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{{Short description|Misplaced Pages policy}} | |||
{{policy|] ]}} | |||
{{redirect|WP:Banning|banned links|Misplaced Pages:Spam blacklist|banned titles|MediaWiki:Titleblacklist}} | |||
The Misplaced Pages '''ban''' is a formal ] of editing privileges on all or part of Misplaced Pages. A ban may be temporary and of fixed duration, or indefinite and potentially permanent. The standard invitation Misplaced Pages extends to "edit this page" does not apply to banned users. | |||
{{for|partial lists of banned and restricted editors|Misplaced Pages:Long-term abuse|Category:Banned Misplaced Pages users|Category:Wikipedians banned by the Wikimedia Foundation|Misplaced Pages:Editing restrictions}} | |||
{{hatnote|Not to be confused with ]. See {{section link|#Difference between bans and blocks}}.}} | |||
{{pp-semi-indef}}{{pp-move-indef}}{{policy|subcategory=enforcement|WP:BAN|WP:BANPOL}} | |||
{{nutshell|Problematic behaviour may lead to editing restrictions (partial or complete) to be applied to any editor, either by community consensus or by the Arbitration Committee.}} | |||
{{Enforcement policy list}} | |||
A '''ban''' is a formal prohibition from editing some or all pages on the English Misplaced Pages, or a formal prohibition from making certain types of edits on Misplaced Pages pages. Bans can be imposed for a specified or an indefinite duration. | |||
Bans are a possible outcome of ]. They may be imposed by a ] of the ], by the ], the ], or by ] (]). A ban is normally a '''site ban''' (prohibiting all editing), but it may be limited to a '''page ban''', a '''topic ban''' (prohibiting edits on pages relating to certain topic areas) or an '''interaction ban''' (prohibiting edits that interact with certain other editors). In certain cases, '''global bans''', which prohibit the editing of any Wikimedia Foundation wiki, can be issued. | |||
Users may be banned as a result of the ] process. | |||
Bans are different from ], which are used by administrators to technically prevent a user account or ] from editing Misplaced Pages. Blocks are used chiefly to deal with immediate problems such as ], ] or ]. A ban, on the other hand, does not technically prevent editing; however, blocks may be used to ]. | |||
While bans often apply to the entire project, partial bans are sometimes used when a user's disruptive activities are limited to a specific page or subject matter. For example, a user may be banned from a single article or an entire subject area. Users who violate partial bans are blocked temporarily to enforce the ban. Where appropriate, partial bans may extend to include ]. | |||
==Types of bans== | |||
Banning should not be confused with ''']''', a technical mechanism used to prevent an account or ] from editing Misplaced Pages. While blocks are one mechanism used to enforce bans, they are most often used to deal with ] and violations of the ]. Blocks are not the only mechanism used to enforce bans. A ban is a ] and does not, in itself, disable a user's ability to edit any page. | |||
The following are the common types of bans; other bans may be used when appropriate: | |||
===Site ban=== | |||
{{shortcut|WP:SBAN}} | |||
Unless otherwise specified, a ban is a '''site ban'''. An editor who is site-banned is forbidden from making any edit, anywhere on Misplaced Pages, via any account or as an unregistered user, under any and all circumstances. The ''only'' exception is that editors with talk page access may appeal in accordance with ]. | |||
===Article ban or page ban=== | |||
{{anchor|Article ban}} | |||
{{shortcut|WP:ABAN|WP:PBAN}} | |||
An article ban forbids an editor from editing a specific article or set of articles. The text of the ban should state whether the ban includes or excludes the article's talk page. Editors subject to an article ban are free to edit other related pages or discuss the topic elsewhere on Misplaced Pages. Article bans may be enforced using ] from the affected pages. | |||
When the word "page" is used in a ban, it means <strong>any page on Misplaced Pages</strong>, including for example user, talk, discussion, file, category or template pages. The word "article" usually refers only to ] pages. If any other related pages (such as the page's ]) are to be covered it will usually be stated explicitly. | |||
===Topic ban=== | |||
{{shortcut|WP:TBAN}} | |||
The purpose of a topic ban is to forbid editors from making edits related to a certain topic area where ], but to allow them to edit the rest of Misplaced Pages. Unless clearly and unambiguously specified otherwise, a topic ban covers all ''pages'' (not only articles) broadly related to the topic, as well as the ''parts of other pages'' that are related to the topic, as encapsulated in the phrase "]". For example, if an editor is banned from the topic "weather", this editor is forbidden from editing not only the article ], but also everything else that has to do with weather, such as: | |||
* weather-related articles and ], such as ] and ], and their talk pages; | |||
* weather-related ] such as all of the categories that are associated with ]; | |||
* weather-related project pages, such as ]; | |||
* weather-related parts of other pages, even if the pages as a whole have little or nothing to do with weather: the ] in the article ], for example, is covered by the topic ban, but the rest of the article is not; | |||
* discussions or suggestions about weather-related topics anywhere on Misplaced Pages, for instance, a ] concerning an article about a ], but also including ] and the user's own ] (including ]). | |||
Currently active editing restrictions (including topic bans) can be found at ] and ]. | |||
===Interaction ban=== | |||
{{shortcut|WP:IBAN}} | |||
The purpose of an interaction ban (IBAN) is to stop a conflict between individuals. A one-way interaction ban forbids one user from interacting with another user. A two-way interaction ban forbids both users from interacting with each other. Although the interaction-banned users are generally allowed to edit the same pages or discussions so long as they avoid each other, they are not allowed to interact with each other. | |||
For example, if Bar is banned from interacting with Foo, Bar would not be allowed to: | |||
* edit Foo's user and talk pages; | |||
* reply to Foo in discussions; | |||
* mention @Foo by ]; | |||
* make reference to or comment on Foo anywhere on Misplaced Pages, directly or indirectly; | |||
* undo Foo's edits to any page, whether by use of the revert function or by other means; | |||
* use the ] extension to respond to Foo's edits. | |||
A no-fault two-way interaction ban is often a quick and painless way to prevent a dispute from causing further distress or wider disruption. | |||
Interaction bans are listed at ]. | |||
===Exceptions to limited bans=== | |||
{{shortcut|WP:BANEX}} | |||
Unless stated otherwise, article, page, topic, or interaction bans do not apply to the following: | |||
# Reverting <strong>obvious</strong> ] (such as page content being replaced by obscenities) or <strong>obvious</strong> violations of the ]. The key word is "obvious" {{endash}} that is, cases in which no reasonable person could disagree.<ref>If someone is banned from the Misplaced Pages namespace, administrative boards, or is under a similar restriction, this exception <strong>does not</strong> allow for reporting vandalism to administrative noticeboards. (See ].)</ref> | |||
# Engaging in legitimate and necessary dispute resolution, e.g. addressing a legitimate concern ''about the ban itself'' in an appropriate forum. Examples include: | |||
#* asking an administrator to take action against a violation of an interaction ban by another user (but normally not more than once, and only by mentioning the fact of the violation) | |||
#* asking for necessary clarifications about the scope of the ban | |||
#* appealing the ban | |||
As a banned user, if you think your editing is exempted from the ban according to these rules, you should explain why that is so at the time of the edit, for example in the ]. When in doubt, do not make the edit. Instead, engage in ] or ask whoever imposed the ban to clarify. | |||
=== Global ban=== | |||
{{main|Misplaced Pages:Global actions#Global bans}} | |||
{{see also|m:Global bans}} | |||
The Wikimedia community, or the Wikimedia Foundation, may impose a global ban on editors. A global ban prohibits an editor from making any edit under any circumstance to any ]. | |||
== Decision to ban == | == Decision to ban == | ||
