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User:Eric Schucht

After proposing the article for deletion, user Eric Schucht contested the deletion; in his message, he affirmed himself to be a paid freelancer for the publication in question, which he did not disclose on his user page (despite listing other publications he has worked or freelanced for); additionally, he made unsubstantiated claims about the personal identity of a fellow Wikipedia editor, which violates Wikipedia's harassment policy. Specific to the Conflict of Interest policy, user Eric Schucht did not disclose his COI when he proposed the article for creation and otherwise did not disclose his COI on Wikipedia until the article was proposed for deletion. There is no contest here — Eric Schucht affirmed he is a paid freelancer for the company whose article is in question. He has an obvious Conflict of Interest. TheMediaHistorian (talk) 20:58, 3 November 2024 (UTC)

TheMediaHistorian, OK, look! They’ve disclosed their COI. Now it’s your turn to share yours too, don’t you think? @Eric Schucht: You wrote, Maybe a connected contributor tag should be added to the talk page disclosing that. Why say “maybe” when you’ve got 99% of the article and you’ve already admitted your COI? It’s not a maybe; it definitely should be and you’ve done it yourself before, not me. Also, I can spot some unreliable citations and the content definitely has a promotional tone, as well. Anyway, could you explain why you never disclosed your COI for this particular article? Also, please avoid disclosing the real-life identities of other editors, as it’s considered outing - and you just did that. I’m hoping it was just a mistake. And what exactly led you to call this editor a former disgruntled Comstock's employee, especially since they’ve been on Wikipedia since 2020 and have never touched this page before. We really need to hear your reasoning on that. I’ve added some tags, so I hope you won’t just remove them! — Saqib (talk I contribs) 12:00, 4 November 2024 (UTC)
I apologize for the concerns I've raised. A COI tag should have been added. I made the article before I started freelancing for the magazine, and never thought to add it until the issue was raised. I now see that was wrong. As for "unreliable citations and the content definitely has a promotional tone," obviously I want the article to meet Wikipedia standards and to be as good as it can be. Which sources or sentences are you concerned with? I'm happy to delete copy or do a re-write. <redacted> Eric Schucht (talk) 13:09, 4 November 2024 (UTC)
Again, you are potentially revealing the identity of a Wikipedia editor, in violation of Wikipedia's policies. You were warned once before about this, and now you will be reported. TheMediaHistorian (talk) 15:32, 4 November 2024 (UTC)
TheMediaHistorian, Your real-life identity - if it was true - has been redacted, so there's no need to worry. I'm still waiting to hear back from you. You can choose not to respond, but that will count against you. — Saqib (talk I contribs) 18:46, 4 November 2024 (UTC)
There is nothing to confirm or deny. The user in question originally posted information that included the full name of a purported Wikipedia editor, in violation of Wikipedia's anti-doxing policy. That information can't be confirmed or denied, per Wikipedia's own guidance against publishing comments and/or information that could lead people to uncover the identity of an editor:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Harassment
"If you have accidentally posted anything that might lead to you being outed (including but not limited to inadvertently editing while logged out, which reveals your IP address, and thus, your approximate location), it is important that you act promptly to have the edit(s) oversighted."
and
"If you see an editor post personal information about another person, do not confirm or deny the accuracy of the information. Doing so would give the person posting the information, and anyone else who saw the page, feedback on the accuracy of the material."
What you are asking someone to do here is explicitly discouraged by Wikpedia. Accordingly, there is nothing to "count against," because what you're asking me and others to do is the precise opposite of what Wikipedia itself says we should do.
Last, no one has raised a COI issue involving me. An editor's appeal to hypocrisy in response to a COI issue against them does not rise to the level of a formal COI complaint. Thus, there is nothing for you to investigate on that matter. TheMediaHistorian (talk) 07:28, 5 November 2024 (UTC)
Moreover, by posting that they believe the identity to be a "former disgruntled Comstock's employee" is still identifying, given that the Comstock's page in question — which the editor has since affirmed their COI — identifies, or once identified, that very person. So, User: Eric Schucht is still in violation of Wikipedia's harassment policy. TheMediaHistorian (talk) 07:29, 5 November 2024 (UTC)

User:PazSeguro

New/newish account. Another editor already warned them about COI and they denied it. Everything about their edit pattern screams PR editing. I'm not convinced. New account. Made 2-3 small edits, and right into creating three new articles on companies within a month of editing all showing signs of flowery language. Graywalls (talk) 17:56, 5 November 2024 (UTC)

I have provided a bit more complete response on my talk page Special:Diff/1255660533.
I am not employed by any of the three entities mentioned here but I am unclear if I am conflicted in regard to Tock. I would think I am not but I have provided a bit of transparency in the interest of keeping things above board and receiving feedback on the matter.
I'm also unclear on how many of the items I included are promotional since they reflect what sources say and what I see on other similar articles but I will take a closer look later and welcome constructive improvement. PazSeguro (talk) 01:11, 6 November 2024 (UTC)
I agree with Graywalls that the activity here appears to strongly resemble undeclared paid editing. Over the last 24 hrs there has been extensive tidy up at all 3 articles and a further 4 editors have suggested that material (since removed) was promotional or similarly inappropriate.
It seems to me that you've received a lot of excellent advice [1] [2] [3] [4] from Grayfell, the editor who originally tagged these articles as reading like adverts. You should also be able to establish other elements that users have found objectionable by looking at comments left in the article edit histories and at the relevant talk pages. Given the volume of input and advice that you appear to have received thus far it's surprising that you're still claiming above that you're unclear what was promotional about the articles.
It's also surprising to see you claim that the articles only reflect[ed] what sources say, when you've received significant advice on why much of your sourcing was inappropriate and non-independent. It is concerning that you don't seem to be taking on board the input you've received from multiple editors.
I’d suggest that as a bare minimum you should be submitting any future articles through the Articles For Creation process, details of which can be found here [5]. This will allow an experienced editor to check your work for inappropriate tone, inappropriate sourcing, etc. before it is installed in article mainspace and will prevent the need for time consuming community tidy up after the event.
Hopefully this note is of assistance. Axad12 (talk) 04:32, 6 November 2024 (UTC)

Betty Shamieh

Would appreciate advice on this one. In September, Rinageorgia (talk · contribs) added text to Betty Shamieh taken from Shamieh's publisher's website and from a theatre's website. I removed it and requested revdel, which was done. The user said I got explicit permission from Betty Shamieh to use her descriptions of her plays and her new novel so I asked about conflict of interest. The user responded I do not [work for or represent her], I just reached out to make sure that I was allowed to use the descriptions on her website. The user has now added text to the article about Shamieh which does not all read neutral - "sharp wit", "candid, often humorous perspective", "poignant storytelling". The user has also just replied to my September CoI notice saying I understand and do not have a conflict of interest. Although I would like to assume good faith, this so far single-purpose account is worrying me, so would appreciate other eyes on the article. Thanks. Tacyarg (talk) 20:11, 6 November 2024 (UTC)

