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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Hobson (talk | contribs) at 19:16, 21 April 2015. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Hackneymarsh

For archived investigations, see Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Hackneymarsh/Archive.


21 April 2015

– This SPI case is closed and will be archived shortly by an SPI clerk or checkuser.

A Guardian journalist contacted me with concerns that Contribsx is a sockpuppet of Hackneymarsh. Hackneymarsh was outed in the newspaper several years ago as allegedly being run by a prominent UK politician. I started investigating (independently of the Guardian) whether Contribsx could indeed be a sockpuppet of Hackneymarsh, and the evidence is pretty conclusive:

  • [1] Contribsx attacks an opposition MP who had referred Shapps' activities to the police, and who had provided a quote critical of Shapps to the Guardian here.
  • [2] Contribsx made a change to Michael Fabricant’s page to say he was sacked by Grant Shapps rather than on the order of Lynton Crosby.
  • Unlike many others in his party, Shapps is a big supporter of gay marriage and got into a spat with several other politicans (cf. here) and Contribsx made edits to draw attention to other Cabinet members for supporting gay marriage here and here.
  • This shows Contribsx making an edit critical of Justine Greening for missing a vote, and being against a third runway at Heathrow. Shapps, has criticised her for this in the past.
  • Shapps was the Conservative party Chairman who sat in judgement over Afzal Amin in 2015, after Amin resigned over claims he had links to far-right group the English Defence League. Contribsx links to his successor, and created the page for his previously unknown successor - which was deleted as failing notability guidelines. he also got into a bit of a spat about on on [the talk page.
  • Contribsx adds a critical paragraph to a (relatively unknown) opposition party member's page. The key fact here is that less than a month previously, Shapps had been criticised by the very same MP! The criticism section is biased and misleading as it fails to mention the full and frank apology, or the fact that the Parliamentary authorities investigated and found very little wrong (he didn't even get a slap on the wrist, so minor was the incident).
  • Contribsx also edits huge swathes of the Grant Shapps page, almost always removing criticism. These can be viewed on Contribsx's contributions page and going into detail here would be superfluous...
  • Finally, the Contribsx account is probably linked to several other IP addresses, in the 85.237.211.x and 85.237.212.x ranges, (Areti IP addresses linked to online marketing) which have been making the same edits since 2013. Examples:
  • On 25 August 2013, the above IP addresses are unable to edit the article any more, as semi-protection is applied to the Grant Shapps article. On the same day, Contribsx is created, and starts by editing relatively random biographies, before moving onto protected or problematic ones after just over ten edits. He starts begins by talking to people he has previously argued with - Edwardx, Tom Morris and Kookiebird to name a few - as shown here and here, where he makes another JK Rowling reference.

I ran a Checkuser, and it yielded a 'likely' result. On the basis of this, along with the wealth of behavioural evidence, I believe that the account is either run by Hackneymarsh directly in violation or being run under the owner of that account's clear direction (as a meatpuppet). It's also pretty clear that along the way, it misled other editors, distorted consensus and avoided potential sanctions (against the sockpuppetry policy), and I believe has also misrepresented its affiliation, this is also a violation of the Terms of Use. Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry (Message me) 15:11, 21 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

To clarify, I can't say either way that is Shapps' account, or run by him. All I can say is that I believe that it's a sockpuppet of the Hackneymarsh account. Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry (Message me) 16:21, 21 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Comments by other users

Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.

  • Much of this evidence is unaccepable Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry as the arguments is based on what a certain person you believe may be behind the account has done and said outside Wikipedia. Thus it constitutes outing. You should strike/delete those arguments that are solely based on what a person has said outside Wikipedia, and instead focus on making a direct link between the suspected master and suspected puppet. This "investigation" seems to be far to much influenced by information from The Guardian, instead of following the ordinary procedure for handling SPI cases. Iselilja (talk) 17:44, 21 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • I wasn't aware there was anything wrong with an editor who previously edited as an IP address later editing as a username. I don't see the relevance of the sections of this account which suggest it may have happened on this occasion. Hobson (talk) 19:16, 21 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

I've blocked the account, but given the press coverage that will crop up, I've created this page to ensure a clear audit trail and list of evidence. For the avoidance of doubt, the investigation was done (and my decision was reached) independently of the Guardian, and at no point was any confidential data shared with them (although they did point out the likelihood of sockpuppetry and explained the connections between the various characters, which is a lot of work - thankyou!). No further action by CUs or admins is required - it just needs noting and filing. Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry (Message me) 15:11, 21 April 2015 (UTC) |status=checked }}[reply]

Looks like they were waiting for the block before they published: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/21/grant-shapps-accused-of-editing-wikipedia-pages-of-tory-rivals. Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry (Message me) 15:24, 21 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
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