last ARCA I filed here was also about issues that concern this general region of West Asia and these two associated DSs, in particular (in 2021, I believe; I'll see if I can find it later, now that ARCAs are separately archived thanks to me and to real best clerk, Dreamy Jazz). But as I recall, there was a warning there, a forewarning, even.
But no one remembers, not even me. And, I mean, say this resolution becomes WP:GS/AAKURDS, a split GS like WP:GS/RUSUKR — in a couple of years, when ArbCom subsumes it, no one will remember, either! On a separate note: I hesitated on filing this ARCA because the ACE adds a layer to this that I (best clerk) am a bit uncomfortable with. But the ACE just takes so fuckin' long, it really can't be helped (unless whatever is being discussed coincides with the ACE concluding in, like, a week or mere days). El_C 20:21, 26 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by HistoryofIran

Statement by Guerillero

These are big topic areas to place under ECP. Is there a more narrow topic area that might work better? --Guerillero Parlez Moi 20:40, 25 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by ProcrastinatingReader

ECR is pretty draconian and an extreme measure to prevent disruption.

The problem is not inherently with ECR, as I accept it may sometimes–very, very rarely–be appropriate. My concern is: no other lesser restrictions have been considered in that discussion (e.g. a topic-wide semi or ECR on a narrower topic area), no assessment of how many high-quality non-ECP user contributions the topic will lose, and no assessment of the size of administrative burden if a GS is not imposed (which should be a key factor in imposing GS, as otherwise ANI/admins can handle topic disruption as usual). I'm also unsure how this is distinct to other sockpuppeteers who are single-topic focused, we don't fight these with topic-wide ECR. Some of the comments are literally politician's fallacy (e.g. Surely something must need to be done about this disruption.)

If ArbCom is to make a motion, it should be due to substantive agreement and not just rubber-stamping. And ArbCom doesn't need to act here, the community can under the auspices of consensus. If the community wants to motion this, they should do so themselves, but I do wish these GS discussions had some more guidance to, well, guide them. With few exceptions, the fate of almost all community-authorised sanctions is that they were not necessary (see their logs for instance). The only other time the community authorised 500/30 was India-Pakistan I think, which turned out to be unnecessary and was repealed last year after several years of being nominally in force. My overarching point in this paragraph is that the community doesn't have too many tools in its toolbox to deal with this kind of disruption, which I accept is a problem, but it tends to use a hammer when it comes to GS authorisation requests. It's relatively surprising, given how conservative the community is with topical actions otherwise.

I would suggest ArbCom substantively review the issue which caused community concern, in line with WP:AA2/WP:KURDS and Wikipedia:Arbitration/Policy#Jurisdiction (The Committee retains jurisdiction over all matters heard by it, including associated enforcement processes, and may, at its sole discretion, revisit any proceeding at any time.). Not to overrule the community, but to see if ArbCom can identify the locus of problem and form a better tool to deal with these kinds of issues. I think ArbCom is best placed to do this.

Barkeep49 reasons:
  1. I think an ArbCom ECR has a greater chance of being enforced as-written or less chance of being forgotten. In the case of India-Pakistan's 500/30, I'm glad it wasn't enforced as-written, because it was never necessary in the first place, and it would've been detrimental to the encyclopaedia's content if it were enforced. Letting administrators maintain discretion is key, and I think that's more likely with a community GS. And IMO, remedies being forgotten is a decent signs they're no longer (if ever) necessary.
  2. IMO it falls out of ArbCom's scope unless you consider the issue substantively, as the community can and did 'resolve' this. I don't feel it's WP:NOTBURO because WP:ECR prescribes no requirements, not even logging, so there is no bureaucratic overhead or procedural differences, unlike DS. Both community and ArbCom non-DS GS are listed on WP:General sanctions in the same manner. I see no blocker to a new table row being added to WP:GS and am unsure why the Committee is needed here.
  3. I'm not a fan of ArbCom rubber-stamping community motions and implementing them as arbitration decisions, at least if ArbCom wouldn't have made the same decision itself. (Would you have motioned this if the AN discussion never happened and an ARCA was filed detailing the socking problem? Or would you do something else?) In paragraph 1 I outline some issues/omissions in that discussion. I dunno if you agree with any of the points I made, but if you do, I feel like you should be wary of authorising a remedy that may not be tightly fitted to the problem. The numerical vote may be there, but this is a strong restriction, and there is no equally strong discussion. I accept it'll probably be implemented anyway, but it's a community decision, the community should own it and have the ability to directly revoke it.
  4. If you wished, this could be an opportunity for ArbCom to figure out how we can address these issues without ECR. I'm personally sceptical of ECR's proliferation. While I appreciate it stops some bad behaviour, I don't think it stops as much bad behaviour as it does good in most cases, and I'm concerned of you setting a precedent where we turn to properly-enforced ArbCom-authorised broad topic-wide ECR implementations in the face of (potentially transient) sockpuppetry and canvassing. I'd maybe go as far as saying ArbCom should conduct a review of the effectiveness of ECR, in particular does it remain the best tool at our disposal for this problem, and when is it actually appropriate?
ProcrastinatingReader (talk) 22:13, 26 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by {other-editor}

Other editors are free to make relevant comments on this request as necessary. Comments here should address why or why not the Committee should accept the amendment request or provide additional information.

