Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Conflict of interest reports/October 2024 appointments

331dot (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)

I have been an admin for six and a half years, and I've had the renamer permission for several years (since September 2018). I have access to the VRT for renamers and I have signed the privacy related forms. I think that having access to the COI VRT would be helpful to the project for me to be able to better address paid editing issues involving off wiki information, which now requires me to approach a probably-already overtasked checkuser. The fact that I already have VRT access in one area demonstrates that I will abide by relevant policies and will continue to do so with this additional permission should I be granted it.

1. Please describe any relevant experience you have for this role.

   The most relevant experience is probably my work at CAT:RFU trying to keep the backlog down to a minimum. I feel this permission would only aid that role.

2. Please list any advanced permissions (checkuser, oversight, bureaucrat, steward) you hold or previously held on any WMF project.

   I have the global renamer permission.

3. Do you have VRT permissions? If so, to which queues?

   Yes, I have access to the VRT for renamers.

• Struck me as clueful in the very few interactions, we had, if I recall correctly. TrangaBellam (talk) 12:22, 30 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Bishonen (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)

Hello, I'm Bishonen and I've been an admin since 2005. I would like to join the Conflict of interest VRT queue because I'm interested in helping to protect Wikipedia from the tide of advertising and promotion. I already spend a good chunk of my Wikipedia time on this; for example, I follow the WP:COIN noticeboard and act on some cases reported there. It's rather a delicate job, since the editors that get reported at COIN hardly ever admit to either COI or paid editing, and I may well have let quite a few slip through the net because it's so hard to be sure, or because considerations of outing must take precedence. Hopefully the VRT queue will make outing a less burning issue, and I really hope many people who find COI evidence will send it to the queue (we should perhaps advertise it better!), where it can be dealt with without publishing any kind of personal information.

The lack of openness from (many) conflict-of-interest editors and paid editors tends to make us cynical, all of us who encounter them. I try to strike a medium between naive and cynical, but then I'm sure all of us try.

1. Please describe any relevant experience you have for this role.

   As I say above, I have been following the WP:COIN noticeboard for some time, and acting on some cases reported there. I also watch the talkpages of a few users who get frequent angry posts from new users who they've posted the COI template on — "I don't have a conflict of interest, you have a conflict of interest! You're probably a competitor!" etc. The excessive aggression when receiving a polite template tends, in my experience, to be quite the "tell" for COI, and I often end up blocking those cases. Also, of course, I do the easy thing: follow WP:UAA and block many accounts that have the name of a company + an advertisement for that company on their userpage. Sometimes I find those here, too.

2. Please list any advanced permissions (checkuser, oversight, bureaucrat, steward) you hold or previously held on any WMF project.

   None.

3. Do you have VRT permissions? If so, to which queues?

   No.

1. I vaguely remember once being asked to be put in your pocket, but I can't find any evidence of that on your talk page. Am I mis-remembering? Or am I still in there? RoySmith (talk) 15:01, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

You must be thinking of cousin Bishzilla, even though there is oddly no sign of it on her talkpage either. Perhaps she offered (or kidnapped you?) in some other corner of the site. Anyway, if she stuck you in her pocket and you haven't escaped (think ropeladders in pies, catflap), you are surely still there, enjoying the amenities. Bishonen | tålk 15:33, 26 October 2024 (UTC).[reply]

• I respect all of the candidates standing, but Bish has been a colleague and mentor for the majority of my tenure on Wikipedia, and I wanted to record my complete trust in her judgement and ability to handle this work. Vanamonde93 (talk) 16:43, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• Look, this ain't hard. Any dummy can do this. Don't you want Bish to be that dummy? Just Step Sideways ^{from this world ..... today} 04:48, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• I will join the comments above noting how excited I am for the work that needs doing that Bish has put herself forward. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 15:55, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• There can perhaps be no better candidate. TrangaBellam (talk) 12:22, 30 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• Also going to echo the above in saying Bish is an excellent candidate for this. EggRoll97 ^(talk) 03:25, 1 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Robertsky (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)

Hi, I am Robertsky, and I am applying for COIVRT access. I would like to assist in whatever I can with COIVRT queue. On COI front, I have not edited for pay, and I have had declared my COI(s) appropriately and will continue to do so. Patrolling at WP:UAA also exposes me to COI/UPE editing by others which are dealt with the appropriate measures.

1. Please describe any relevant experience you have for this role.

   I routinely come across COI/UPE edits. Most of these edits are being reverted as they are usually POV/promotional. As an admin since this year, some of them have been deleted by me as G11. Before being admin, some would have been CSD tagged accordingly. There are editors who abide by the paid editing policy that we have and I would process them if I come across them, i.e. Talk:Oasia Hotel Downtown.

2. Please list any advanced permissions (checkuser, oversight, bureaucrat, steward) you hold or previously held on any WMF project.

   bureaucrat for wikimaniawiki, as part of my Wikimania 2023 COT stint. I still hold the rights as I do check in on the project from time to time.

3. Do you have VRT permissions? If so, to which queues?

   I currently do not have any VRT permissions.

• I have found Robert to be a levelheaded thoughtful administrator. These feel like the right qualities to trust someone with this work. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 15:55, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]