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v t e

Case opened on 13:31, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

Case closed on 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

Do not edit this page unless you are an arbitrator or clerk. Statements on this page are copies of the statements submitted in the original request to arbitrate this dispute, and serve as verbatim copies; therefore, they may not be edited or removed. (However, lengthy statements may be truncated – in which case the full statement will be copied to the talk page. Statements by uninvolved editors during the Requests phase will also be copied to the talk page.) Evidence which you wish to submit to the committee should be given at the /Evidence subpage, although permission must be sought by e-mail before you submit private, confidential, or sensitive evidence.

Arbitrators, the parties, and other editors may suggest proposed principles, findings, and remedies at /Workshop. The Workshop may also be used for you to submit general comments on the evidence, and for arbitrators to pose questions to the parties. Eventually, arbitrators will vote on a final decision in the case at /Proposed decision; only arbitrators may offer proposals as the Proposed Decision.

Once the case is closed, editors should edit the #Enforcement log as needed, but the other content of this page may not be edited except by clerks or arbitrators. Please raise any questions about this decision at Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Clarification and Amendment, any general questions at Wikipedia talk:Arbitration Committee, and report violations of the remedies passed in the decision to Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Enforcement.

• NE Ent (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log), filing party
• Gamaliel (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• DHeyward (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• Arkon (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• JzG (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)

• Miscellany for deletion
• Administrators' noticeboard/Incident discussion

American presidential candidate Marco Rubio recently made a comment about Donald Trump's hands, which is known to be a reference to penis size ^[1]; per the US constitution, this is acceptable speech in the US. On Wikipedia, however, the arbitration has previously made clear in Manning principles (selected passages, emphasis mine) that:

Removal of material about living persons

3) The policy on biographies of living persons requires that non-compliant material be removed if the non-compliance cannot readily be rectified. The policy does not impose any limitations on the nature of the material to be removed, provided that the material concerns a living person, and provided that the editor removing it is prepared to explain their rationale for doing so.

Once material about a living person has been removed on the basis of a good-faith assertion that such material is non-compliant, the policy requires that consensus be obtained prior to restoring the material.

Equality and respect

5.2) Wikipedia editors and readers come from a diverse range of backgrounds, including with respect to their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex or gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression. Comments that demean fellow editors, an article subject, or any other person, on the basis of any of these characteristics are offensive and damage the editing environment for everyone. Such comments, particularly when extreme or repeated after a warning, are grounds for blocking or other sanctions.

Applicability of the BLP policy

10) All living people who are subjects of Wikipedia content are entitled to the protections of the biographies of living persons policy. An editor's personal dislike of the subject or their actions does not abrogate in any way the usual protections of the policy.

The BLP policy and article titles

11) The biographies of living persons policy applies to all references to living persons throughout Wikipedia, including the titles of articles and pages and all other portions of any page.

end of excerpt

A review of the applicable discussions shows these policies were clearly not followed; the material was not removed expeditiously nor did Gamaliel et. al. ever acknowledge the non-compliance; rather he has posted content on his user page [1] mocking the legitimate concerns of the Wikipedia community.

The committee should accept this case because

• writing in the Wall Street Journal Joseph Epstein asks of the candidates this year How did it come about that we have five such unimpressive contenders for the presidency of the United States? ^[2] The upcoming campaign will be rife with negative commentary and innuendo; to maintain the integrity of the project, it will be essential that we uphold the primacy of the WP:BLP policy.
• our article Gender bias on Wikipedia notes that it's been suggested "Wikipedia culture is sexual in ways they find off-putting." Comments about a living persons penis that have no encyclopedic value whatsoever clearly falls into this category.NE Ent 23:53, 10 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Committee: Thanks! See ya on the evidence page.