:''See also: ], ] and ]. Note that the absence of editors from these lists does not necessarily mean that they are not banned.'' | |||
=== Authority to ban === | |||
The decision to ban a user can arise from various sources: | |||
{{Shortcut|WP:BANAUTH}} | |||
The decision to ban an editor can be made by the following groups or persons: | |||
# The Misplaced Pages community can impose a ban by ], as described in ]. | |||
# The Misplaced Pages community, making decisions according to appropriate community-designed policies with consensus support, either overtly or implictly. | |||
# The ] can |
# The ] can impose a ban, usually in response to a ]. | ||
# |
# Both the Arbitration Committee and the Misplaced Pages community may delegate the authority to impose bans. They have authorized administrators to impose editing restrictions (including bans) in certain topic areas (see ] and ]). | ||
# Individual administrators may impose ] (such as page, topic, and interaction bans) with the agreement of the blocked user. | |||
# ] retains the authority to ban users. | |||
# The ] has the authority to ban |
# The ] has the authority to ban editors (see ] and ]). | ||
# Users may be ] from the English Misplaced Pages and all other Wikimedia projects, either by the broader Wikimedia community or by the Wikimedia Foundation. In the case of the former, English Misplaced Pages users will be explicitly invited to participate in the ] to ban the user in question. | |||
Except as noted above, individual editors, including administrators, may not directly impose bans. | |||
== Community ban == | |||
==== Community bans and restrictions ==== | |||
There have been situations where a user has exhausted the community's patience to the point where he or she has been blocked long term (usually indefinitely) by an administrator—and no one is willing to unblock them. Such users may have been blocked as a result of the ], or the community may have discussed their behaviour on a relevant noticeboard such as ] or the now-defunct ], and reached a consensus to ban the user. | |||
{{shortcut|WP:CBAN}} | |||
The community may reach a ] to impose various types of sanctions on editors: | |||
* If an editor has proven to be repeatedly disruptive in one or more areas of Misplaced Pages, the community may impose a time-limited or indefinite topic ban, interaction ban, site ban, or other editing restriction(s) via a consensus of editors who are not involved in the underlying dispute. When determining consensus, the closing administrator will assess the strength and quality of the arguments made. | |||
* In some cases the community may review a block or an editor's unblock request and reach a consensus of uninvolved editors to endorse the block as a community sanction. | |||
* Editors who are indefinitely blocked by community consensus, or remain indefinitely blocked after due consideration by the community, are considered "banned by the Misplaced Pages community".<ref>]</ref> | |||
** Exception: A third-party block review that results in a normal administrator block being endorsed is not converted into a community ban.<ref>]</ref> | |||
Community sanctions may be discussed on the ] (preferred) or on ]. Discussions may be organized via a template to distinguish comments by involved and uninvolved editors, and to allow the subject editor to post a response. Sanction discussions ''must'' be kept open for at least 24 hours before any sanction is implemented to allow time for comments from a broad selection of community members.<ref>]</ref> For site bans, the discussion must be kept open for 72 hours except in cases where there is limited opposition and the outcome is obvious after 24 hours.<ref>]</ref> If the discussion appears to have reached a consensus for a particular sanction, an uninvolved administrator ] the discussion, notifies the subject accordingly, and enacts any blocks called for. Except for a site ban, the sanction should be logged at the appropriate venue if necessary, usually ] or ]. If a block is administered to enforce a community sanction, please include a link to the discussion and note that the block is enforcing a community sanction in the block log. All granted user rights groups of an indefinitely site-banned editor ].<ref>See ]</ref> | |||
A user is '''] banned''' when they are indefinitely blocked and no administrator is willing to unblock. A user is '''consensus banned''' when a community discussion results in a consensus to ban. Individual administrators may overrule a de facto ban by unblocking, but may not overrule a consensus ban. A consensus ban may be appealed to Arbcom, or may be lifted by a community discussion that results in a consensus to unban. | |||
Editors without usernames may be banned by the community (]), but bans of editors using only IP addresses are rare. | |||
Users blocked under these circumstances are considered to have been "banned by the Misplaced Pages community." If there is a demonstrated consensus of community support for the block, the user should be listed on ] (under "Community"). | |||
===Bans for repeated block evasion=== | |||
== Appeals process == | |||
{{shortcut|WP:THREESTRIKES|WP:3STRIKES|WP:3X}} | |||
Bans imposed by the community may be appealed to the ]. Banned users should not create sockpuppets to file an appeal. Rather, they should contact a member of the committee or an ] by email and ask that a request be filed on their behalf. Generally speaking, the banned user will make the request on his or her talk page, which will be copied to ] by a clerk. In some cases, a banned user may be unblocked for the purpose of filing an appeal. In such cases, editing of unrelated pages is grounds for immediate re-blocking. | |||
Editors who are confirmed by a ] to have engaged in ] on at least two occasions after an initial indefinite block that is active, for any reason, are to be considered site banned by the English Misplaced Pages community.<ref>]</ref> CheckUser findings<ref>CheckUser findings include any statement by a CheckUser connecting specific accounts on the English Misplaced Pages based on private technical evidence. In addition to the standard unban requirements, a CheckUser must also be consulted to unblock users that are ].</ref> must be documented on Misplaced Pages before a user is considered banned. Users who have been banned in this way are subject to the same unban conditions as users banned by community discussion. | |||
Administrators or ] will normally tag the master account's user page with {{tlg|sockpuppeteer|checked{{=}}yes|banned}}. If the user made substantial good faith contributions before being banned, a notice should be placed on the ] alerting the community to the ban. | |||
Users who have been banned indefinitely by the Arbitration Committee may appeal to the Committee after one year. | |||
=== Recidivism may lead to a ban === | |||
While any arbitration decision may be nominally appealed to ] or the ], historically, neither has intervened. | |||
{{shortcut|WP:RECIDIVISM}} | |||
In 2012, the ] decided that "Users who have been sanctioned for improper conduct are expected to avoid repeating it should they continue to participate in the project. Failure to do so may lead to the imposition of increasingly severe sanctions."<ref>], 15 February 2012</ref> | |||
== |
=== Duration of bans === | ||
{{Shortcut|WP:BANLENGTH}} | |||
Misplaced Pages's hope for banned users is that they will leave Misplaced Pages with their pride and dignity intact, whether permanently or for the duration of their ban. As such, it is inappropriate to bait banned users or take advantage of their ban to mock them. | |||
Bans are not intended as a short-term measure. Sometimes a ban may be for a fixed period of some months. More often no period is specified, because the ban is a decision that the editor may not edit or participate in the specified matters on this site. | |||
== Review and reversal of bans == | |||
{{shortcut|WP:UNBAN}} | |||
Wikipedians are not permitted to post or edit material at the direction of a banned user, an activity sometimes called "proxying," unless they are able to confirm that the changes are verifiable and have independent reasons for making them. | |||
{{notice|1=''Banned editors ] a new account to file an appeal or to post in a discussion''. This would be considered sock-puppetry and the new account will usually be blocked. They should be seen to comply with their ban, which will gain a more favorable opinion. Appeals and comments related to an existing ban should be submitted as described below.}} | |||
=== Appeals of bans imposed by the community === | |||