Something was clearly very wrong there. I have removed all of the unsourced material from the article, which leaves very little left. If the user wants to add detail to the article then it will need to be neutral and properly sourced. Also, importantly, it cannot be original research (e.g. material along the lines of 'this play explores themes of...').
To be honest, the material that the user added (the first time or the second time) is the sort of thing that would be expected of a professional publicist - and it is presumably not coincidental that the material was added in the run up to the subject releasing their first novel - i.e. see the notice that was placed very prominently at the top of the article Her novel, TOO SOON, will be released by Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster in January 2025. Axad12 (talk) 22:23, 6 November 2024 (UTC)
Thanks, Axad12. Yes, that was the feeling I had too. Hoping the user will edit neutrally from now. Tacyarg (talk) 22:26, 6 November 2024 (UTC)
Upon further investigation, I see that much of the material I just deleted from the article was WP:COPYVIO from the subject's website (very close paraphrasing rather than direct lifting, but still copyvio).
As you note, the user states I got explicit permission from Betty Shamieh to use her descriptions of her plays and her new novel, which is interesting but if we are just to go on a user's say-so then anyone could directly lift anything from anywhere on the basis that they had received permission.
However, I do think that the issue is academic really because clearly we can't have articles about writers where the writer basically gets to define their own work in considerable detail. That is always going to be entirely inappropriate. Axad12 (talk) 22:34, 6 November 2024 (UTC)
This one has been happily resolved. The user has clarified in response to Axad12 on their talk page that they do not have a CoI but are an academic working in the field. Axad12 has given them some good advice and they have since made constructive changes to the article. Thanks, all. Tacyarg (talk) 12:02, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

Manx Museum

Hi, not 100% sure if this is the correct place to report, so please let me know if this should be moved to AIV or the like. Back in May 2024, an IP filled the Manx Museum page with promotional fluff and a charity donation link in this diff here. The edit summary was "All descriptions updated by Manx National Heritage, the site owner.", implying some sort of COI. I'm not sure if this is a static or dynamic IP, so I'd appreciate some help here. Thanks, Sarsenet (talk) 12:07, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

The Manx Museum article has now been reverted by Melcous to a pre-promo version.
Looking at this IP user's edits elsewhere on Wikipedia I'm concerned by the almost entirely unsourced article on the Isle of Man Railway and the entirely unsourced lengthy articles for the Isle of Man Railway Museum and Castletown railway station. These were tagged for requiring further citations 6 years ago, but in the absence of any being forthcoming it must be time for some major pruning.
In fact, looking at the Isle of Man related railway articles that this IP user has contributed to, they seem to be almost entirely unsourced. Similarly Braddan A.F.C., etc., etc. It seems the user has well over 500 edits in total, mostly to Isle of Man related subject matter, and a spot check suggests that the edits were all entirely unsourced.
The user's talk page also seems to have attracted 6 notices over the two years re: their edits (unsourced/own research/unconstructive). None have received a response. How is this issue best dealt with? Axad12 (talk) 12:49, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
Some examples of this IP user’s more colourful handiwork…
This company is an entire shambles the CEO Martijn De Lange should hang hs head in shame at being associated with is without doubt the worst delivery company in Europe[6]
UK television personalities Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby are professional queue jumpers[7]
Salt Bae’s name vandalised. [8]
Further more recent vandalism, altering the name of Optimus (robot) to ‘Murder-bot 9000’ [9] and editing the ‘Purpose’ field to Manslaughter of the Human Race[10]. Plus this [11].
The user (assuming that all the IP edits are by the same end user) claims to be Manx politician Alex Allinson, here [12]. Axad12 (talk) 13:25, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
Thanks for letting me know about the reversion. I also was looking through some of their recent edits- the above-mentioned numerous unsourced edits of Isle of Man Railway Museum- and they're pretty concerning. According to user contribution search, nearly 25% of edits to the railway museum page were made by them. Not inherently bad, but that combined with the previous talk page notices is cause for concern. Sarsenet (talk) 13:47, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
I'm currently looking through the rest of the edits by that IP address, and by it's pre April 2022 predecessor, here [13]. It looks to me as though they have made rather more edits to Isle of Man related political topics than one would like to see from a serving politician.
For example, while Minister for Education, Sport and Culture he appears to have made the following edit to the Culture of the Isle of Man article, directly related to the business of the relevant dept [14]. Also this edit removing negative info on COVID cases [15]. It seems the user was also regularly updating the article on COVID-19 pandemic in the Isle of Man. See also this edit adding spammy links to the article of his current dept [16].
With regards to the edits to railway and museum related articles, Allinson is currently the Minister for Enterprise, which includes tourism. So it would seem he has a very clear conflict of interest on those subjects, especially when editing about them in a promotional way. Axad12 (talk) 14:39, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
To me it looks as if this is a shared IP and the railway, politician and vandalism edits were made by different people. I agree that the railway related content is problematic in terms of WP:OR and WP:NOTWEBHOST but I don't think there is enough to merit a block at this time. I think the main course of action is to remove all of the unsourced content from the railway articles and try to educate them on why they can't add unsourced content to articles. SmartSE (talk) 16:05, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
Re: the three different elements being the work of different people...
There have been a significant number of edits via that IP which relate either to Allinson directly or to departments/topics which he was involved in as a minister at the time that the edits were made - e.g. the 35 updates to the IoM covid article during a period when, according to Google, Allinson (a doctor) was regularly briefing the media on that topic). We know for a fact that someone plausibly claiming to be Allinson operates under this IP and it is reasonable to assume that the Allinson / departmental edits were made by him (or by someone operating on his behalf).
For highly promotional edits to be made to IoM museum articles when Allinson has oversight of tourism is, at best, a rather extreme coincidence.
Also worth noting that the large museum edit [17] was (in it's entirety) a cut-and-paste job from this location [18] and as such was a very significant WP:COPYVIO.
Re: the railway articles, presumably there is a wikiproject dealing with that sort of thing and members there may be best placed to take the articles to a point where they reflect Wikipedia norms. Removing all of the unsourced material immediately would take the articles back to stubs. Axad12 (talk) 17:16, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
Actually, it's just occurred to me that perhaps those railway articles don't fall within a specific Wikiproject because the Isle of Man isn't part of the United Kingdom and thus presumably WP:UKRAIL doesn't apply. That may explain how they arrived at their current state. Maybe large scale deletion of the unsourced material is the only option after all... Axad12 (talk) 17:30, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
I didn't think to consider about them not falling into a wikiproject. Is there a general European railway or Celtic or Isle of Man Wikiproject that's active and willing to take a look? Sarsenet (talk) 20:25, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
To be honest, It's not subject I'm familiar with. Axad12 (talk) 20:44, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
There's always the parent project at WP:TRAINS. I looked up the IP in the RIPE database and the IP is assigned to the Isle of Man government offices, though I could not say if it is dynamically assigned within that organization. Could be public wifi. MrOllie (talk) 21:03, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
With regard to the 'railway user' on this IP address, I had been under the impression that they were probably a non-conflicted hobbyist who could be a very valuable contributor if they could be directed to policies like WP:V, WP:RS, WP:OR and WP:NOTWEBHOST. However, I note at Castletown railway station that a very similar range of edits were recently made by logged in users called IOMR 1874 2024 and IMR18742024. The usernames and apparent interest in souvenir shops and events suggests a plausible conflict of interest.
The IP address also makes edits of that kind (plus info on opening times, timetables etc.), and made an edit [19] about the 150th anniversary of the railway two days before the first of those 2 accounts popped up. On that basis I think it's reasonable to assume that the end user is the same.
Also worth noting that the Isle of Man Railway doesn't seem to have a website (except for this [20] and a Facebook profile). Ditto for Isle of Man Railway Museum, so it seems that Wikipedia is basically being used as a webhost - which explains the addition of material on timetables, opening hours etc. See also, for example, Isle of Man Railway rolling stock where the user has made 130 edits over the last 12 months.
So, upon further examination it seems that the railway related edits by this IP address may well relate to extensive COI activity.
Hopefully now that the two accounts apparently connected to this IP activity have been mentioned above the end user will received email notification and will be able to comment here on any conflict of interest and take on board (and hopefully resolve) the sourcing issues. I will also leave the standard notices on the user talk pages. Axad12 (talk) 05:27, 10 November 2024 (UTC)
Correction: the correct spelling of one of those users is IOMR1874 2024 rather than (as stated above) IOMR 1874 2024. Axad12 (talk) 05:44, 10 November 2024 (UTC)