Everyone else, including clerks: The purpose of a case request is to convince the committee to accept a case, or not, depending on the writer's point of view. Given the count is 9/2/4, 82% / plus 7 and has been for days, this is an accepted case. While I can't say worrying about the number of words this editor or that editor got is the most ridiculous thing I've seen in Wikipedia dispute resolution -- I've read way too many WP:ANI posts -- it certainly does rate as rather silly. NE Ent 18:05, 16 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I take BLP very seriously and I enforce it on a daily basis. I do not believe BLP is violated by mild humorous topical references on April Fools' Day, nor do I feel those mild humorous topical references do any damage to living individuals. We have a long history of such references on Wikipedia. I also take seriously real concerns expressed to me in a civil manner regarding BLP. The record will show that when the community in general expressed serious concerns in the MFD discussion, the editorial board of the Signpost discussed and acted on the matter and agreed with the community consensus. The record will also show that much of the drama here was driven by editors with self-admitted grudges against me personally or were directed here from multiple off-site Gamergate forums. I see no reason why I should not treat that drama with the contempt that it deserves, nor do I feel that attitude has anything to do with my ability to adhere to or enforce the BLP policy. I have been enforcing BLP since it was created in 2005, I've spent years on and off working at the BLP noticeboard, I've been an OTRS volunteer, and I've spent a year in the weeds at Gamergate defending the encyclopedia from being used as a weapon for harassment. BLP is one of our most important policies. However, we've had many, many examples in the history of that policy of editors acting in an overly zealous manner, being obnoxious and self-righteous towards other editors, or hijacking the policy to push their own agendas or settle their personal grudges. That's what's happening here, that's what the evidence will show, and that's what some of the drama mongers have openly stated. We can all do better, personally, and as a community. We should do a better job of preventing those individuals from hijacking our processes so the serious editors can discuss their differences respectfully.

In retrospect there are things I could have done better. I understand the community objections to the dummy standalone pages I created to make the template work and I wish I had found a better way to create that template, and the responsibility for that is mine alone and does not lie with anyone else at the Signpost. I wish I had not lost my temper when being harassed and personally attacked. However, I do not regret collaborating with other Signpost editors to create the story, which many people enjoyed. I do not regret mocking the agenda-driven drama stirred up against me, as many other people did. I do not regret thinking Wikipedia-based humor is funny, as many people do and have over our history. Those are all views that I share with many other editors. None of those views are against Wikipedia policies or affect my ability to enforce them.

The dummy pages have been deleted, the offending headline has been removed from the joke story and has not been restored, even though there was no consensus that its presence was a violation, only that the standalone pages were a problem. I realize lots of people don't like me, or April Fools' Day, or humor on Wikipedia, or that my views differ from theirs regarding encyclopedia policies or ethics in gaming journalism. There's lots of people who disagree, and yet we still manage to write an encyclopedia, at least those of us who are here to do so. It's time for us drop the stick and get back to that. Gamaliel (talk) 00:40, 11 April 2016 (UTC) [reply]