== Evasion and enforcement == | |||
Bans imposed by the community may be appealed to the community or, where there are serious questions about the validity of the ban discussion or its closure, to the ].<ref name="reluctantCommittee">Note the committee generally considers appeals of community sanctions only if there were serious questions about the validity of the ban discussion or its closure, as discussed at a ]</ref> | |||
* '''Editors who are banned from a topic area or certain pages but can otherwise edit''', may appeal (and comment in an appeal discussion) on-wiki, either at the ], or, if there are serious questions about the validity of the ban discussion or its closure, by ].<ref name="reluctantCommittee"/> | |||
* '''Editors who cannot edit any page except their own talk page''' may: | |||
** Post an appeal {{t|unblock}} template or comment there, by email or other off-site means such as the ] (UTRS), and ask for it to be reposted to the appropriate discussion board. This is a voluntary act and should not be abused or used to excess. | |||
** Submit an appeal to ] and ask an administrator to post it to the appropriate discussion board. This is a voluntary act and should not be abused or used to excess. | |||
** Where there are serious questions about the validity of the ban discussion or its closure, appeal by email to the Arbitration Committee. An email appeal must specify the banned editor's Misplaced Pages username and any other usernames they have used to edit Misplaced Pages in the past two years. (Using Misplaced Pages's email feature to email ] automatically reveals the account used for sending it.) The appeal should clearly but succinctly explain the reasons the editor feels the ban should be overturned, such as what lessons the editor has learned since the ban or block was imposed, how the editor would conduct themself differently in the future if they are allowed to resume editing, or why they believe the ban was unfair. The editor should also include links to any relevant on-wiki discussions and any other information necessary to understand the grounds for the appeal. | |||
* '''Editors unable to edit any page (even their own talk page)''' should appeal through the ] asking an administrator to post their appeal to the appropriate discussion board. This is a voluntary act, and should not be abused or used to excess. | |||
* In some cases, a banned editor may be unblocked for the purpose of filing an appeal. In such cases, editing of any unrelated page or other matter is grounds for immediate re-blocking. Editors banned by the Arbitration Committee must appeal to the Committee (see below). | |||
===Appeal of Arbitration Committee decisions=== | |||
* '''Editors who are banned from a topic area or certain pages but can otherwise edit''', may appeal (and comment in an appeal discussion) on-wiki, by filing an ]. | |||
* '''Editors who are blocked from editing by the Arbitration Committee''' can appeal by emailing the Arbitration Committee using the ] or, if email is disabled, by emailing {{Nospam|arbcom-en|wikimedia.org}}.<p>An email appeal must specify the banned editor's Misplaced Pages username and any other usernames they have used to edit Misplaced Pages in the past two years. The appeal should clearly but succinctly explain the reasons the editor feels the ban should be overturned, such as what lessons the editor has learned since the ban or block was imposed, how the editor would conduct themself differently in the future if they are allowed to resume editing, or why they believe the ban was unfair. The editor should also include links to any relevant on-wiki discussions and any other information necessary to understand the grounds for the appeal.</p> | |||
=== Arbitration enforcement bans === | |||
The following are the applicable parts from the standard provision for appeals of arbitration enforcement bans: | |||
{{Quotation|2=Arbitration Committee|3=]|1= | |||
'''Appeals by sanctioned editors''' | |||
Appeals may be made only by the editor under sanction and only for a currently active sanction. The process has three possible stages (see "Important notes" below). The editor may: | |||
# ask the enforcing administrator to reconsider their original decision; | |||
# request review at the ] ("AE") or at the ] ("AN"); and | |||
# submit a request for amendment at ]. If the editor is blocked, the appeal may be made by email through ] (or, if email access is revoked, to {{Nospam|arbcom-en|wikimedia.org}}). | |||
'''Important notes''': | |||
# For a request to succeed, either<p>(i) the clear and substantial consensus of (a) uninvolved administrators at AE or (b) uninvolved editors at AN or<br>(ii) a passing motion of arbitrators at ARCA</p><p>is required. If consensus at AE or AN is unclear, the status quo prevails.</p> | |||
# <li value="2"> While asking the enforcing administrator and seeking reviews at AN or AE are not mandatory prior to seeking a decision from the committee, once the committee has reviewed a request, further substantive review at any forum is barred. The sole exception is editors under an active sanction who may still request an easing or removal of the sanction on the grounds that said sanction is no longer needed, but such requests may be made only once every six months, or whatever longer period the committee may specify. | |||
# These provisions apply only to discretionary sanctions placed by administrators and to blocks placed by administrators to enforce arbitration case decisions. They do not apply to sanctions directly authorised by the committee, and enacted either by arbitrators or by arbitration clerks, or to special functionary blocks of whatever nature.}} | |||
== Evasion and enforcement == | |||
{{shortcut|WP:BANEVASION}} | |||
Misplaced Pages's approach to enforcing bans balances a number of competing concerns: | Misplaced Pages's approach to enforcing bans balances a number of competing concerns: | ||
* Maximizing the quality of the encyclopedia. | * Maximizing the quality of the encyclopedia. | ||
* Avoiding inconvenience or aggravation to any victims of mistaken identity. | * Avoiding inconvenience or aggravation to any victims of mistaken identity. | ||
* Maximizing the number of |
* Maximizing the number of editors who can edit Misplaced Pages. | ||
* Avoiding conflict within the community over banned |
* Avoiding conflict within the community over banned editors. | ||
* Dissuading or preventing banned |
* Dissuading or preventing banned editors from editing Misplaced Pages or the relevant area of the ban. | ||
As a result, enforcement has a number of aspects. |
As a result, enforcement has a number of aspects. While all editors are expected to respect the enforcement of policies by not undermining or sabotaging them, no editor is personally obligated to help enforce any ban. | ||
{{anchor|Banned means banned}} | |||
=== Bans apply to all editing, good or bad === | |||
{{shortcut|WP:BMB}} | |||
Editors are site-banned or topic-banned only as a last resort, usually for extreme or very persistent problems that have not been resolved by lesser sanctions and that often result in considerable disruption or stress to other editors. A ban is not merely a request to avoid editing "unless they behave". The measure of a ban is that even if the editor were to make good or good-faith edits, permitting them to edit in those areas is perceived to pose enough risk of disruption, issues, or harm, to the page or to the project, that they may not edit at all, <em>even if the edits seem good</em>.<ref>Examples of use at ]: , , ("A ban is a ban. It's not uncommon for people to make "good" edits to create a soapbox for disputing their ban and/or thumbing their nose at the project. Let's not enable them").</ref> | |||
A number of banned editors have used "good editing" (such as anti-vandalism edits) tactically, to try to ] the banning system, "prove" they cannot be banned, or force editors into the paradox of either allowing banned editing or removing good content. Even if such editors make only good edits, they will be rebanned for evasion.<ref>For example .</ref> | |||
On very rare occasions, a limited exception may be requested; for example, to participate in a particular discussion.<ref>For example, where a topic-banned editor was allowed to participate in featured content discussions of his (non-contentious) diagrams.</ref> | |||
