Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Gamaliel and others
Case clerks: Miniapolis (Talk) & Lankiveil (Talk) Drafting arbitrators: DGG (Talk) & Callanecc (Talk)
Wikipedia Arbitration |
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Case opened on 13:31, 18 April 2016 (UTC)
Case closed on 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Do not edit this page unless you are an arbitrator or clerk. Statements on this page are copies of the statements submitted in the original
Arbitrators, the parties, and other editors may suggest proposed principles, findings, and remedies at /Workshop. The Workshop may also be used for you to submit general comments on the evidence, and for arbitrators to pose questions to the parties. Eventually, arbitrators will vote on a final decision in the case at /Proposed decision; only arbitrators may offer proposals as the Proposed Decision.
Once the case is closed, editors should edit the #Enforcement log as needed, but the other content of this page may not be edited except by clerks or arbitrators. Please raise any questions about this decision at Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Clarification and Amendment, any general questions at Wikipedia talk:Arbitration Committee, and report violations of the remedies passed in the decision to Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Enforcement.
Case information
Involved parties
- NE Ent (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log), filing party
- Gamaliel (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
- DHeyward (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
- Arkon (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
- JzG (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
Prior dispute resolution
Preliminary statements
Statement by NE Ent
American presidential candidate Marco Rubio recently made a comment about Donald Trump's hands, which is known to be a reference to penis size [1]; per the US constitution, this is acceptable speech in the US. On Wikipedia, however, the arbitration has previously made clear in Manning principles (selected passages, emphasis mine) that:
- Removal of material about living persons
3) The policy on biographies of living persons requires that non-compliant material be removed if the non-compliance cannot readily be rectified. The policy does not impose any limitations on the nature of the material to be removed, provided that the material concerns a living person, and provided that the editor removing it is prepared to explain their rationale for doing so.
Once material about a living person has been removed on the basis of a good-faith assertion that such material is non-compliant, the policy requires that consensus be obtained prior to restoring the material.
- Equality and respect
5.2) Wikipedia editors and readers come from a diverse range of backgrounds, including with respect to their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex or gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression. Comments that demean fellow editors, an article subject, or any other person, on the basis of any of these characteristics are offensive and damage the editing environment for everyone. Such comments, particularly when extreme or repeated after a warning, are grounds for blocking or other sanctions.
- Applicability of the BLP policy
10) All living people who are subjects of Wikipedia content are entitled to the protections of the
- The BLP policy and article titles
11) The
end of excerpt
A review of the applicable discussions shows these policies were clearly not followed; the material was not removed expeditiously nor did Gamaliel et. al. ever acknowledge the non-compliance; rather he has posted content on his user page [1] mocking the legitimate concerns of the Wikipedia community.
The committee should accept this case because
- writing in the Wall Street Journal WP:BLPpolicy.
- our article Gender bias on Wikipedia notes that it's been suggested "Wikipedia culture is sexual in ways they find off-putting." Comments about a living persons penis that have no encyclopedic value whatsoever clearly falls into this category.NE Ent 23:53, 10 April 2016 (UTC)
References
Filing party coda
Committee: Thanks! See ya on the evidence page.
Everyone else, including clerks: The purpose of a case request is to convince the committee to accept a case, or not, depending on the writer's point of view. Given the count is 9/2/4, 82% / plus 7 and has been for days, this is an accepted case. While I can't say worrying about the number of words this editor or that editor got is the most ridiculous thing I've seen in Wikipedia dispute resolution -- I've read way too many
Statement by Gamaliel
I take BLP very seriously and I enforce it on a daily basis. I do not believe BLP is violated by mild humorous topical references on April Fools' Day, nor do I feel those mild humorous topical references do any damage to living individuals. We have a long history of such references on Wikipedia. I also take seriously real concerns expressed to me in a civil manner regarding BLP. The record will show that when the community in general expressed serious concerns in the MFD discussion, the editorial board of the Signpost discussed and acted on the matter and agreed with the community consensus. The record will also show that much of the drama here was driven by editors with self-admitted grudges against me personally or were directed here from multiple off-site Gamergate forums. I see no reason why I should not treat that drama with the contempt that it deserves, nor do I feel that attitude has anything to do with my ability to adhere to or enforce the BLP policy. I have been enforcing BLP since it was created in 2005, I've spent years on and off working at the BLP noticeboard, I've been an OTRS volunteer, and I've spent a year in the weeds at Gamergate defending the encyclopedia from being used as a weapon for harassment. BLP is one of our most important policies. However, we've had many, many examples in the history of that policy of editors acting in an overly zealous manner, being obnoxious and self-righteous towards other editors, or hijacking the policy to push their own agendas or settle their personal grudges. That's what's happening here, that's what the evidence will show, and that's what some of the drama mongers have openly stated. We can all do better, personally, and as a community. We should do a better job of preventing those individuals from hijacking our processes so the serious editors can discuss their differences respectfully.