Community ECR request: Clerk notes

This area is used for notes by the clerks (including clerk recusals).

Community ECR request: Arbitrator views and discussion

  • El C the ask here is to add ECR to Kurds and Kurdistan and also to Armenia-Azerbijan? Just want to make sure I understand this correctly before investigating the substance. Barkeep49 (talk) 22:51, 23 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
    I've thrown up a couple motions below. I'm weakly in support of both but also think the community could just enact based on the consensus of the AN thread, no action from us needed. Alternatively if the intent was always to ask us my wish would be for that to have been noted - as is it's not clear if the editors participating want this to be a community sanction, an arb sanction, or don't care. I post this more in hopes that other community members will weigh in but if nothing happens I'm inclined to support. Barkeep49 (talk) 19:13, 25 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
    ProcrastinatingReader broadly I agree with you on ECR and the role of arbcom and the community. But I am a bit puzzled with how you apply it in this case. The feedback you and Guerillero have given is why I didn't support the motions after proposing them - I wanted to hear from more voices. When you say If the community wants to motion this, they should do so themselves isn't that what happened at AN? So why should ArbCom spend a lot of time making its own determination rather than acknowledging that having parallel ArbCom and Community restrictions is messy and respecting community consensus by incorporating it into ours? Neither of you are opposing the community motion and so absent ArbCom passing these motions these restrictions will still come into effect at some point when someone gets around to closing it and opening the pages, so why not have the simpler method of doing it? Barkeep49 (talk) 17:49, 26 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
    @ProcrastinatingReader if El C had filed a request an ARCA request without that community discussion I would absolutely be taking it seriously given that these remain contentious topic areas and El C actively works them. The argument that having two different sets of places to record issues is to be celebrated as evidence that the community can handle so no need for ArbCom it is not an argument that resonates with me. I'm glad you and Guillero have now opposed at the community discussion. I will continue to wait to see what others in the community have to say. Barkeep49 (talk) 22:33, 26 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  • My read of the discussion is that users don't care but that El C thinks it would be administratively simpler if we did it ourselves. I'm happy to support the motions; I will be copyediting them to be in line with existing ECR remedies shortly. Best KevinL (aka L235 · t · c) 20:17, 25 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
    ProcReader and Guerillero's points here are great, and I will further consider the best path forward. Best, KevinL (aka L235 · t · c) 22:26, 26 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  • I was going to follow up my below votes with something much shorter and simplistic but much along the same lines as ProcrastinatingReader has this afternoon, but I think his points are better framed anyway. ECR doesn't have any overhead and no fundamental complexity in implementation. Pages get protected and wherever else an unregistered or 'new' editor is editing in the topic area they can be reverted with enforcement at 3RRN. Izno (talk) 22:32, 26 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Kurds and Kurdistan ECR request

The following remedy is added to the Kurds and Kurdistan case:

Extended confirmed restriction

11) The extended confirmed restriction is imposed on all edits and pages related to Kurds and Kurdistan, broadly construed.

Support
Oppose
  1. The original ECR placed on PIA was noted as draconian. If that's what the community wants in this topic area, I think the community should own these accordingly. Izno (talk) 21:53, 25 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Arbitrator discussion (Kurds and Kurdistan ECR request)

Armenia-Azerbaijan ECR request

The following remedy is added to the Armenia-Azerbaijan 2 case:

Extended confirmed restriction

3) The extended confirmed restriction is imposed on all edits and pages related to Armenia, Azerbaijan, or related ethnic conflicts, broadly construed.

For administrative simplicity, the section titled "Standard discretionary sanctions" is redesignated as Remedy 4 of the Armenia-Azerbaijan 2 case.

Support
Oppose
  1. The original ECR placed on PIA was noted as draconian. If that's what the community wants in this topic area, I think the community should own these accordingly. Izno (talk) 21:53, 25 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Arbitrator discussion (Armenia-Azerbaijan ECR request)
Copyedited both motions. This second one is a bit messy because the case page is a bit messy and this motion redesignates the currently un-numbered remedy "Standard discretionary sanctions" with a remedy number for future ease of reference. When enacting this motion, it would be great if the clerks would also collapse all rescinded or superseded text on the case page. Best, KevinL (aka L235 · t · c) 20:26, 25 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Clarification request: Iranian politics

Initiated by Stefka Bulgaria at 09:30, 24 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Case or decision affected
Iranian politics arbitration case (t) (ev / t) (w / t) (pd / t)
Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Iranian politics § Stefka Bulgaria topic-banned

List of any users involved or directly affected, and confirmation that all are aware of the request:

Confirmation that all parties are aware of the request


Statement by Stefka Bulgaria

Could you advice if I am able to make corrections to articles that aren't specifically about Iranian politics, but involve companies controlled by the Iranian government? For example, I see that in my absence, sourced information about an Iranian company has been removed from the article with no apparent justification. Would I be able to restore information of that nature?

Statement by {other-editor}

Other editors are free to make relevant comments on this request as necessary. Comments here should opine whether and how the Committee should clarify or amend the decision or provide additional information.

Iranian politics: Clerk notes

This area is used for notes by the clerks (including clerk recusals).

Iranian politics: Arbitrator views and discussion

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