If there is any doubt whether a limited ban prohibits any specific edit, the banned editor should assume that it does, unless whoever imposed the ban expressly clarifies that it does not. If clarification is not sought before making the edit, the banned editor assumes the risk that an administrator takes a broader view of the scope of the ban and enforces it with a block or other sanction. | |||
=== Blocks === | === Blocks === | ||
In the case of project-wide bans, the primary account of any banned editor may be entirely blocked for the duration of the ban. Partial bans may be backed up by ], but note that the scope of a ban is defined by its wording and not by the presence of partial blocks. Users that violate the terms of a partial ban may be site-wide blocked to enforce the ban. | |||
If the banned |
If the banned editor creates ] accounts to evade the ban, these usually will be blocked as well. When evasion is a problem, the ] of a banned editor who edits from a static IP address may also be blocked for the duration of the ban. If a banned editor evades the ban from a range of addresses, short-term IP blocks may be used. <!-- range blocks for the duration of the ban are no longer used --> | ||
=== |
=== Reset of ban following evasion === | ||
It is customary for the |
It is customary for the ban to be reset or extended if a banned editor continues to edit (or attempts to edit) in spite of the ban. No formal consideration is typically necessary. For example, if someone is topic-banned from "Weather" for ten months, but on the sixth month edits the "Climate" section of ], four months from the ban expiry, then the ban may be restarted at ten months, so if the editor does not subsequently evade the ban again, their eventual total duration would be 16 months. Repeated evasion may lead to a longer or more serious sanction. | ||
When an editor who has been banned or has had their account blocked tries to evade this by creating a new account, it is known as a '''reincarnation''' of the old account. Obvious reincarnations are easily dealt with—the account is blocked and contributions are reverted or deleted, as discussed above. See ] for policy on dealing with unclear cases. | |||
=== Enforcement by reverting edits === | |||
Any edits made in defiance of a ban may be ] to enforce the ban, regardless of the merits of the edits themselves. As the banned user is not authorized to make those edits, there is no need to discuss them prior to reversion. Users are generally expected to refrain from reinstating edits made by banned users. Users who reinstate such edits take complete responsibility for the content by so doing. | |||
{{anchor|revert}}<section begin="banblockevasion"/> | |||
It is not possible to revert newly created pages, as there is nothing to revert to. Such pages may be ]. Any user can put a {{tl|db-banned}} to mark such a page. | |||
=== Edits by and on behalf of banned and blocked editors <span id="Edits by and on behalf of banned users" ></span><span id="Enforcement by reverting edits" ></span> === | |||
<includeonly>{{See also|Misplaced Pages:Banning policy#Edits by and on behalf of banned and blocked editors}}</includeonly><noinclude>{{shortcut|WP:BRV|WP:BANREVERT|WP:REVERTBAN}}</noinclude> | |||
Anyone is free to ] any edits made in violation of a ban or block, without giving any further reason and ]. This does not mean that edits <em>must</em> be reverted just because they were made by a banned editor (changes that are obviously helpful, such as fixing typos or undoing vandalism, can be allowed to stand), but the presumption in ambiguous cases should be to revert. | |||
When reverting edits, care should be taken not to reinstate material that may be in violation of such core policies as ], ], and ]. | |||
Pages created by banned or blocked users in violation of their ban or block, and which have no substantial edits made to it by others, are eligible for ]. If the page in question contains ''substantial'' edits made to it by good faith users, it is not eligible for G5. | |||
Since categorization can impact many pages, and deletion of a category without merging can leave pages orphaned, you should carefully consider what to do with categories created by a banned or blocked user. Blatantly useless categories can be speedy-deleted, as well as any categories which clearly violate existing category standards. Care should nonetheless be taken to see if articles need to be merged to a parent category before the speedy deletion. Categories created by a banned user which may be useful or fit into a larger category scheme can be tagged for discussion and possible merging using the ] process instead of deleting them outright. | |||
====Proxying==== | |||
<noinclude>{{redirect|WP:PROXYING|the Misplaced Pages policy on open proxy servers|WP:PROXY}} | |||
{{policy shortcut|WP:PROXYING}}</noinclude> | |||
Editors in turn are not permitted to post or edit material at the <em>direction</em> of a banned or blocked editor (sometimes called '''proxy editing''' or '''proxying''') unless they are able to show that the changes are productive <strong>and</strong> they have independent reasons for making such edits. Editors who reinstate edits made by a banned or blocked editor take complete responsibility for the content. | |||
New accounts which engage in the same behavior as a banned or blocked editor in the same context, and who appear to be editing Misplaced Pages solely for that purpose, are subject to the remedies applied to the editor whose behavior they are imitating.<ref>See {{Section link|Misplaced Pages:Requests for arbitration/Agapetos angel#Meatpuppets}}. See also: ]</ref> See the policy on ] and ].<section end="banblockevasion"/> | |||
=== User pages === | === User pages === | ||
{{shortcut|WP:BANNOTICE}} | |||
Banned users' ] may be replaced by a notice of the ban and links to any applicable discussion or decision-making pages. The purpose of this notice is to announce the ban to editors encountering the banned user's edits. Unlike editors who have been temporarily blocked, banned users are not permitted to edit their user and user talk pages. | |||
Site banned and globally banned editors' ] should be updated with a notice of the ban, linking to any applicable discussion or decision-making pages. The purpose of this notice is to announce the ban to editors encountering the banned editor's edits. | |||
=== |
=== Further enforcement measures === | ||
Serious, ongoing ban evasion is sometimes dealt with by technical means or by making an abuse complaint with the operator of the network from which the edits originate. | Serious, ongoing ban evasion is sometimes dealt with by technical means or by making an abuse complaint with the operator of the network from which the edits originate. | ||
Indefinitely site-banned editors may be restricted from editing their user talk page or using email. | |||
== Reincarnations == | |||
== Difference between bans and blocks == | |||
Banned users sometimes return to Misplaced Pages using another user name. Obvious reincarnations are easily dealt with — the account is blocked and contributions are reverted or deleted, as discussed above. See ] for policy on dealing with unclear cases. | |||
{{policy shortcut|WP:BLOCKBANDIFF|WP:BANBLOCKDIFF}} | |||
The standard distinction is that a ban is a social decision about the right to edit; a block is a technically imposed enforcement setting. Blocks are much more common than bans; in 2023, more than 80,000 accounts were blocked.<ref>] found that 73,528 (3.7%) editors who created an account in 2023 had been blocked at least once during (or shortly after) that year; ] found that 82,865 total (new and older) accounts were blocked at least once during the year.</ref> | |||
The MediaWiki software allows the ability to block editing of individual pages, known as a ']', and sometimes this is used as a means of enforcing a specific set of ban conditions. However, bans such as topic bans or interaction bans still require human judgement to enforce and assess, and the presence or not of a partial block in furtherance of a topic ban or interaction ban should not be seen as a limitation on the scope of such a ban, which is defined by the wording of the ban and not of the presence or not of partial blocks. Editors who are banned from specific pages or topics must immediately cease editing these pages or topics. If they do not, <em>then</em> a block will be used to enforce the ban. Such a block will necessarily prevent their editing of the entire site, but they are not banned <em>from</em> the site and remain members of the community. | |||
== Outside influence == | |||
Attempts to coerce actions of users through threats of actions outside the Misplaced Pages processes, whether onsite or offsite, are grounds for immediate banning. | |||