Gamaliel has a long history of inserting his POV in American Politics. From John Kerry and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth to Joe Scarborough and his creation of Lori Klausutis to Bill O'Reilly to G. Gordon Liddy to Fox News to Patrick Buchanan; he's never seen a liberal (they are all "moderate" and everyone else is a "conservative" or "neocon" or whatever label he can create to exaggerate extremism. This has occurred through his whole history at WP. It's not neutral. It doesn't support BLP. It's so biased as to be noted by outside reliable sources less than a year ago [2]. His actions along Gamergate lines is legendary. My own experience is that admins went to the extraordinary step of reversing my block, undoing Gamaliel's rev del and chastising him for being overzealous. His latest defense of the 9 day April 1st joke regarding Trump garnered widespread community condemnation for supporting a position that he may hold personally but violates NPOV and BLP policies. He says he's learned but even today he is trying to "Keep" a commons image linking Trump to WP and Wales. Wales himself is concerned about the being implicated with Trump. He doesn't take BLP seriously unless it supports his political view which he prominently displays on his userpage. In short he shouldn't be allowed to comment on any aspect of American Politics. Every area he touches turns into a battleground due to an unrelentingly obtuse approach that he is always right and neutral. Accept his case and end a number of controversies including GamerGate. --DHeyward (talk) 01:08, 11 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@Drmies: I filed the initial CSD that was reverted by Gamaliel. I undid that action, but another editor removed the CSD tag and added the humor tag. I dropped it after that and put an AN notice for opinion. I had no idea whether others shared my view or not and it didn't matter much to me as I wasn't interested in fighting it. A few days later is when the rest of it began and quite separate from me. My evidence would be various WP:OWN issues that are centered around American Politics and it has been an ongoing problem for a very long time. My view is we don't need a "Minister of Propaganda" running both the signpost and serving on ArbCom and have said so. His tenacious refusal to even contemplate that he *might* be wrong is why the ANI lasted so long and is part of the larger problem illustrated over a long history. --DHeyward (talk) 21:57, 11 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@Callanecc: The CSD warning was earlier on 2 April. Can you check the logs? Did Gamaliel remove the CSD tag twice?!? (once on April 2 and once on April 7)? You only listed the April 7. --DHeyward (talk) 14:16, 12 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@Hammersoft: The policy violations started on [April 2 and continued for a week. That was the first CSD tag Gamaliel removed. --DHeyward (talk) 23:21, 12 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Fram In this action, Gamaliel's overzealous rev del was overturned at AN as well as a block he endorsed. Risker summed it up in the first comment and undid all the admin actions. --DHeyward (talk) 00:22, 14 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

This area is used for notes by the clerks (including clerk recusals).

• As a reminder, the arbitration policy states (emphasis mine) "An arbitrator may recuse from any case, or from any aspect of a case, with or without explanation[...]". Although asking arbitrators the reason for their recusal is allowed, the arbitrator is by no means required to answer. Kevin (aka L235 · t · c) 04:34, 11 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
• Recuse Kharkiv07 (T) 00:15, 12 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
• Recuse Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 00:45, 12 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
• Recuse as I was involved with the CSD Mdann52 (talk) 11:46, 12 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Vote key: (Accept/decline/recuse/other)

• Recuse. Gamaliel (talk) 00:41, 11 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
• Recuse. Kirill Lokshin (talk) 00:43, 11 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
• Before I go Accept/decline/recuse/other, can I ask some of the commenters here, those who think (like Fram) that Gamaliel's actions were "subpar" (Staberinde's term) but suggested that this is not a case ArbCom should take, what they think an appropriate course of action might be? Moreover, it seems to me that the charge by Ent addresses only the BLP, whereas some of the comments take a broader view--and if we accept something it would be good to know what we are to accept. Drmies (talk) 18:23, 11 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  • As was to be expected this little plant has seen some healthy growth: must be the spring rains. Please allow me one quick note before I try to take in the whole: I understand the concern expressed by User:Ryk72 regarding this closing comment. The optimistic reading of User:SB Johnny's close, "no administrator is going to take action", as a pragmatic statement, i.e., this discussion is not going to lead to a block. However, I emphatically disagree with the rest, "... without explicit prior approval from ArbCom". There is no such rule and there shouldn't be such a rule: if I screw up and abuse my tools or, I don't know, am edit warring to a blockable degree, someone better warn me and, if need be, block me. Drmies (talk) 17:30, 12 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