In retrospect there are things I could have done better. I understand the community objections to the dummy standalone pages I created to make the template work and I wish I had found a better way to create that template, and the responsibility for that is mine alone and does not lie with anyone else at the Signpost. I wish I had not lost my temper when being harassed and personally attacked. However, I do not regret collaborating with other Signpost editors to create the story, which many people enjoyed. I do not regret mocking the agenda-driven drama stirred up against me, as many other people did. I do not regret thinking Wikipedia-based humor is funny, as many people do and have over our history. Those are all views that I share with many other editors. None of those views are against Wikipedia policies or affect my ability to enforce them.
The dummy pages have been deleted, the offending headline has been removed from the joke story and has not been restored, even though there was no consensus that its presence was a violation, only that the standalone pages were a problem. I realize lots of people don't like me, or April Fools' Day, or humor on Wikipedia, or that my views differ from theirs regarding encyclopedia policies or ethics in gaming journalism. There's lots of people who disagree, and yet we still manage to write an encyclopedia, at least those of us who are here to do so. It's time for us drop the stick and get back to that. Gamaliel (talk) 00:40, 11 April 2016 (UTC)
DHeyward admits that he has held a grudge against me for a decade and referred to me as Joseph Gobbels only a few weeks ago. I mostly avoid editing politics these days and do not remember much of these many, many interactions DHeyward repeatedly claims we've had on political articles. It is true I was once a very active editor of American political articles in the early years of my decade+ on Wikipedia. Yet DHeyward presents no evidence of POV-pushing in that editing; he only names articles, some of which I do not recall editing, some of which I haven't edited in a decade, and some of which where my only crime was disagreeing with DHeyward's edits. His sole link is not a diff, but a link to an external Gawker article which only names me in a quote attacking me by an account impersonating a living individual. And absolutely none of this has anything to do with an April Fools' Day joke, it's just an opportunity for DHeyward to attack me again. Gamaliel (talk) 01:20, 11 April 2016 (UTC) ]
@Wbm1058: We have no intention of letting humor or fake news spread beyond April 1. Gamaliel (talk) 17:05, 12 April 2016 (UTC) @ @ @ I re-closed the discussion because at ANI because it had been closed by an uninvolved administrator and an involved, disruptive editor was reopening it. I quite obviously I should have left this matter to another uninvolved party, but I lost my cool. Provocation or not, there's no "excuse" there, I messed up, and everyone knows it. I removed the CSD tag because I thought it was a frivolous, wikihounding of my contributions can be well documented. Removing frivolous CSD tags is what we're supposed to do, that's how they work. I did not think of myself as the "creator" of the page. The Signpost is a collaborative effort (any number of editors could have been the one to create that page, I was just the one who did it that particular time) and I was acting on behalf of that collective effort. The removal of the tag did nothing to prevent the person who placed it or anyone from addressing any concerns they had; any editor was free to bring the matter to MFD, and once that happened we abided by the community consensus there. That was my thinking at the time, but I see there is an objection by some members of the community to the removal of the CSD tag, so I will refrain from doing this again.