An editor who is "sitebanned" (which may sometimes be described as a "full ban") has been completely ejected from the project. For the duration of their ban, their edits are subject to reversion, although ] towards them remain unacceptable. | |||
== Scope and reciprocity == | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
The English-language Misplaced Pages does not have authority over the ], sister projects, or Wikipedias in languages other than English. As such, bans issued by the Misplaced Pages community or by the Arbitration Committee are not binding on other projects. | |||
|+ Difference between bans and blocks | |||
|- | |||
! scope="col" | Type of sanction | |||
! scope="col" | ] | |||
! scope="col" | Site blocked<br />(including "]") | |||
! scope="col" | Page/topic banned | |||
! scope="col" | Site banned | |||
|- | |||
! scope="row" | Scope of block/ban | |||
| Specific pages, namespaces, or tools specified in the ] | |||
| Entire site (talk page access may be allowed to discuss or appeal the block) | |||
| Specific pages, users, tools, topics, or other categories in the wording of the ban | |||
| Entire site (talk page access may be allowed to appeal the ban) | |||
|- | |||
! scope="row" | Imposing of block/ban | |||
| colspan="2" style="padding: 10px;" | May be imposed by any ] admin in accordance with the ]. | |||
| colspan="2" style="padding: 10px;" | May be imposed only by the ], the ], or by ] (or uninvolved administrators specifically authorized by one of these); users may also be banned for repeated block evasion. {{vanchor|DEFACTOBAN|text=In the event an indefinitely blocked editor has continued to be disruptive and no administrator is willing to unblock, that editor is considered to be ''de facto'' banned.}}<!--] redirects here--> | |||
|- | |||
! scope="row" | Appeal of block/ban | |||
| May be appealed to the ], via the {{tl|unblock}} template, or via ]. | |||
| May be appealed by placing the {{tl|unblock}} template on one's own talk page, or by submitting a ]. | |||
| May be appealed at the appropriate time to the ] (for community bans), by filing an ] (for arbitration bans), or to the Wikimedia Foundation (for Foundation imposed bans). | |||
| | |||
* Community bans, except those where the nature of the ban is unsuitable for public discussion, may be appealed at the appropriate time by using the {{tl|unblock}} template on one's own talk page or by submitting an appeal to ], by which an administrator will copy the appeal to the appropriate venue. | |||
* Site bans imposed by the Arbitration Committee can only be appealed to the Committee by email. | |||
* Site bans imposed by the Wikimedia Foundation can only be appealed to the Wikimedia Foundation, but not all WMF bans are appealable. | |||
|- | |||
! scope="row" | Removal of block/ban | |||
| colspan="2" | May be lifted by any uninvolved admin, except ], ], ] and ] | |||
| colspan="2" | | |||
* Bans imposed by community consensus or for repeated block evasion may be lifted by community discussion (unless needing ArbCom review) | |||
* Bans imposed by the Arbitration Committee may be lifted by the Arbitration Committee | |||
* Bans imposed by the Wikimedia Foundation may be lifted by the Foundation | |||
|- | |||
! scope="row" | {{nowrap|Content created during}} block or ban<br />{{nobold|(by the user or by someone acting on their behalf)}} | |||
| colspan="4" | Edits in violation of the block or ban may be reverted (]). Pages created in violation of the block or ban that lack non-violating contributions and content may be speedily deleted under ]. | |||
|} | |||
== Other considerations == | |||
Reciprocal recognition of bans is an unsettled area of policy, in part because of the relative rarity of cases where banned users attempt to join another project. | |||
{{anchor|npab}} | |||
=== Conduct towards banned editors === | |||
{{policy shortcut|WP:CONDUCTTOBANNED|WP:CTBE}} | |||
{{see also|Misplaced Pages:Gravedancing}} | |||
Misplaced Pages's hope for banned editors is that they will leave Misplaced Pages or the affected area with their pride and dignity intact, whether permanently or for the duration of their ban. <strong>It is unacceptable to take advantage of banned editors</strong>, whether by mocking, baiting, or otherwise abusing them. ], ], and other prohibited behaviours remain unacceptable even if directed towards a banned editor. | |||
=== Scope and reciprocity === | |||
{{policy shortcut|WP:BANOP}} | |||
The English-language Misplaced Pages does not have authority over the ], Wikimedia sister projects, or Wikipedias in languages other than English. As such, bans issued by the English Misplaced Pages community or Arbitration Committee have no effect on other projects. | |||
== See also == | == See also == | ||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] and ], from ] | |||
* ] | * ] | ||
* ] | |||
* ] - coordination point for bans made on other WMF projects | |||
* ] | |||
] | * ] | ||
] | * ] | ||
* ] | |||
== Notes == | |||
{{reflist}} | |||
{{New admin school|state=collapsed}} | |||
] | |||
{{Misplaced Pages accounts|state=collapsed}} | |||
] | |||
] | ] | ||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] |
Latest revision as of 05:00, 20 December 2024
Misplaced Pages policy "WP:Banning" redirects here. For banned links, see Misplaced Pages:Spam blacklist. For banned titles, see MediaWiki:Titleblacklist. For partial lists of banned and restricted editors, see Misplaced Pages:Long-term abuse, Category:Banned Misplaced Pages users, Category:Wikipedians banned by the Wikimedia Foundation, and Misplaced Pages:Editing restrictions. Not to be confused with Misplaced Pages:Blocking policy. See § Difference between bans and blocks.This page documents an English Misplaced Pages policy.It describes a widely accepted standard that editors should normally follow, though exceptions may apply. Changes made to it should reflect consensus. | Shortcuts |
This page in a nutshell: Problematic behaviour may lead to editing restrictions (partial or complete) to be applied to any editor, either by community consensus or by the Arbitration Committee. |
Enforcement policies |
---|
A ban is a formal prohibition from editing some or all pages on the English Misplaced Pages, or a formal prohibition from making certain types of edits on Misplaced Pages pages. Bans can be imposed for a specified or an indefinite duration.
Bans are a possible outcome of dispute resolution. They may be imposed by a consensus of the community, by the Arbitration Committee, the Wikimedia Foundation, or by administrators (in certain topic areas). A ban is normally a site ban (prohibiting all editing), but it may be limited to a page ban, a topic ban (prohibiting edits on pages relating to certain topic areas) or an interaction ban (prohibiting edits that interact with certain other editors). In certain cases, global bans, which prohibit the editing of any Wikimedia Foundation wiki, can be issued.
Bans are different from blocks, which are used by administrators to technically prevent a user account or IP address from editing Misplaced Pages. Blocks are used chiefly to deal with immediate problems such as vandalism, disruptive editing or edit warring. A ban, on the other hand, does not technically prevent editing; however, blocks may be used to enforce bans.
Types of bans
The following are the common types of bans; other bans may be used when appropriate:
Site ban
ShortcutUnless otherwise specified, a ban is a site ban. An editor who is site-banned is forbidden from making any edit, anywhere on Misplaced Pages, via any account or as an unregistered user, under any and all circumstances. The only exception is that editors with talk page access may appeal in accordance with the provisions below.
Article ban or page ban
Shortcuts
An article ban forbids an editor from editing a specific article or set of articles. The text of the ban should state whether the ban includes or excludes the article's talk page. Editors subject to an article ban are free to edit other related pages or discuss the topic elsewhere on Misplaced Pages. Article bans may be enforced using partial blocks from the affected pages.
When the word "page" is used in a ban, it means any page on Misplaced Pages, including for example user, talk, discussion, file, category or template pages. The word "article" usually refers only to mainspace pages. If any other related pages (such as the page's talk page) are to be covered it will usually be stated explicitly.