Danko Nikolić

There has been a number of edits on the subject of "practopoiesis" and "ideasthesia", which are terms coined by Danko Nikolić, and which (as far as I can tell) aren't widely used. "See also" sections all over the wiki have been sprinkled with links to "practopoiesis", which redirects to a section of the Adaptive system article. Same with "ideasthesia". Here they link to the websites of two of his businesses. The account was warned as early as 2014 about their self-promotion. Also I'm not entirely sure what constitutes sockpuppetry or evidence thereof, but this seems like it might be a fairly clear-cut case? Silenuss (talk) 11:09, 30 October 2024 (UTC)

Hi, the main account has only made 1 edit since 2018 (and that was in 2022), and then there are the 2 IP address edits from earlier this year. It seems highly plausible that the IP edits may relate to the same end user, but I wouldn't consider it to be sockpuppetry to make 2 logged out edits such a long time after the main account was last used.
However, that still leaves the issue of self-promotion and whether there is any tidy up that needs to be done. I see you have removed the recent IP additions, is there anything else to be done in that regard?
Interestingly, the previous occasion when this user was brought to this noticeboard was here [21] back in 2015. Back then the user seems to have been able to summon the support of three quite blatant meatpuppets, but that is all ancient history now. Axad12 (talk) 11:57, 30 October 2024 (UTC)
I'm thinking about removing all the "practopoiesis" links from the "See also" sections. There's no point linking to a section that doesn't exist anymore. I'll also get rid of the redirect. It's a little less clear what else I could/should do here, so I'd appreciate advice on how this sort of thing is usually handled. Silenuss (talk) 06:08, 31 October 2024 (UTC)
Sadly, it’s quite common for academics to be involved in citing their own works in a promotional way. The relevant policies (WP:SELFCITE and WP:CITESPAM) are rather brief and they don’t specify what action is to be taken. Some users take the approach that the individual edits should be taken on their merits, others take the view that they should all be removed. All agree that such edits should have been done via the COI edit request process. In practical terms the action to be taken will depend on how much tidy up users are prepared to undertake.
The degree of the self-promotion in this case is quite extreme. It goes well beyond self-citing and the user had previously been warned about using Wikipedia for self-promotion. Indeed they received a 24 hour block [22].
Comments by the user leave no room for doubt that they have been involved in a promotional campaign, for example:
you are right that there is my own interest involved: to promote ideasthesia. This is not deniable [23]
and Yes, I understand that this link promotes my work. But also isn't that in some way the goal of Wikipedia?
Of course, the goal of Wikipedia is very much not to promote academics or their work, as per WP:PROMO, so feel free to remove, revert, etc. to your heart’s content.
On the broader topic of people who self-cite, it's probably a good rule of thumb that if no one apart from the author could be bothered to install a reference then no one apart from the author is going to be troubled by its removal. After all, non-COI inclusion only requires the existence of one non-conflicted human being somewhere in the world who feels that the material warrants inclusion. That is a very low bar indeed. Axad12 (talk) 08:07, 31 October 2024 (UTC)
Also worth noting that the user's article on Practopoiesis was deleted after discussion at AfD here [24] for obvious reasons. Other users may wish to consider whether the article on Scaled Correlation, by the same author (and sourced almost solely to one of his own works) warrants a similar response. Axad12 (talk) 08:41, 31 October 2024 (UTC)
User was blocked on 1st Nov by Orange Mike for being a WP:NOTHERE promo only account. With thanks, Axad12 (talk) 15:57, 11 November 2024 (UTC)