In regards to Gamergate actions:
I believe this satisfies WP:ADMINACCT, but you've written a lot of text here and I may have missed one of your accusations. If you have follow-up questions I would appreciate a reasonable amount of time to respond before you level further accusations regarding the issues in question. @Kelapstick: If you or any arbitrators feel I have not complied with the requirement that I account for my admin actions regarding any particular issue I would appreciate a notification so I can attempt to fully address whatever concerns you have regarding accountability requirements. There's a lot of text on this page and I may not have yet read whatever accusation you feel needs a response. Gamaliel (talk) 00:45, 14 April 2016 (UTC) ]
It is perhaps somewhat unusual to place a statement here, but Gamaliel asked me to post this on his behalf, and I did not want it buried somewhere on this already voluminous page. Now that we are headed to arbitration, we have reached closure for this stage and it seems proper to me that he get a final statement in. Drmies (talk) 03:44, 15 April 2016 (UTC)
This from Gamaliel, from an email, copied and pasted on his request. Drmies (talk) 03:44, 15 April 2016 (UTC) |
Statement by DHeyward
Gamaliel has a long history of inserting his POV in American Politics. From
@
@Callanecc: The CSD warning was earlier on 2 April. Can you check the logs? Did Gamaliel remove the CSD tag twice?!? (once on April 2 and once on April 7)? You only listed the April 7. --DHeyward (talk) 14:16, 12 April 2016 (UTC)
@Hammersoft: The policy violations started on [April 2 and continued for a week. That was the first CSD tag Gamaliel removed. --DHeyward (talk) 23:21, 12 April 2016 (UTC)
Preliminary decision
Clerk notes
- This area is used for notes by the clerks (including clerk recusals).
- As a reminder, the arbitration policy states (emphasis mine) "
An arbitrator may recuse from any case, or from any aspect of a case, with or without explanation[...]
". Although asking arbitrators the reason for their recusal is allowed, the arbitrator is by no means required to answer. Kevin (aka L235 · t · c) 04:34, 11 April 2016 (UTC) - Recuse Kharkiv07 (T) 00:15, 12 April 2016 (UTC)
- Recuse Liz Read! Talk! 00:45, 12 April 2016 (UTC)
- Recuse as I was involved with the CSD Mdann52 (talk) 11:46, 12 April 2016 (UTC)
Arbitrators' opinion on hearing this matter <9/2/4/0>
Vote key: (Accept/decline/recuse/other)
- Recuse. Gamaliel (talk) 00:41, 11 April 2016 (UTC)
- Recuse. Kirill Lokshin (talk) 00:43, 11 April 2016 (UTC)
- Before I go Accept/decline/recuse/other, can I ask some of the commenters here, those who think (like Fram) that Gamaliel's actions were "subpar" (Staberinde's term) but suggested that this is not a case ArbCom should take, what they think an appropriate course of action might be? Moreover, it seems to me that the charge by Ent addresses only the BLP, whereas some of the comments take a broader view--and if we accept something it would be good to know what we are to accept. Drmies (talk) 18:23, 11 April 2016 (UTC)]
- As was to be expected this little plant has seen some healthy growth: must be the spring rains. Please allow me one quick note before I try to take in the whole: I understand the concern expressed by User:Ryk72 regarding this closing comment. The optimistic reading of User:SB Johnny's close, "no administrator is going to take action", as a pragmatic statement, i.e., this discussion is not going to lead to a block. However, I emphatically disagree with the rest, "... without explicit prior approval from ArbCom". There is no such rule and there shouldn't be such a rule: if I screw up and abuse my tools or, I don't know, am edit warring to a blockable degree, someone better warn me and, if need be, block me. Drmies (talk) 17:30, 12 April 2016 (UTC)]
- As was to be expected this little plant has seen some healthy growth: must be the spring rains. Please allow me one quick note before I try to take in the whole: I understand the concern expressed by
I am of two, maybe three minds. Yes, the joke was a BLP violation; the BLP makes no exceptions for jokes or for the Signpost. But BLP violations come in various kinds, and this was not en egregious kind. Wrong, but not a capital offense. Subsequent actions were bad as well; I am particularly bothered by the edit warring over the ANI close. JzG's close was not funny and a BLP violation in its own right, and Gamaliel's reverting its undoing was clearly INVOLVED; repeating it was foolish and unbecoming. Moreover, when one is in a hole one should stop digging, but Gamaliel continued to dig. Justifying those actions by pointing at the motes in others' eyes also constitutes digging, though my metaphors are getting out of hand. Some of the comments made by other editors in this case request seem to whisk away the BLP infraction and the unbecoming behavior (for an Arb/admin), but the matter is serious enough. At the same time, I cannot help but think that some of the hyperbole here indicates there are axes to grind, and bringing up "five unimpressive candidates" for the presidency and gender trouble is just that--hyperbole. This doesn't take away from the facts of the case, but it is certainly...well, also unbecoming. If the Signpost is the problem, and Gamaliel's involvement with it, that should be dealt with in another forum. Gamaliel doesn't edit the Signpost as an arb and if our entire project looks like an exercise in Marxist marketing, it's not the Signpost's fault. By now, having pondered this long enough, I want to stay on the safe side and Accept. I do not think that the case is strong enough right now to force Gamaliel to step down or to give up the tools, and whether I am correct in that or not, a case will prove it (I believe in the process). I do believe that a censure of some kind is in order, an admonishment like Kelapstick's eloquent comment about shit. And let me add that of course I do feel some loyalty to my ArbCom colleagues, but my first loyalty (here on Wikipedia) is to the community of editors and then to the BLP. Let me add also that I have respect for Gamaliel as an editor and an admin, while I believe that simultaneously I (we) can look objectively at the facts and decide on them. If we (as someone suggested above) are supposed to be examples--well, then I apologize for setting such a long-winded example, such a waffling one. This is just not an easy case, neither immediately clear as a serious-enough case that should be immediately acted on, nor something to be whisked away as a joke. And to name-check Yngvadottir, I ran for ArbCom in part because I think that difficult cases should be handled with deliberation, not with immediate desysopping. Drmies (talk) 19:57, 12 April 2016 (UTC) |