Topic ban
ShortcutThe purpose of a topic ban is to forbid editors from making edits related to a certain topic area where their contributions have been disruptive, but to allow them to edit the rest of Misplaced Pages. Unless clearly and unambiguously specified otherwise, a topic ban covers all pages (not only articles) broadly related to the topic, as well as the parts of other pages that are related to the topic, as encapsulated in the phrase "broadly construed". For example, if an editor is banned from the topic "weather", this editor is forbidden from editing not only the article Weather, but also everything else that has to do with weather, such as:
- weather-related articles and lists, such as Wind and List of weather records, and their talk pages;
- weather-related categories such as all of the categories that are associated with Category:Weather;
- weather-related project pages, such as WikiProject Meteorology;
- weather-related parts of other pages, even if the pages as a whole have little or nothing to do with weather: the section entitled "Climate" in the article California, for example, is covered by the topic ban, but the rest of the article is not;
- discussions or suggestions about weather-related topics anywhere on Misplaced Pages, for instance, a deletion discussion concerning an article about a meteorologist, but also including edit summaries and the user's own user and talk pages (including sandboxes).
Currently active editing restrictions (including topic bans) can be found at WP:AEDR and WP:AELOG.
Interaction ban
ShortcutThe purpose of an interaction ban (IBAN) is to stop a conflict between individuals. A one-way interaction ban forbids one user from interacting with another user. A two-way interaction ban forbids both users from interacting with each other. Although the interaction-banned users are generally allowed to edit the same pages or discussions so long as they avoid each other, they are not allowed to interact with each other.
For example, if Bar is banned from interacting with Foo, Bar would not be allowed to:
- edit Foo's user and talk pages;
- reply to Foo in discussions;
- mention @Foo by linking to their user page;
- make reference to or comment on Foo anywhere on Misplaced Pages, directly or indirectly;
- undo Foo's edits to any page, whether by use of the revert function or by other means;
- use the thanks extension to respond to Foo's edits.
A no-fault two-way interaction ban is often a quick and painless way to prevent a dispute from causing further distress or wider disruption.
Interaction bans are listed at Misplaced Pages:Editing restrictions.
Exceptions to limited bans
ShortcutUnless stated otherwise, article, page, topic, or interaction bans do not apply to the following:
- Reverting obvious vandalism (such as page content being replaced by obscenities) or obvious violations of the policy about biographies of living persons. The key word is "obvious" – that is, cases in which no reasonable person could disagree.
- Engaging in legitimate and necessary dispute resolution, e.g. addressing a legitimate concern about the ban itself in an appropriate forum. Examples include:
- asking an administrator to take action against a violation of an interaction ban by another user (but normally not more than once, and only by mentioning the fact of the violation)
- asking for necessary clarifications about the scope of the ban
- appealing the ban
As a banned user, if you think your editing is exempted from the ban according to these rules, you should explain why that is so at the time of the edit, for example in the edit summary. When in doubt, do not make the edit. Instead, engage in dispute resolution or ask whoever imposed the ban to clarify.
Global ban
Main page: Misplaced Pages:Global actions § Global bans See also: m:Global bansThe Wikimedia community, or the Wikimedia Foundation, may impose a global ban on editors. A global ban prohibits an editor from making any edit under any circumstance to any Wikimedia project.
Decision to ban
- See also: Category:Banned Misplaced Pages users, Misplaced Pages:Editing restrictions and Misplaced Pages:Long-term abuse. Note that the absence of editors from these lists does not necessarily mean that they are not banned.
Authority to ban
ShortcutThe decision to ban an editor can be made by the following groups or persons:
- The Misplaced Pages community can impose a ban by consensus, as described in § Community bans and restrictions.
- The Arbitration Committee can impose a ban, usually in response to a request for arbitration.
- Both the Arbitration Committee and the Misplaced Pages community may delegate the authority to impose bans. They have authorized administrators to impose editing restrictions (including bans) in certain topic areas (see Misplaced Pages:Contentious topics and Misplaced Pages:General sanctions).
- Individual administrators may impose unblock conditions (such as page, topic, and interaction bans) with the agreement of the blocked user.
- The Wikimedia Foundation has the authority to ban editors (see meta:WMF Global Ban Policy and Category:Wikipedians banned by the Wikimedia Foundation).
- Users may be globally banned from the English Misplaced Pages and all other Wikimedia projects, either by the broader Wikimedia community or by the Wikimedia Foundation. In the case of the former, English Misplaced Pages users will be explicitly invited to participate in the Meta-Wiki discussion to ban the user in question.
Except as noted above, individual editors, including administrators, may not directly impose bans.
Community bans and restrictions
ShortcutThe community may reach a consensus to impose various types of sanctions on editors:
- If an editor has proven to be repeatedly disruptive in one or more areas of Misplaced Pages, the community may impose a time-limited or indefinite topic ban, interaction ban, site ban, or other editing restriction(s) via a consensus of editors who are not involved in the underlying dispute. When determining consensus, the closing administrator will assess the strength and quality of the arguments made.
- In some cases the community may review a block or an editor's unblock request and reach a consensus of uninvolved editors to endorse the block as a community sanction.
- Editors who are indefinitely blocked by community consensus, or remain indefinitely blocked after due consideration by the community, are considered "banned by the Misplaced Pages community".
- Exception: A third-party block review that results in a normal administrator block being endorsed is not converted into a community ban.
Community sanctions may be discussed on the Misplaced Pages:Administrators' noticeboard (preferred) or on Misplaced Pages:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents. Discussions may be organized via a template to distinguish comments by involved and uninvolved editors, and to allow the subject editor to post a response. Sanction discussions must be kept open for at least 24 hours before any sanction is implemented to allow time for comments from a broad selection of community members. For site bans, the discussion must be kept open for 72 hours except in cases where there is limited opposition and the outcome is obvious after 24 hours. If the discussion appears to have reached a consensus for a particular sanction, an uninvolved administrator closes the discussion, notifies the subject accordingly, and enacts any blocks called for. Except for a site ban, the sanction should be logged at the appropriate venue if necessary, usually Misplaced Pages:Editing restrictions or Misplaced Pages:Long-term abuse. If a block is administered to enforce a community sanction, please include a link to the discussion and note that the block is enforcing a community sanction in the block log. All granted user rights groups of an indefinitely site-banned editor should be removed.
Editors without usernames may be banned by the community (example), but bans of editors using only IP addresses are rare.
Bans for repeated block evasion
ShortcutsEditors who are confirmed by a CheckUser to have engaged in sockpuppetry on at least two occasions after an initial indefinite block that is active, for any reason, are to be considered site banned by the English Misplaced Pages community. CheckUser findings must be documented on Misplaced Pages before a user is considered banned. Users who have been banned in this way are subject to the same unban conditions as users banned by community discussion.
Administrators or sockpuppet investigations clerks will normally tag the master account's user page with {{sockpuppeteer|checked=yes|banned}}. If the user made substantial good faith contributions before being banned, a notice should be placed on the administrators' noticeboard alerting the community to the ban.
Recidivism may lead to a ban
ShortcutIn 2012, the Arbitration Committee decided that "Users who have been sanctioned for improper conduct are expected to avoid repeating it should they continue to participate in the project. Failure to do so may lead to the imposition of increasingly severe sanctions."
Duration of bans
ShortcutBans are not intended as a short-term measure. Sometimes a ban may be for a fixed period of some months. More often no period is specified, because the ban is a decision that the editor may not edit or participate in the specified matters on this site.