Stephen Budd

I am certain this user, the creator of the article, was linked to Stephen Budd in a professional capacity. In the interests of privacy and of course wiki policy I will not show any evidence here (will email to paid-en-wp@wikipedia.org) but it is very easily found using publicly available information and cursory web searches. There are other contributors to the article who, while maybe not as overtly linked to the subject (I have not really looked into them yet), have previously made possible COI edits - there are a couple SPAs and another significant contributor who removed a previous COI warning [25]. I'm in the process of cleaning the article as it's not particularly good (it's a bit of a promotional mess) but the more I look at it the more I am thinking the whole thing has been largely cobbled together by COI users over the years. ToeSchmoker (talk) 23:36, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Yes, I agree.
I've recently removed some material from the article with obviously bad sources like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. I also removed a long 'Known for' section in the Infobox where there was no sourcing to indicate that the subject was indeed 'known for' those acts etc.
Anybody else looking at tidy up here should be aware that I also found that some of the material in the article isn't really borne out by its source material, e.g a claim that Much of Budd's later career has focussed on [etc] was sourced to a single quote by the subject which did have a bearing on the [etc] but had no bearing on much of Budd's later career. Thus the claim wasn't borne out by the source, was essentially WP:OR, and has been removed. Given the rather promotional nature of the article as a whole, further attempts to read in to quotes may perhaps be expected.
Also worth noting that one of the accounts that has done a lot of editing around Budd has denied any COI here [26] at the user page for an IP address, saying I'm not associated with Stephen Budd, simply a wiki writer who finds him fascinating hence I spent the time revamping his page the other week. Whether that is accurate or not, who knows. That user is actually primarily an SPA on an entirely different (and apparently non Budd-related) topic.
There is also another Budd-related article here [27], the creator of which was also a frequent contributor to the Budd article.
As a final point, you've mentioned the existence of several possible COI accounts, but you've only mentioned (and notified) one which last edited in 2012. Could you list (and notify) the other accounts, as one of them edited the Budd article as recently as 3 days ago. Regards, Axad12 (talk) 14:07, 10 November 2024 (UTC)
These are the other accounts which I think could also be in breach of COI policy but where I haven't been able to find as solid a confirmation for User:sbcragg:
user:HaroldPalmer - edits primarily centring on Budd and subjects linked to Budd such as NH7 Weekender, Africa Express (organization) (seems to be primary contributor to the latter). Also has added Budd into other articles such as here at at Adrian Borland [28] and The Sound [29]. In the latter case the edit re financing the record is unsourced - a bit bizarre and smacks of puffery in my opinion. I assume User:HaroldPalmer2000 is another account of theirs.
User:Newblackuk - creator of the "Passport: Back To The Bars" article you mentioned above, many edits to Budd and also Songhoy Blues who are a band that Budd supposedly "discovered" and "co-managed" (I have recently removed this from his article as it was not sourced properly)
User:Yourfriendbam - SPA, edits pretty much all Budd. Created the page Alluri (musician) - a musician managed by Budd. user:haroldPalmer also has made edits to this.
As mentioned above there is [[User:Spcranger] who removed the old COI warning on Stephen Budd but aside from that their edit history is a bit more varied. I will dive into it deeper but not as obvious as the above three.
That's about all I can find for now but I think it's pretty clear there has been undisclosed editing by Budd and/or people/companies associated with Budd in quite a selection of articles. I am not sure the exact protocol on marking account talk pages with COI templates - generally in the past any COI issues I've found have been a lot less convoluted than this. ToeSchmoker (talk) 15:01, 10 November 2024 (UTC)
Thanks, that's helpful. Could you notify the various users at their talk pages, as you did with sbcragg?
With regards to Spcranger and HaroldPalmer2000, I would assume that they are the same end user based on the brief discussion here: [30]. It seems as though the user had made an unsigned comment using one account and then made another unsigned comment, forgetting that he was logged in under a different account. Alternative explanations seem less plausible (especially as both comments were unsigned).
If that is correct then the accounts for HaroldPalmer2000, Spcranger and HaroldPalmer, represent a single user who is responsible for over 30% of the text of the article, making them the primary contributor. This is the same user (Spcranger) who claims they are not associated with Stephen Budd, simply a wiki writer who finds him fascinating and who previously removed the COI tag from the article.
As you say above, based on editing patterns it is easier to make a case that Spcranger is not associated with Budd than it is for HaroldPalmer/HaroldPalmer2000. However if, as seems likely, the same end user is operating all of these accounts why does he use the HaroldPalmer accounts to make the majority of his Budd-related edits and the Spcranger account to deny COI and remove COI templates? Axad12 (talk) 15:28, 10 November 2024 (UTC)
Yes, I will notify the users. Very good catch with the Spcranger - HaroldPalmer connection. I would say those unsigned comments are irrefutable evidence they are the same person. Re why they are operating the two accounts, I am really not sure. Spcranger created Greg Jarvis (musician) - at risk of making rather loose connections this is another music industry exec type character. To me it's written in a fairly similar way to Stephen Budd what with the puffery/almost résumé style. Fair enough if someone has an interest in music management execs etc. but I just find it all a bit bizarre someone would be operating a separate account for each of the two executives they find "fascinating". Can't help but find it a bit suspicious/disingenuous. ToeSchmoker (talk) 20:17, 10 November 2024 (UTC)
Another user connected to the apparent COI editing here is PhoebeShaw. The now dormant account edited primarily around Budd-related articles which were extensively edited by the users already mentioned above (e.g. Stephen Budd, Alluri (musician), Africa Express (organization) and, interestingly Greg Jarvis (musician), a preoccupation of user Spcranger although apparently not an article with a connection to Budd).
PhoebeShaw's edits also bear a marked resemblance to those of Spcranger. See for example this unsigned post left at an IP talk page: [31] as their 4th edit. Compare to this unsigned message left at another IP talk page by Spcranger a few weeks previously: [32]. Several days later PhoebeShaw removed the neutrality tag that the earlier unsigned post had been referring to. Compare to Spcranger who had previously removed a COI template here [33], two minutes after sending the unsigned post linked above, having previously removed the same tag a week earlier, here [34]). See also, similar unsigned post by HaroldPalmer, here [35].
So, PhoebeShaw is clearly a third account deriving from the same end user which was in use simultaneously with the other accounts. If a user is operating multiple accounts to remove tags from an article where they seem to have a COI, that is clearly a violation of WP:BADSOCK because it gives the impression that more than one user feels the article is fine. Operating three different accounts to manipulate Budd-related articles is not behaviour that one would anticipate from a user who claims simply to be a fan.
And of course, whether the Newblackuk and yourfriendbam accounts were also the handiwork of the same end user remains unclear but plausible. Newblackuk was sufficiently close to Budd to be able to upload 2 photos of Budd and co-workers (described as 'self made files', here [36] and here [37]).
Most of this activity is old news, but user:Spcranger updated the Budd article as recently as 7th November. Hopefully they will drop by here and give their version of events... Axad12 (talk) 23:33, 10 November 2024 (UTC)
Hey there, Harold here, thanks for reaching out. I certainly don't know Stephen Budd (or whoever 'PhoebeShaw' and 'Spcranger' are) but I do keep a Google Alert going for news of Budd and update this page from time to time when I get pinged with something. I'm in agreement that there's some cleaning up needed but certainly don't think this is a case where the page should be should be targetted for deletion - there doesn't seem to be any doubt that Budd meets the notability criteria. HaroldPalmer (talk) 17:26, 11 November 2024 (UTC)
Hi Harold. Thanks for responding. Could you perhaps shed some light on the unsigned comments mentioned above - [38]? I am sure you can understand why one would perhaps assume you, HaroldPalmer(2000), and the user Spcranger are in some way associated. ToeSchmoker (talk) 19:32, 11 November 2024 (UTC)
It seems to me that the evidence presented in this thread is quite compelling re: HaroldPalmer(2000), Spcranger and PhoebeShaw not being independent end users.
It's also worth noting here the degree of crossover in their subjects edited, e.g.:
All the 3 users have edited the articles for Stephen Budd and (Budd-related) Alluri (musician).
HaroldPalmer & PhoebeShaw have both edited the Budd-related Africa Express (organization).
Harold Palmer(2000) & Spcranger have both edited The Flowers of Hell & Space Rock (these are topics unrelated to Budd, as far as I can see).
Spcranger & PhoebeShaw have both edited Greg Jarvis (musician), (member of The Flowers of Hell).
What are the odds that all three users are interested both in Stephen Budd and The Flowers of Hell?
This degree of correlation is despite the fact that Spcranger only made edits to 34 different articles and PhoebeShaw only made edits to 8 articles (4 of which are shared with one or the other, or both, of the other 2 accounts).
A sockpuppet investigation would be pointless here as two of the accounts are long dormant, but the similarities between the accounts are clearly far more than could possibly be anticipated by chance alone. Axad12 (talk) 19:48, 11 November 2024 (UTC)

Rgstudio and article: Robert Gober

Appears resolved. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 15:42, 11 November 2024 (UTC)

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

User Rgstudio has made a wide range of edits to the Robert Gober article, beginning in 2008. It appears that the account may be the subject of the article or a representative of Gober. I left a message on the user's talk page notifying them of COI guidelines, but they made several rounds of additional unsourced edits after I flagged the COI rules. 19h00s (talk) 15:12, 29 October 2024 (UTC)