- SB_Johnny, maybe so, but I think we all agree that the ANI discussion was going nowhere. If it had been headed toward a block or ban or desysop, I wouldn't have closed it--and if it had been headed for a desysop it would have been an ArbCom matter anyway. ANI is just not a real good forum for complicated stuff. Whether this is any better, who can tell. Drmies (talk) 15:47, 13 April 2016 (UTC)
- Recuse. Keilana (talk) 18:44, 11 April 2016 (UTC)
- Okay so the issues that I see ArbCom possibly being able to look at / resolve:
- Actions on Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2010-03-17/News and notes from various editors - BLP vio or not, edit warring, removing CSD notices (had been notified), questionable use of rollback, this ridiculous nastiness and POINT series [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] (the page would need to be put into history only review for the case)
- Actions at User:Gamaliel/Small hands - POINT or not, BATTLEGROUND or not, use of full protection in own userspace vs. INVOLVED.
- Actions in the ANI discussion - civility/personal attacks, revert warring the close (I'd be very appreciative if someone would please collect all of the diffs of someone closing the discussion and the reverts of it being closed [from everyone who did it]), closing a discussion about oneself (and something about a WP:STICK [8] [9] [10]).
- Issues relating to Gamaliel specifically, those I've mentioned above as well as what's presented in Hammersoft's statement
- Is there anything I've missed from anyone involved? @Iridescent: Where is the wheel-warring you mentioned? Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 00:22, 12 April 2016 (UTC)]
- I was minded to accept the case based on my dot points above. Having thought about it over the last few days I'm even more convinced that we need to accept a case to look at the April Fools issue (primarily my dot points) involving Gamaliel and others (policy/guideline violations, disruption as well as general nastiness) and Gamaliel's recent administrative actions (Fram's statement). For clarity, I don't see the need to have another case about Gamergate, but I imagine it's going to relate to it. Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 10:30, 14 April 2016 (UTC) Rewritten (clarified intent, intended meaning not changed). Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 14:06, 14 April 2016 (UTC)
decline Gamaliel has been contrite about the initial material that led to this. The material is nebulous and tangential enough that it is in a grey area WRT BLP policy, and the subsequent morass involved alot of folks with opinions and I think it would be unproductive to prolong that for another several weeks, particularly as the issue as such has been deleted/resolved. The outstanding query is whether an arb should be writing on the signpost and the best way to resolve that would be a community-wide RfC to get a quantitative feel rather than the opinions of a few here. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 02:24, 12 April 2016 (UTC)switched to accept due to concerns over edit warring and potential involved admin conduct Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 03:23, 15 April 2016 (UTC)
- @SlimVirgin:, yes I have been thinking about the preexisting disputes, but at the end of the day (after re-reading) there is enough concern to warrant a review of the situation. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 21:22, 16 April 2016 (UTC)
Decline. First off, to paraphrase Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, Handing out BLP sanctions for April Fools Day hijinks is like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500. This has been well documented by MastCell above. If that is to change, it has to come from the community and be done wholesale, not targeted at one specific user. Second, everyone involved in anything related to April Fools' Day 2016 should be admonished (and I really hate that word) because y'all aren't funny. Third, I agree with Cas, determining if someone should sit as an Arbitrator, and the editor-in-chief of The Signpost is not a Committee decision, a proper RfC should be held to determine that. Fourth, I was unfortunate enough to watch the AN/I thread pan out in near real time, Gamaliel's actions there were poor to say the least (I will not use the term subpar as that would be even more of an understatement than poor), however in my mind, they do not reach the level of someone being desysopped (arbitrator or not). They do not reach the level of blocking (administrator or not). His actions fall short of points 1 and 2 of Wikipedia:Arbitration/Policy#Conduct_of_arbitrators, however I would not say that they are repeated nor gross enough to warrant removal from the committee. As those three actions are really the only outcomes that would come out of this arbitration case request, my formal response is:
- Gamaliel, you know better than this. You are better than this. Get your shit together, and lead by example.