Review and reversal of bans
ShortcutBanned editors should not create a new account to file an appeal or to post in a discussion. This would be considered sock-puppetry and the new account will usually be blocked. They should be seen to comply with their ban, which will gain a more favorable opinion. Appeals and comments related to an existing ban should be submitted as described below. |
Appeals of bans imposed by the community
Bans imposed by the community may be appealed to the community or, where there are serious questions about the validity of the ban discussion or its closure, to the Arbitration Committee.
- Editors who are banned from a topic area or certain pages but can otherwise edit, may appeal (and comment in an appeal discussion) on-wiki, either at the administrators' noticeboard, or, if there are serious questions about the validity of the ban discussion or its closure, by filing a case request.
- Editors who cannot edit any page except their own talk page may:
- Post an appeal {{unblock}} template or comment there, by email or other off-site means such as the Unblock Ticket Request System (UTRS), and ask for it to be reposted to the appropriate discussion board. This is a voluntary act and should not be abused or used to excess.
- Submit an appeal to UTRS and ask an administrator to post it to the appropriate discussion board. This is a voluntary act and should not be abused or used to excess.
- Where there are serious questions about the validity of the ban discussion or its closure, appeal by email to the Arbitration Committee. An email appeal must specify the banned editor's Misplaced Pages username and any other usernames they have used to edit Misplaced Pages in the past two years. (Using Misplaced Pages's email feature to email Arbitration Committee automatically reveals the account used for sending it.) The appeal should clearly but succinctly explain the reasons the editor feels the ban should be overturned, such as what lessons the editor has learned since the ban or block was imposed, how the editor would conduct themself differently in the future if they are allowed to resume editing, or why they believe the ban was unfair. The editor should also include links to any relevant on-wiki discussions and any other information necessary to understand the grounds for the appeal.
- Editors unable to edit any page (even their own talk page) should appeal through the Unblock Ticket Request System asking an administrator to post their appeal to the appropriate discussion board. This is a voluntary act, and should not be abused or used to excess.
- In some cases, a banned editor may be unblocked for the purpose of filing an appeal. In such cases, editing of any unrelated page or other matter is grounds for immediate re-blocking. Editors banned by the Arbitration Committee must appeal to the Committee (see below).
Appeal of Arbitration Committee decisions
- Editors who are banned from a topic area or certain pages but can otherwise edit, may appeal (and comment in an appeal discussion) on-wiki, by filing an amendment request.
- Editors who are blocked from editing by the Arbitration Committee can appeal by emailing the Arbitration Committee using the EmailUser function or, if email is disabled, by emailing arbcom-enwikimedia.org.
An email appeal must specify the banned editor's Misplaced Pages username and any other usernames they have used to edit Misplaced Pages in the past two years. The appeal should clearly but succinctly explain the reasons the editor feels the ban should be overturned, such as what lessons the editor has learned since the ban or block was imposed, how the editor would conduct themself differently in the future if they are allowed to resume editing, or why they believe the ban was unfair. The editor should also include links to any relevant on-wiki discussions and any other information necessary to understand the grounds for the appeal.
Arbitration enforcement bans
The following are the applicable parts from the standard provision for appeals of arbitration enforcement bans:
Appeals by sanctioned editors
Appeals may be made only by the editor under sanction and only for a currently active sanction. The process has three possible stages (see "Important notes" below). The editor may:
- ask the enforcing administrator to reconsider their original decision;
- request review at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard ("AE") or at the administrators’ noticeboard ("AN"); and
- submit a request for amendment at "ARCA". If the editor is blocked, the appeal may be made by email through Special:EmailUser/Arbitration Committee (or, if email access is revoked, to arbcom-enwikimedia.org).
Important notes:
- For a request to succeed, either
(i) the clear and substantial consensus of (a) uninvolved administrators at AE or (b) uninvolved editors at AN or
(ii) a passing motion of arbitrators at ARCAis required. If consensus at AE or AN is unclear, the status quo prevails.
- While asking the enforcing administrator and seeking reviews at AN or AE are not mandatory prior to seeking a decision from the committee, once the committee has reviewed a request, further substantive review at any forum is barred. The sole exception is editors under an active sanction who may still request an easing or removal of the sanction on the grounds that said sanction is no longer needed, but such requests may be made only once every six months, or whatever longer period the committee may specify.
- These provisions apply only to discretionary sanctions placed by administrators and to blocks placed by administrators to enforce arbitration case decisions. They do not apply to sanctions directly authorised by the committee, and enacted either by arbitrators or by arbitration clerks, or to special functionary blocks of whatever nature.— Arbitration Committee, Standard provision for appeals and modifications
Evasion and enforcement
ShortcutMisplaced Pages's approach to enforcing bans balances a number of competing concerns:
- Maximizing the quality of the encyclopedia.
- Avoiding inconvenience or aggravation to any victims of mistaken identity.
- Maximizing the number of editors who can edit Misplaced Pages.
- Avoiding conflict within the community over banned editors.
- Dissuading or preventing banned editors from editing Misplaced Pages or the relevant area of the ban.
As a result, enforcement has a number of aspects. While all editors are expected to respect the enforcement of policies by not undermining or sabotaging them, no editor is personally obligated to help enforce any ban.
Bans apply to all editing, good or bad
ShortcutEditors are site-banned or topic-banned only as a last resort, usually for extreme or very persistent problems that have not been resolved by lesser sanctions and that often result in considerable disruption or stress to other editors. A ban is not merely a request to avoid editing "unless they behave". The measure of a ban is that even if the editor were to make good or good-faith edits, permitting them to edit in those areas is perceived to pose enough risk of disruption, issues, or harm, to the page or to the project, that they may not edit at all, even if the edits seem good.
A number of banned editors have used "good editing" (such as anti-vandalism edits) tactically, to try to game the banning system, "prove" they cannot be banned, or force editors into the paradox of either allowing banned editing or removing good content. Even if such editors make only good edits, they will be rebanned for evasion.
On very rare occasions, a limited exception may be requested; for example, to participate in a particular discussion.
If there is any doubt whether a limited ban prohibits any specific edit, the banned editor should assume that it does, unless whoever imposed the ban expressly clarifies that it does not. If clarification is not sought before making the edit, the banned editor assumes the risk that an administrator takes a broader view of the scope of the ban and enforces it with a block or other sanction.
Blocks
In the case of project-wide bans, the primary account of any banned editor may be entirely blocked for the duration of the ban. Partial bans may be backed up by partial blocks, but note that the scope of a ban is defined by its wording and not by the presence of partial blocks. Users that violate the terms of a partial ban may be site-wide blocked to enforce the ban.
If the banned editor creates sockpuppet accounts to evade the ban, these usually will be blocked as well. When evasion is a problem, the IP address of a banned editor who edits from a static IP address may also be blocked for the duration of the ban. If a banned editor evades the ban from a range of addresses, short-term IP blocks may be used.
Reset of ban following evasion
It is customary for the ban to be reset or extended if a banned editor continues to edit (or attempts to edit) in spite of the ban. No formal consideration is typically necessary. For example, if someone is topic-banned from "Weather" for ten months, but on the sixth month edits the "Climate" section of California, four months from the ban expiry, then the ban may be restarted at ten months, so if the editor does not subsequently evade the ban again, their eventual total duration would be 16 months. Repeated evasion may lead to a longer or more serious sanction.
When an editor who has been banned or has had their account blocked tries to evade this by creating a new account, it is known as a reincarnation of the old account. Obvious reincarnations are easily dealt with—the account is blocked and contributions are reverted or deleted, as discussed above. See sockpuppet for policy on dealing with unclear cases.