@19h00s, I agree with you that the likelihood of a COI is about 99.9%. Gober is a great artist, however his studio assistant or intern should not be directly editing the article if they work for Gober. @Rgstudio, I can help update the article (within reason) if you make edit requests on the article talk page. This is in keeping with Wikipedia's guidelines for COI editors. See WP:COI and for the Edit Request Wizard see: WP:Edit request wizard for more information. If you are paid or receiving in-kind compensation (for example for an academic or job-training internship), you must disclose this information on your user page, otherwise you would be an undisclosed paid editor which is not permitted, for information on how to disclose see: Paid editor disclosure. Netherzone (talk) 15:26, 29 October 2024 (UTC)
Now they're copy-pasting text from books on Gober into the article (with references to Amazon links), even after your ping. @Rgstudio, please acknowledge that you've seen the multiple points of contact about your edits on Robert Gober. 19h00s (talk) 16:51, 29 October 2024 (UTC)
I've reverted to the last good version prior to today's edits by the apparent COI user. Hopefully that will at least lead them to try a different approach. Axad12 (talk) 17:13, 29 October 2024 (UTC)
My apologies, but I was not seeing your edits. I do work with the artist and was correcting mistakes that others have put on his Wikipedia page. I was also adding information that was missing regarding his exhibitions and curated shows including links to the websites. I will undo my edits and read to better understand what I am allowed to change. I don't want incorrect and incomplete information out there, so I hope there is a way I can make edits. Rgstudio (talk) 17:30, 29 October 2024 (UTC)
I misunderstood the COI information that says "However, our policy on matters relating to living people allows very obvious errors to be fixed quickly, including by the subject." I thought that meant that I as Robert Gober's longtime archivist could log on and change errors, I didn't understand that I need to contact the Edit request wizard to make changes. I will do that now. Sorry that I was not receiving notifications of your messages to me. I only saw them now when I searched for them trying to figure out why my edits were being removed. Rgstudio (talk) 17:34, 29 October 2024 (UTC)
No worries at all, thank you for reverting the edits and engaging with us on this! Totally understand what you're aiming to do in terms of removing incorrect/outdated info and adding additional details about notable exhibitions and events Gober has participated in. As Netherzone explained above, there are multiple ways to go about adding or changing content on pages with which you have a COI - one of the easiest ways is to communicate with artist-interested editors like Netherzone (who offered above to assist on this), who can help you add well-sourced information that you otherwise would be warned against adding because of the Conflict of Interest. You're also welcome to use the edit request wizard to request changes. But I totally understand that you didn't see the notifications, and you definitely weren't trying to change anything controversial, so I think you're all good to move forward requesting changes via the official channels. Thanks for looping back around on this! 19h00s (talk) 17:38, 29 October 2024 (UTC)
@Rgstudio, if you submit an edit request and I don't see it for a while, ping me on my user talk page which is located here: User talk:Netherzone, or by clicking on the word, "talk" after my name. Netherzone (talk) 18:21, 29 October 2024 (UTC)
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Also, the major contributor to Donald Moffett, named as Gober's partner in the article smells of paid editing based on edit history pattern. Graywalls (talk) 14:00, 11 November 2024 (UTC)

@Graywalls: Please raise a new report, following the usual process and criteria. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 15:42, 11 November 2024 (UTC)
It's not outside of "usual process" to mention closely related matter that surface following the issue raised initially. While it might look like I just came along and added to an already closed issue, Pigsonthewing closed the discussion after I added the related concern. Graywalls (talk) 15:50, 11 November 2024 (UTC)
You haven't named any editors in your comment. You haven't indicated any prior discussion on the matter, with any of the article's editors. The editor named in the now-closed discussion, above, has never edited the article in question. And I am sure our colleagues understand how to read the date stamps in our signatures. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 20:22, 11 November 2024 (UTC)

Ryan C. Bundy

Edits by editor whose username suggests a conflict of interest. Most recent edit summary starts This edit is being performed by Ryan Bundy himself who is the subject of the page on Ryan Bundy. I, my self, participated in all the events mentioned and am the greatest source for truth on them matters mentioned. I had previously posted about CoI on the editor's Talk page, but have not had a response. Tacyarg (talk) 20:18, 11 November 2024 (UTC)

Note: It looks like @Rsjaffe has soft-blocked them to prevent impersonation. GreenLipstickLesbian (talk) 09:39, 12 November 2024 (UTC)

Vesan99


First was spotted in 2022. Was not banned, we kept him under observation.

The nature of his activity was such that he would go into an article created by a newly registered account (obviously created to order), check the quality as an experienced participant, and make minor edits.

Last year he was banned by Ле Лой and it was confirmed by local ArbCom in ru:АК:1299. It is small, I'm giving translation in full:

1.1 The arbitrators find it proven that Vesan99 has a conflict of interest and made edits in violation of WP:RSUW and WP:NPOV at least in the articles:

1.2 ArbCom found that participant Vesan99 actively added individual links promoting private companies. See [43], [44], [45], [46] (replacing a link to a site affiliated with the participant) and generally a significant number of articles with a link to this resource.

1.3 In many cases, the defendant acted in a conflict of interest: for example, it was proven that he had the most direct relation to the resource from 1.2.

1.4 The arbitrators became aware of an episode when the defendant removed relevant information from articles about competitors, and then demanded a monetary reward from them for its return.

2. Having studied the contributions of SBruno, YuFedorov, Dnslllrnv, Ivansychev, verification of Solod2020, as well as the actions of the Ioanndemidov account, from which advertising is entered on the same topic, some external data, and having questioned the defendant himself, the Arbitration Committee found his connection with the persons who own these accounts, as well as their cooperation in paid articles, proven. Among other things, their edits are noted in all articles of paragraph 1.1.

3. The defendant had already had his patrol flag removed for spamming his site, and the topic of his spam had already been brought up for discussion, cf. [47] and [48]. When he was given the patrol flag again, the defendant did not mention that he had been removed for spam, using the most evasive wording and significant omissions.

His accomplices are at most not active in en.wiki:
SBruno - not active now, hit some articles 2015-2020
Ivansychev - edited Russian National Reinsurance Company.
Solod2020 was spotted in nomination in created by Wgc120 article TheGenealogist. ( WP:MEAT )

Since Vesan99 doesn't have much of a contribution to the English Wikipedia, I suspect that any edits he made were paid.

Although Vesan99 himself is not active here often, he continues to edit, for example, on Wikidata, and may edit again. I would like to record that the local community agrees with the decision of the Arbcom of another language section and it is possible to put corresponding templates on the articles, so that, perhaps, they will be reworked in the future.·Carn·!? 11:16, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

It happens that Vesan99 is ZooEscaper (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log). CU comment in russian. ZooEscaper is under global lock as a spambot. ·Carn·!? 09:13, 14 November 2024 (UTC)

Editing a college or university you attend

What's the current consensus on editing the Wikipedia article of an institution you're attending or an alum of? While you technically have a conflict with a school you're currently enrolled in, I'm pretty sure most articles about educational institutions have been written by either students or alumni. Guettarda (talk) 15:49, 13 November 2024 (UTC)

I don't see how this would be anymore of a conflict than writing about the city that you live in. Unless you are getting paid by the institution to edit the potential conflict is very abstract. BD2412 T 16:08, 13 November 2024 (UTC)
Here's a good summary of the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Talk:Knights_of_Columbus&diff=prev&oldid=991723403 --SarekOfVulcan (talk) 16:12, 13 November 2024 (UTC)
Yes, it's a conflict of interest - you have a relationship with the subject and a potential motivation for editing articles about it with a bias (as it's likely in your best interest to paint a positive picture of your alma mater). But it's a relatively minor conflict that rarely rises to the level of being a problem for most editors. ElKevbo (talk) 05:09, 14 November 2024 (UTC)
Yes its a COI issue but common sense wise most edits aren't an issue, as a general rule of thumb a person has a direct COI with the reputation of any institution/program that appears on their resume/CV. With colleges and universities what we seem to see most is people shoehorning in random rankings that are relevant to them or someone checking over their resume but are in general undue, for example a computer science graduate inserting a mention that their Computer Science program is #13 in the country onto that University's page. Horse Eye's Back (talk) 00:32, 15 November 2024 (UTC)
Thanks BD2412, SarekOfVulcan, ElKevbo, Horse Eye's Back. I appreciate your feedback. Guettarda (talk) 16:51, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