- I trust if there is to be an actual admonishment motion, that someone may write something a little more eloquent than that. Or not. --kelapstick(bainuu) 05:34, 12 April 2016 (UTC)
- For clarity, Ryk72, and thank you for bringing it up, being a member of ArbCom grants no immunity from AN, AN/I, or any other page which are abbreviated and posted in blue-linked capital letters. I don't think anybody on the Committee believes they have any such immunity (although I wouldn't presume to speak for them, that is just my understanding). --kelapstick(bainuu) 10:28, 12 April 2016 (UTC)]
- Reviewing the Fram, this request has moved beyond edit warring over The Signpost, and a kerfuffle at AN/I. All this combined (which is far more than the initial case request was) suggests that there should be an in-depth review. Change to Accept. --kelapstick(bainuu) 21:34, 13 April 2016 (UTC)]
- Reviewing the
- For clarity,
- Decline. I was in the middle of writing a long post when I was interrupted in real life, and when I returned I found Kelapstick's one-liner much superior to my four meandering points. So I'm just going to put it in a handy little collapse box and say "per Kelapstick" up here. Opabinia regalis (talk) 06:16, 12 April 2016 (UTC)
Long-windedness
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- Hammersoft Quite the opposite, in my opinion it would be disrespectful to the community to take any action that implies arbitrators are somehow immune from normal community processes. Outside of arb business, an arb has exactly the same status as any other community member. We don't need to be further reinforcing the perception that Wikipedia has an aristocracy. Capeo, that action was taken by a different committee with different members; I think you'll find that some of us now here would have opposed it. Opabinia regalis (talk) 20:28, 12 April 2016 (UTC)
- Accept Any long-term editor, any administrator, and for damn sure any arbitrator should have known better than to produce BLP violations, especially by intentional choice rather than error or forgetfulness. The actions after this was pointed out to Gamaliel was just as bad. I really, really do not want to spend the next four weeks on this (and therefore would likely support an extremely strong admonishment) but this was not acceptable conduct from an admin and an arbitrator. Courcelles (talk) 16:04, 12 April 2016 (UTC)
- Recuse GorillaWarfare (talk) 18:05, 12 April 2016 (UTC)
- Decline per MastCell and OR. Was the 30+ year old "joke" funny? No. Do we trounce someone for repeating a joke that was covered by The Huffington Post, Vice, Talking Points Memo and The Hill? Again no, especially when you stand it beside things that were said in AfDs that very same day. If you would like to bar someone from being on the signpost staff and an arb, start a RFC. If you would like to end any leniency for April Fools "jokes", then start a RFC. (I would personally support sending most of this tradition to Valhalla.) None of those things can be done here. --In actu (Guerillero) | My Talk 18:46, 12 April 2016 (UTC)]
- Accept in accordance with email request on behalf of arbitrator Salvio giuliano (talk · contribs). Kevin (aka L235 · t · c) 14:27, 13 April 2016 (UTC)
- I'm working on reading through this, but i'm not there yet. The one thing I will note is that if there is consensus to take action against and Arbitrator, that the community do it. They community can further ask for a review by us or just simply let us know. But I'd rather the community not be held back by the fact that the member is a sitting Arbitrator. -- Amanda (aka DQ) 16:34, 13 April 2016 (UTC)]
- @Iridescent: To clarify, I was making a point in general, and I know that kicking the can again is a stupid idea.