Edits by and on behalf of banned and blocked editors
ShortcutsAnyone is free to revert any edits made in violation of a ban or block, without giving any further reason and without regard to the three-revert rule. This does not mean that edits must be reverted just because they were made by a banned editor (changes that are obviously helpful, such as fixing typos or undoing vandalism, can be allowed to stand), but the presumption in ambiguous cases should be to revert.
When reverting edits, care should be taken not to reinstate material that may be in violation of such core policies as neutrality, verifiability, and biographies of living persons.
Pages created by banned or blocked users in violation of their ban or block, and which have no substantial edits made to it by others, are eligible for speedy deletion under the G5 criterion. If the page in question contains substantial edits made to it by good faith users, it is not eligible for G5.
Since categorization can impact many pages, and deletion of a category without merging can leave pages orphaned, you should carefully consider what to do with categories created by a banned or blocked user. Blatantly useless categories can be speedy-deleted, as well as any categories which clearly violate existing category standards. Care should nonetheless be taken to see if articles need to be merged to a parent category before the speedy deletion. Categories created by a banned user which may be useful or fit into a larger category scheme can be tagged for discussion and possible merging using the categories for discussion process instead of deleting them outright.
Proxying
"WP:PROXYING" redirects here. For the Misplaced Pages policy on open proxy servers, see WP:PROXY. ShortcutEditors in turn are not permitted to post or edit material at the direction of a banned or blocked editor (sometimes called proxy editing or proxying) unless they are able to show that the changes are productive and they have independent reasons for making such edits. Editors who reinstate edits made by a banned or blocked editor take complete responsibility for the content.
New accounts which engage in the same behavior as a banned or blocked editor in the same context, and who appear to be editing Misplaced Pages solely for that purpose, are subject to the remedies applied to the editor whose behavior they are imitating. See the policy on sockpuppetry and meatpuppetry.
User pages
ShortcutSite banned and globally banned editors' user and user talk pages should be updated with a notice of the ban, linking to any applicable discussion or decision-making pages. The purpose of this notice is to announce the ban to editors encountering the banned editor's edits.
Further enforcement measures
Serious, ongoing ban evasion is sometimes dealt with by technical means or by making an abuse complaint with the operator of the network from which the edits originate.
Indefinitely site-banned editors may be restricted from editing their user talk page or using email.
Difference between bans and blocks
ShortcutsThe standard distinction is that a ban is a social decision about the right to edit; a block is a technically imposed enforcement setting. Blocks are much more common than bans; in 2023, more than 80,000 accounts were blocked.
The MediaWiki software allows the ability to block editing of individual pages, known as a 'partial block', and sometimes this is used as a means of enforcing a specific set of ban conditions. However, bans such as topic bans or interaction bans still require human judgement to enforce and assess, and the presence or not of a partial block in furtherance of a topic ban or interaction ban should not be seen as a limitation on the scope of such a ban, which is defined by the wording of the ban and not of the presence or not of partial blocks. Editors who are banned from specific pages or topics must immediately cease editing these pages or topics. If they do not, then a block will be used to enforce the ban. Such a block will necessarily prevent their editing of the entire site, but they are not banned from the site and remain members of the community.
An editor who is "sitebanned" (which may sometimes be described as a "full ban") has been completely ejected from the project. For the duration of their ban, their edits are subject to reversion, although personal attacks towards them remain unacceptable.
Type of sanction | Partial blocks | Site blocked (including "indefinite blocks") |
Page/topic banned | Site banned |
---|---|---|---|---|
Scope of block/ban | Specific pages, namespaces, or tools specified in the blocking form | Entire site (talk page access may be allowed to discuss or appeal the block) | Specific pages, users, tools, topics, or other categories in the wording of the ban | Entire site (talk page access may be allowed to appeal the ban) |
Imposing of block/ban | May be imposed by any uninvolved admin in accordance with the blocking policy. | May be imposed only by the Arbitration Committee, the Wikimedia Foundation, or by community consensus (or uninvolved administrators specifically authorized by one of these); users may also be banned for repeated block evasion. In the event an indefinitely blocked editor has continued to be disruptive and no administrator is willing to unblock, that editor is considered to be de facto banned. | ||
Appeal of block/ban | May be appealed to the administators' noticeboard, via the {{unblock}} template, or via UTRS. | May be appealed by placing the {{unblock}} template on one's own talk page, or by submitting a UTRS ticket. | May be appealed at the appropriate time to the administrators' noticeboard (for community bans), by filing an amendment request (for arbitration bans), or to the Wikimedia Foundation (for Foundation imposed bans). |
|
Removal of block/ban | May be lifted by any uninvolved admin, except CheckUser blocks, Oversight blocks, arbitration enforcement blocks and blocks by the Arbitration Committee |
| ||
Content created during block or ban (by the user or by someone acting on their behalf) |
Edits in violation of the block or ban may be reverted (exceptions). Pages created in violation of the block or ban that lack non-violating contributions and content may be speedily deleted under CSD#G5. |
Other considerations
Conduct towards banned editors
Shortcuts See also: Misplaced Pages:GravedancingMisplaced Pages's hope for banned editors is that they will leave Misplaced Pages or the affected area with their pride and dignity intact, whether permanently or for the duration of their ban. It is unacceptable to take advantage of banned editors, whether by mocking, baiting, or otherwise abusing them. Personal attacks, outing, and other prohibited behaviours remain unacceptable even if directed towards a banned editor.
Scope and reciprocity
ShortcutThe English-language Misplaced Pages does not have authority over the Meta-Wiki, Wikimedia sister projects, or Wikipedias in languages other than English. As such, bans issued by the English Misplaced Pages community or Arbitration Committee have no effect on other projects.
See also
- Blacklist
- Misplaced Pages:Blocking policy
- Misplaced Pages:Contentious topics
- Misplaced Pages:Editing restrictions
- Misplaced Pages:Long-term abuse
- Misplaced Pages:Global actions
Notes
- If someone is banned from the Misplaced Pages namespace, administrative boards, or is under a similar restriction, this exception does not allow for reporting vandalism to administrative noticeboards. (See discussion.)
- RfC, May 2017
- RfC, April 2021
- RfC, February 2018
- RfC, July 2020
- See 2023 RfC
- March 2018 RfC
- CheckUser findings include any statement by a CheckUser connecting specific accounts on the English Misplaced Pages based on private technical evidence. In addition to the standard unban requirements, a CheckUser must also be consulted to unblock users that are CheckUser blocked.
- Motion on recidivism, 15 February 2012
- ^ Note the committee generally considers appeals of community sanctions only if there were serious questions about the validity of the ban discussion or its closure, as discussed at a past case finding
- Examples of use at Requests for Arbitration: by Hersfold, by Newyorkbrad, by Vassyana (line 478+) ("A ban is a ban. It's not uncommon for people to make "good" edits to create a soapbox for disputing their ban and/or thumbing their nose at the project. Let's not enable them").
- For example this case.
- For example, this motion where a topic-banned editor was allowed to participate in featured content discussions of his (non-contentious) diagrams.
- See Misplaced Pages:Requests for arbitration/Agapetos angel § Meatpuppets. See also: Misplaced Pages:Tag team
- quarry:query/80159 found that 73,528 (3.7%) editors who created an account in 2023 had been blocked at least once during (or shortly after) that year; quarry:query/80167 found that 82,865 total (new and older) accounts were blocked at least once during the year.
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