User:Metalworker14

UPE blocked. Solved Graywalls (talk) 17:50, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

I've definitively determined there's a strong COI between the editor and the band Symphony of Heaven and personally identifying private evidence has been emailed to paid-en-wpwikipedia.org. It isn't hard to find it, but we can't directly post such information. I am opening the case here, because I suspect further promotional activity such as promoting bands, record labels or sources cited within the articles the editor created. The user is a prolific creator of articles about Christian Metal and Metal bands, albums and record labels. Suspicion was triggered when Metalworker14 uploaded an image into Symphony of Heaven through Commons, stating that they were the copyright holder only for me to find that it's a downsized version of the black and white photo right above "biography" from the band's official website. The band's website is copyrighted and does not identify the author of the photo, and the photo that was on Commons did not have VRT verification. The user has previously been notified about uploading an image from the band's Facebook. In the process of investigating copyright matters, I browsed the band's website and came upon "For managemental concerns: Return to Dust Promotions" at contact section of the page. When I went to seek information on that company, the search result suggests COI with the extensively cited source "The Metal Onslaught Magazine is extensively cited in Symphony of Heaven as well as other articles created by the same author. Graywalls (talk) 18:39, 14 October 2024 (UTC)

While I cannot comment on whether there is a COI issue with the article you flagged without seeing the off-wiki evidence you found, I would like to add that this website themetalonslaught.com is not a RS at all, yet Metalworker14 has excessively used it across many articles which raises serious suspicions that they may have a COI with the magazine. I strongly suggest they stop using this source entirely unless they receive approval at WP:RSN. — Saqib (talk I contribs) 19:11, 14 October 2024 (UTC)
@Saqib:, I believe that there is COI with the Magazine and the inserting party, actually. I just had to be really careful to not go foul of WP:OUTING but if you spend a few minutes Googling, it should become clear. Graywalls (talk) 19:47, 14 October 2024 (UTC)
I agree. Off-wiki evidence does suggest that they have a COI with both Symphony of Heaven and Ascending King. And according to our P&Gs, Metalworker14 is required to declare their COI either on their user page or on the tps of the relevant articles, which they have yet to do so I strongly urge them to do so as soon as possible. Also, I recommend they refrain from directly editing these articles but if they continue to ignore these warnings, a temporary block may be necessary to get their attention. — Saqib (talk I contribs) 14:38, 15 October 2024 (UTC)
Symphony of Heaven is one thing, but the bigger issue is the extensive use of sources they're closely related to that are not WP:RS trying to bolster the notability of non-notable bands, albums and recording companies. If you spent more than a minute or two searching with the research skills held by quite a few Wiki editors, that should become obvious. All I can say is that it's highly plausible and convincing that Metalworker14 has vested interest to promote certain authors and certain magazines, production and promotion companies. Graywalls (talk) 14:52, 15 October 2024 (UTC)
Yes, that is absolutely correct. The user has created over 150 articles and the frequency with which certain sources and authors are used would be considered industrial grade spam if those references were being added to pre-existing articles.
The fact that the user created the articles themselves and used these non WP:RS compliant sources to support notability makes the matter worse rather than better.
To be honest, the sheer number of links makes me wonder if Search engine optimization was a factor here. Axad12 (talk) 15:39, 15 October 2024 (UTC)
That's a large part of what music promoters do. Outside evidence suggests involvement of suspected COI editor partaking in the promotion business. Perhaps themetalonslaught needs to be suggested for Mediawiki blacklisting. Graywalls (talk) 15:44, 15 October 2024 (UTC)
Quite so. There is no place on Wikipedia for this sort of activity. Axad12 (talk) 16:03, 15 October 2024 (UTC)
There appears to be a membership overlap between Symphony of Heaven, Timoratus, Ascending King, The Thlipsis, Mystic Winter. Also a member from those bands having COI with these sources cited by the user in question here
Metal Onslaught Magazine, Life of Defiance Podcast.
Other COI possibilities are Return to Dust Promotions and Battlefrost Productions Graywalls (talk) 16:35, 17 October 2024 (UTC)
@Axad12:, were you able to locate the source referring to these? Graywalls (talk) 20:34, 17 October 2024 (UTC)
Hi, A couple of days ago I had a look at the references for every 6th article that the user had created (as listed on their user page). I saw enough to appreciate that, as per your earlier comments, there was a recurring reliance on a rather small number of particular sources and authors. On that basis I was inclined to agree with your estimation that the user was involved in promotion and that there was certainly a clear and transparent conflict of interest in relationship to a particular individual.
However, I must admit that I do not recall specific sources at this point in time as I seem to have been quite busy on this noticeboard in the intervening two days and this thread had rather slipped from my mind. Axad12 (talk) 20:51, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

Just to update that still waiting on functionary to weigh in. Graywalls (talk) 20:45, 29 October 2024 (UTC)

WP:LOUTSOCK seems to be happening now. Graywalls (talk) 16:52, 12 November 2024 (UTC)
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

SPX Capital

WP:SPA accounts clearly used to only make promotional/COI edits for this article. One has already been banned. Imcdc Contact 01:37, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

The blocked one looks to be for WP:ROLEACCOUNT. Only individuals can have accounts and they can never be shared, so company name accounts aren't allowed. The other name isn't a sock, but appears to be an account made to comply with the name rule. Graywalls (talk) 03:10, 8 November 2024 (UTC)
The remaining account made one edit, and I've got it on my watchlist, Graywalls did some good copy editing work on the page. The part that Amandadomicioli was attempting to remove appears to be property sourced. TiggerJay (talk) 07:34, 8 November 2024 (UTC)
I trimmed out things about the contents of speculation since "newspaper said people said... blah blah blah blah blah blah" doesn't comport to NPOV or RS, but we can just say led people to speculate about. The source is in Portuguese, so I translated it using automatic translation in my browser. Someone fluent in both languages may want to look over my work. Graywalls (talk) 14:27, 8 November 2024 (UTC)
Off-wiki evidence demonstrates that user:Amandadomicioli has a very obvious COI in relation to the article subject. Axad12 (talk) 21:48, 16 November 2024 (UTC)
@Axad12 - yes it does look that way. However I would suggest that it is somewhat old news, since their only edit was 8 days, ago, a single edit that was reverted, and they have made no further edits anywhere after being called out on their talk page. Beyond Graywalls nobody else has made any edits to that page so it would seem like no further action is really necessary other than to simply monitor that specific page for either this or a sockpuppet. TiggerJay (talk) 00:55, 17 November 2024 (UTC)
I was noting the off-wiki evidence in case they return. It was not old news as it had not been previously pointed out. Given that the user appears to have attempted on 5 occasions (including 1 by IP) to remove info that they claim is defamatory and fraudulent, the likelihood of them returning at some point in the future must be viewed as high (whether under the present account or a sock). If that occurs, the observation that the end user has a blatant demonstrable COI will clearly prove useful.
Other than that, I agree with you. Axad12 (talk) 02:58, 17 November 2024 (UTC)