- Accept There are concerns about abuse of the tools, conduct unbecoming an Arb, and questions about BLP and actions taken around it. Perfect case to accept while remembering our Amanda (aka DQ) 08:43, 15 April 2016 (UTC)]
- @
- Accept. The are several points in this request where I think the committee needs to make a statement, and a case would be the open way to do it. Though I would have thought them pretty obvious, this discussions here seems to show otherwise. They have respect to the independence of the Signpost, the common-sense view of the relationship of jokes and BLP, and the delusion that being an arb should be seen by themselves or others as an immunity from criticism or a permission for irresponsibility. DGG ( talk ) 19:21, 14 April 2016 (UTC)
- I'm on holiday at the moment and would prefer not to vote until I get back and can read through this again when I am less exhausted. I will definitely do this by Saturday. Ah, I didn't count the recuses, my vote won't matter. So I shall simply state that Arbs have no special immunity, that I can see the issue concerning his role on Signpost but agree that it would be a community decision or his, and that continuing to discuss the BLP issue perpetuates it. Hopefully a case, which seems inevitable now, can be dealt with a shortened timeline to avoid that. Doug Weller talk 19:58, 14 April 2016 (UTC)
- Accept Doug Weller talk 20:02, 15 April 2016 (UTC)
Temporary injunction
1) For the duration of this case
- Passed 8 to 0 at 14:00, 19 April 2016 (UTC)
Final decision
All tallies are based the votes at /Proposed decision, where comments and discussion from the voting phase is also available.
Principles
Importance and application of the BLP policy (2)
1.1) There is widespread agreement in the Wikipedia community regarding the importance of the
- Passed 8 to 1 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Wikipedia is not a battleground
2) Wikipedia is
- Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Edit warring
3)
- Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Edit warring and BLP
4) In the case of edits which fall afoul of the
- Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Questioning of administrative actions
5) Administrators are
- Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Decorum (2)
6.1) Wikipedia editors are expected to behave reasonably and calmly in their interactions with other editors, to keep their cool when editing, and to avoid acting in a manner that brings the project into disrepute. Administrators are expected to adhere to this at a higher standard. Unseemly conduct—including, but not limited to, lack of respect for other editors, failure to work towards consensus, disrupting Wikipedia to make a point, offensive comments, trolling, harassment, gaming the system, and failure to assume good faith—is inconsistent with Wikipedia. Editors should not respond to such behaviour in kind; concerns regarding the actions of other editors should be brought up in the appropriate forums.
- Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Fair criticism
7) Editors are encouraged to engage in frank discussion of matters affecting the project, and are encouraged to share even those facts and opinions which demonstrate the shortcomings of the project, its policies, its decision making structure, and its leaders. Such discourse is limited by the expectation that even difficult situations will be resolved in a dignified fashion, with evidence and without resorting to personal attacks. Editors who have genuine grievances against others are expected to avail themselves of the most appropriate dispute resolution mechanism.
- Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Involved administrators (2)
8.1) Administrator tools are not to be used in connection with disputes in which the administrator is involved. In circumstances where an administrator is involved, the administrator should not take administrative action but should instead report the issue to a relevant noticeboard, perhaps with a suggestion for appropriate action, to be dealt with by another administrator. In limited circumstances, such as blatant vandalism or bad-faith harassment, an involved administrator may act, but such exceptions are likely to be rare.
- Passed 9 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
April Fool's Day
9) April Fool's Day jokes are a widespread tradition in the English-speaking world, reflected on Wikipedia as an expression of community jollity and tolerated by established consensus supported by the outcome of various noticeboard and deletion discussions. On Wikipedia the convention has been to speedy close vexatious AfDs but otherwise (for example with joke RfAs) to archive soon after midnight UTC on April 2 with a "humor" template. April Fools is a contentious tradition on Wikipedia, in part because it is not a fully international tradition. April Fool's Day jokes are not exempt from the biographies of living persons policy.
- Passed 10 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Committee action as it relates to its members
10) The Arbitration Committee is responsible for investigating the conduct of its members when serious concerns are raised about their ability to meet
- Passed 10 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Conduct on arbitration pages
11) The pages associated with arbitration cases are primarily intended to assist the Arbitration Committee in arriving at a fair, well-informed, and expeditious resolution of each case. Participation by editors who present good-faith statements, evidence, and workshop proposals is appreciated. While allowance is made for the fact that parties and other interested editors may have strong feelings about the subject-matters of their dispute, appropriate decorum should be maintained on these pages. Incivility, personal attacks, and strident rhetoric should be avoided in arbitration as in all other areas of Wikipedia.
- Passed 10 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Findings of fact
Gamaliel
Gamaliel and Gamergate
1) Gamaliel has worked in the Gamergate topic area to such an extent that he has painted many opponents with the same brush, leading to an erosion of confidence in his objectivity. See, for example, Kingsindian's, Fram's and Gamaliel's evidence.
- Passed 10 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Gamaliel has withdrawn from enforcement in Gamergate topic area
2) At Gamaliel's request the Arbitration Committee "indefinitely restricted [Gamaliel] from taking any action to enforce any arbitration decision within the GamerGate topic, broadly construed" in this announcement.
- Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Gamaliel and The Signpost page
3) As part of April Fools Day events Gamaliel created a satirical Signpost news report related to Donald Trump. The page was tagged for speedy deletion as a
) in his edits to the Signpost page.- Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Gamaliel and userspace page
4) Gamaliel created a
- Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Gamaliel cast aspersions
6) During the course of the dispute, Gamaliel belittled the concerns many editors had expressed about his conduct. He
- Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Gamaliel and the Arbitration Committee
7) The Arbitration Committee acknowledges Gamaliel's resignation from the Committee ([21]), and thanks him for his long service to the community.
- Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
ANI discussion
8A) There was a discussion on ANI regarding the Signpost page and the creation of the page in
- Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
ANI discussion (Gamaliel)
8B) Gamaliel edit warred to re-close the discussion, which was about him, making three reverts (to JzG's version). [22][23][24]
- Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
ANI discussion (JzG)
8C) JzG's close of the ANI discussion indicates a standard of conduct below that expected of an administrator. The close was needlessly inflammatory and belittling, and perpetuated the perceived BLP violation [25].
- Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
ANI discussion (Arkon) (2)
8D.1) Arkon reverted JzG and Gamaliel in their attempts to close and re-close the discussion, which he started [26] [27] [28] [29].
- Passed 6 to 4 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
DHeyward and Gamaliel
9)
- Passed 9 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Remedies
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.
Gamaliel (admonishment)
2) Gamaliel is admonished for multiple breaches of Wikipedia policies and guidelines including for
- Passed 10 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
DHeyward and Gamaliel (interaction ban)
3) DHeyward and Gamaliel are indefinitely prohibited from
- Passed 9 to 2 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
DHeyward (admonishment)
4) DHeyward (talk · contribs) is admonished for engaging in incivility and personal attacks on other editors. He is reminded that all editors are expected to engage respectfully and civilly with each other and to avoid making personal attacks.
- Passed 8 to 1 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
JzG (admonishment)
5) For conduct which was below the standard expected of an administrator — namely making an incivil and inflammatory close summary on ANI, in which he perpetuated the perceived BLP violation and failed to adequately summarise the discussion — JzG is admonished.
- Passed 10 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Arkon (reminder)
6) Arkon is reminded that
- Passed 7 to 4 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Community encouraged (BLP) (2)
7.1) The community is encouraged to hold an RfC to supplement the existing
- Passed 6 to 4 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Community encouraged (April Fools Day)
8) The community is encouraged to hold an RfC regarding whether the leniency for April Fools Day jokes should be continued and if so, what should be allowed.
- Passed 10 to 0 with 1 abstention at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
Enforcement
Enforcement of restrictions
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.
- In accordance with the procedure for the standard enforcement provision adopted 3 May 2014, this provision did not require a vote.
Appeals and modifications
0) Appeals and modifications
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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:
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- In accordance with the procedure for the standard appeals and modifications provision adopted 3 May 2014, this provision did not require a vote.
Enforcement log
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.