Greg Bialecki

Evidently the same user, or undeclared paid editing by an agency in Boston, adding the same huge collection of external links and flowery, positive language to this politician's article. (There's also being a case of someone cleaning it up and institutionalising the edit, but I'm very sure this was good faith.) Since reverting clearly doesn't work when a new IP or account can just re-add it, I have left it in and tagged it as {{coi}}, but more people looking at the article would be nice. 2A00:23C5:50E8:EE01:2494:A7F9:FFB8:5CA4 (talk) 21:24, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

I went ahead and requested pending changes protection at WP:RPP. Hopefully, that’ll allow you to edit the article (after a delay to allow people to review it) while also protecting the article itself. I dream of horses (Hoofprints) (Neigh at me) 01:45, 17 November 2024 (UTC)
aaaand it’s been semi-protected insteaad. Which is understandable on a level, but now you aren’t going to be able to edit it. I dream of horses (Hoofprints) (Neigh at me) 01:48, 17 November 2024 (UTC)
Thanks for thinking of me, but it's fine: protecting the 'pedia is more important than any one editor, let alone one with no real interest in the article – I was just passing by thanks to 6-Degrees-Of-Separation link clicking! 2A00:23C5:50E8:EE01:85BF:FAEF:FC01:B17E (talk) 15:43, 17 November 2024 (UTC)

P. V. Nandhidhaa

I came across this article while doing some cleanup work on medal tables for WP:Chess. I noticed straight away something was not right when the medal table was so long and yet it contained most non-notable tournaments and mainly in younger age groups. After I have went through so many chess players (many of whom are more accomplished), the article seems like a huge promotion piece. Both users mentioned have been noted to have disproportion amount of editing related to the subject of this article and have been tagged for COI in their talk pages. They both uploaded pictures of her as their own work giving the impression they are directly representing her. Imcdc Contact 14:37, 10 November 2024 (UTC)

Anon shera has not edited since March 2021. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 15:28, 11 November 2024 (UTC)
I have been editing profiles of many Indian Chess Players. Since I have attended the local tournaments for chess coverage, I have access to the pics. I won't be making any more further editing in this page since Wikipedia terms and conditions say it as disruptive. Since I am a new user to Wikipedia, It might have caused these confusions. Sorry about that. NOVKILOSIERRA (talk) 17:36, 17 November 2024 (UTC)

NOVKILOSIERRA is still making promotional/disruptive edits. User has not responded to COI enquiries. - Imcdc Contact 11:55, 17 November 2024 (UTC)

Sorry about that. I won't make any more source edits. Kindly correct the page if I have done anything grossly wrong. NOVKILOSIERRA (talk) 17:37, 17 November 2024 (UTC)

Notified both subject editors of the discussion via template. Hamtechperson 15:20, 17 November 2024 (UTC)

Luca Allam

The editor above has created multiple pages related to Luca Allam and Luca Allam's podcast [49] and Luca Allam [50]. After three declines and rejection for the podcast article at AFC and more for Luca Allam at AFC, the editor moved it to mainspace where it was speedily deleted [51]. It was immediately recreated and is currently at AFD for the second time.

When asked, the editor insisted they have no conflict of interest outside of being a friend of a friend. However, on Freelancer.com, there is an advertisement for paid work editing these two articles from, recounting an accurate chronology of the articles being rejected, and asking someone to resubmit pages on their behalf. I do not know whether, in fact, whether the editor listed here was someone hired by this posting previously or is the one offering the job. In any case, WP:UPE is invoked in some way. There was no personal information provided on this page beyond the identical usernames, so I have operated under a belief that under I am allowed to link to this under the first exception to WP:OUTING and am providing a link to the Freelancer page [52], an archive.org link though it seems to still be a little funky still after their recent problems, [53], and a screenshot captured just now [54]. CoffeeCrumbs (talk) 17:41, 17 November 2024 (UTC)

Nana Patole

This user MrMkG may have some personal interest with Nana Patole politician because he is reverting my edits!!. My all edits are with reliable references and as per guidelines, he might be person P.R. be try to maintain his positive image through and the politician might be his client. He made account in 2020, and all of sudden woke up in 2024! Befor Maharashtra election!. Rtpaz (talk) 14:20, 11 November 2024 (UTC)

@Rtpaz: As noted at the top of this page, "This page should only be used when ordinary talk page discussion has been attempted and failed to resolve the issue, such as when an editor has repeatedly added problematic material over an extended period." Where did such a discussion take place? Do you have any evidence of such a CoI issue, other than that one of your edits was reverted?
You are also required to notify any editor who is the subject of a discussion you start here. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 15:24, 11 November 2024 (UTC)
@Pigsonthewing I apologize for the late reply; it has been a busy day. sorry it was unknown to me, now, I noticed that all my edits have been reverted again without any discussion. It seems that this user may have somthing at stake related to their employer, and I found that this user account was created in 2020, but it appears to have had very little activity until now, in 2024, when they started creating and updating articles primarily about Indian politicians. The nearly four-year gap in activity makes it doubtful
It seems to me that they may have acquired/bought this old account to appear credible and publish biased articles or make edits about politicians, possibly as part of some image improvement campaign/branding!
I am unsure of what to do, so I reported this situation here, I am not familiar with the reporting process, so if you believe I acted incorrectly, I am willing to withdraw my report.
But, there is an upcoming election in Maharashtra, India, and such users should not be allowed to maintain a favorable image for any politician. Rtpaz (talk) 14:26, 12 November 2024 (UTC)
A quick look at their contributions shows inactivity between 2020 and 2023, but a lot of activity since returning. I wouldn’t really consider it evidence of being a paid editor or a bought account though as-is. R0paire 22:52, 12 November 2024 (UTC)
I only started editing properly in 2023 but had made an account long ago. That's all there is to it.
The rest is a bunch of accusations without evidence and a story that doesn't even make sense. No one is going to buy a 3 year old account with 1 edit. MrMkG (talk) 01:39, 13 November 2024 (UTC)
@MrMkGYour account was created in 2020, but you made your first edit in March 2023 after several years of inactivity. This raises some suspicions. After a few edits, you began using the account in January 2024 for your public relations work. Did you purchase this account from someone? This is concerning because Wikipedia is not intended for paid promotions of any political party Rtpaz (talk) 14:44, 15 November 2024 (UTC)
I made one revert of your edit. Your edit was about adding a paragraph of accusations from an opponent politician to the lede of the article with things like "[Opponent] accused Patole of playing mind games with the people of Maharashtra." (link) It should be common sense why this can't be added. Your edits being sourced is the bare minimum, doesn't mean you can add anything.
Your account has been active since well.. yesterday, and you have only two big edits which add any significant content. The Nana Patole edit and this (link) which ironically actually looks like PR. MrMkG (talk) 17:25, 11 November 2024 (UTC)
@MrMkG Nothing personal, but it seems that you and some other users may have added promotional content in various sections to portray him as a Robin Hood and to clean up his image. If you had a problem with certain parts of my edits, you are welcome to edit those specific sections. but, you cannot revert all of my edits outright.!!
You know, It takes time  to research and gather reliable references,  please discusse with  me or provide guidance. so All of my edits were based on reliable references, and the content you mentioned is not the only instance where my edits were reverted. It appears that you reverted my all edits to create a more positive image of him, which raises concerns. and your accont was created in 2020 and you started using it in 2024 , where were you for almost 4 years?
I strongly request that you disclose your conflict of interest (COI) before editing that page again.
And yes, I am new and have made only a few edits, but does that mean I should not report a COI? Rtpaz (talk) 14:27, 12 November 2024 (UTC)
@MrMkGi i have removed "the [Opponent] accused Patole" part because that is reasonable. But you aggressively reverting my edits again and again that is pure vandalism, please don't do that again. and disclose your COI. Rtpaz (talk) 14:45, 12 November 2024 (UTC)
That's not vandalism neither is the definition of COI, "reverting obvious BLP violations from Rtpaz".
The only thing your edit added was the accusations, besides moving a paragraph from one place to another. MrMkG (talk) 01:09, 13 November 2024 (UTC)
@MrMkG Do you own the article?,why did you remove the COI (Conflict of Interest) template without discussion? Please do not remove the COI template from the article, as you are not the only one who may have a conflict of interest regarding the politician; there are other edits to consider as well.
Your account was created in 2020, but you made your first edit in March 2023 after several years of inactivity. This raises some suspicions. After a few edits, you began using the account in January 2024 for your public relations work. Did you purchase this account from someone? This is concerning because Wikipedia is not intended for paid promotions of any political party. Rtpaz (talk) 13:49, 15 November 2024 (UTC)
@MrMkG Your recent edits clearly show that you are working with a political party in Maharashtra to influence the election candidate. If you remove the COI template again, I will request the administrators to take action on the notice board, which may result in a temporary or permanent block for you. Rtpaz (talk) 13:52, 15 November 2024 (UTC)
It would helpful to supply diffs (guide can be found here) to support these claims, you need to provide evidence pointing to what edits exactly gave the impression of a COI or paid editing. R0paire 14:13, 15 November 2024 (UTC)
@R0paire-wiki Don't you think it's concerning that someone who created an account in 2020 only started using it again after two years, in 2023? Then in 2024, if you check all the edits made by this user, it's clear that they are maintaining the article to support the politician's page and reverting changes made by other editors. They even removed the Conflict of Interest (COI) template. I believe this user will likely remove the COI template again due to some promotional campaign. Rtpaz (talk) 14:26, 15 November 2024 (UTC)
There could many reasons (both valid and invalid) for inactivity between 2020 and 2023, but since we can’t know for certain without additional evidence it’s not particularly indicative of malicious intent or paid editing.
When you’re making the case for a COI violation, you should ideally be providing diffs to support your suspicions instead of asking others to find what you’re talking about (in a similar vein to WP:BURDEN when content needs a source).
In saying that though, the removal of a related template while a discussion is ongoing here also isn’t ideal. R0paire 14:40, 15 November 2024 (UTC)
Don't hurry!!, we should not encourage paid editing, and I am currently collecting evidence on this matter, please do not remove the Conflict of Interest (COI) template. Rtpaz (talk) 14:55, 15 November 2024 (UTC)
@R0paire-wiki It is pretty ideal, perhaps when a 2 day old account pops-up in your face (who knows the ins and outs of wiki back-end from the get go) that then starts writing comments after comments throwing baseless allegations against you and pestering you about them, the moment you revert an obvious inappropriate edit from them and adding templates on that basis then you will know how ideal it is. Anyways, I am not interested in giving anymore air to this harassment any longer and will be taking my leave from this "discussion" now but you can continue to indulge them to your hearts desire.
Though just for the record, I don't have any COI nor am I an UPE and there are multiple verifiable falsehoods in this elaborate story this account has conjured up besides all the baseless allegations. For example, the initial claim that I have started editing recently when my activity stretches back to 2023 and that I am "maintaining the article" when the revert that made them come here is the first edit I have on that page. MrMkG (talk) 15:58, 15 November 2024 (UTC)
@MrMkGFirst, can you explain where you were for two years after creating your account in 2020  hardly any edit , and why you suddenly started using it in April 2023?
Your repeated removal of the COI template and my other edits suggests that you are actively maintaining the politician's page with an old account created in 2020. It appears you may have acquired this account from somewhere else.
"I guarantee you will revert the COI template again, just as you or your team did three times before as part of your PR campaign."
You seem to be "playing the victim" while simultaneously reverting all my edits to defend yourself. I admit I lack experience with COI issues, so I hope more senior editors can assist here. However, two things are clear:
1- You are using an account created in 2020, with the first edit made in April 2023.
2- You are repeatedly removing or reverting edits to maintain a positive image of the politician, which can be verified in the edit history.
This is too much for me now. I just wanted to report this incident to the administrators, as it seems some users with old accounts may be editing articles without disclosing their conflicts of interest.
If this is common practice here, I will accept whatever decision the experienced editors conclude. Warm regards, Rtpaz (talk) 14:02, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
The COI template is an aspertion against me and your first edit was a BLP violation. I haven't reverted anything else. You have been making accusations and assertions without producing a single shred of evidence, not a diff for 7 days, over 15 comments and nearly 10 pings. These are a WP:NPA violation. I don't have to explain anything else and you need to stop pinging me. MrMkG (talk) 15:42, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
Also new people don't tend to know about noticeboards and templates, you are clearly not new. MrMkG (talk) 03:09, 13 November 2024 (UTC)
@MrMkG Some gentlemen shared a link with a welcome message, and information regarding Conflict of Interest was included in the "Article Development and Content Protocols" section, along with links to the notice board and template. This is not a secret! Rtpaz (talk) 13:50, 15 November 2024 (UTC)
There is nothing like that on your welcome message, it's pretty obvious what's going on here. MrMkG (talk) 14:59, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

Hamidreza Ghorbani

User:Tinaaki recreated this page despite it being recreated and deleted (or draftified under disambiguations. Clear COI in my opinion based on the evidence below. Deleted under the name Hamidreza Ghorbani in February for being unambiguous advertising or promotion and apparent autobio. Draft:Hamidreza Ghorbani (musician ) created by user Tinaaki on November 9th and declined twice through AfC. Pinging editors @Jannatulbaqi: and @SafariScribe: who were the draft decliners. User then creates under original name which was moved to draft yet user moved back to mainspace. User also previously page under Hamidreza ghorbani to avoid detection. That was moved to draft as well yet user continues to move these all back to mainspace so there are a few redirects from their previous disambiguation attempts. Attempted to discussion with user on their talk page but appears to be a language barrier or they are avoiding the request to respond to COI guidelines. Note that the user who uploaded the image in October is now globally blocked which can be seen here. CNMall41 (talk) 01:38, 17 November 2024 (UTC)

I saw a version of it at the last NPP sprint in September/October that was in mainspace. I think and it was draftified for obvious reasons. I don't think it first time I saw it. scope_creepTalk 23:12, 18 November 2024 (UTC)
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