• SB_Johnny, maybe so, but I think we all agree that the ANI discussion was going nowhere. If it had been headed toward a block or ban or desysop, I wouldn't have closed it--and if it had been headed for a desysop it would have been an ArbCom matter anyway. ANI is just not a real good forum for complicated stuff. Whether this is any better, who can tell. Drmies (talk) 15:47, 13 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
• Recuse. Keilana (talk) 18:44, 11 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
• Okay so the issues that I see ArbCom possibly being able to look at / resolve:
  • Actions on Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2010-03-17/News and notes from various editors - BLP vio or not, edit warring, removing CSD notices (had been notified), questionable use of rollback, this ridiculous nastiness and POINT series [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] (the page would need to be put into history only review for the case)
  • Actions at User:Gamaliel/Small hands - POINT or not, BATTLEGROUND or not, use of full protection in own userspace vs. INVOLVED.
  • Actions in the ANI discussion - civility/personal attacks, revert warring the close (I'd be very appreciative if someone would please collect all of the diffs of someone closing the discussion and the reverts of it being closed [from everyone who did it]), closing a discussion about oneself (and something about a WP:STICK [8] [9] [10]).
  • Issues relating to Gamaliel specifically, those I've mentioned above as well as what's presented in Hammersoft's statement

Is there anything I've missed from anyone involved? @Iridescent: Where is the wheel-warring you mentioned? Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 00:22, 12 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

• I was minded to accept the case based on my dot points above. Having thought about it over the last few days I'm even more convinced that we need to accept a case to look at the April Fools issue (primarily my dot points) involving Gamaliel and others (policy/guideline violations, disruption as well as general nastiness) and Gamaliel's recent administrative actions (Fram's statement). For clarity, I don't see the need to have another case about Gamergate, but I imagine it's going to relate to it. Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 10:30, 14 April 2016 (UTC) Rewritten (clarified intent, intended meaning not changed). Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 14:06, 14 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

• decline Gamaliel has been contrite about the initial material that led to this. The material is nebulous and tangential enough that it is in a grey area WRT BLP policy, and the subsequent morass involved alot of folks with opinions and I think it would be unproductive to prolong that for another several weeks, particularly as the issue as such has been deleted/resolved. The outstanding query is whether an arb should be writing on the signpost and the best way to resolve that would be a community-wide RfC to get a quantitative feel rather than the opinions of a few here. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 02:24, 12 April 2016 (UTC) switched to accept due to concerns over edit warring and potential involved admin conduct Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 03:23, 15 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@SlimVirgin:, yes I have been thinking about the preexisting disputes, but at the end of the day (after re-reading) there is enough concern to warrant a review of the situation. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 21:22, 16 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

• Decline. First off, to paraphrase Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, Handing out BLP sanctions for April Fools Day hijinks is like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500. This has been well documented by MastCell above. If that is to change, it has to come from the community and be done wholesale, not targeted at one specific user. Second, everyone involved in anything related to April Fools' Day 2016 should be admonished (and I really hate that word) because y'all aren't funny. Third, I agree with Cas, determining if someone should sit as an Arbitrator, and the editor-in-chief of The Signpost is not a Committee decision, a proper RfC should be held to determine that. Fourth, I was unfortunate enough to watch the AN/I thread pan out in near real time, Gamaliel's actions there were poor to say the least (I will not use the term subpar as that would be even more of an understatement than poor), however in my mind, they do not reach the level of someone being desysopped (arbitrator or not). They do not reach the level of blocking (administrator or not). His actions fall short of points 1 and 2 of Wikipedia:Arbitration/Policy#Conduct_of_arbitrators, however I would not say that they are repeated nor gross enough to warrant removal from the committee. As those three actions are really the only outcomes that would come out of this arbitration case request, my formal response is:

Gamaliel, you know better than this. You are better than this. Get your shit together, and lead by example.

I trust if there is to be an actual admonishment motion, that someone may write something a little more eloquent than that. Or not. --kelapstick^(bainuu) 05:34, 12 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

For clarity, Ryk72, and thank you for bringing it up, being a member of ArbCom grants no immunity from AN, AN/I, or any other page which are abbreviated and posted in blue-linked capital letters. I don't think anybody on the Committee believes they have any such immunity (although I wouldn't presume to speak for them, that is just my understanding). --kelapstick^(bainuu) 10:28, 12 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Reviewing the Admin Accountability concerns brought up by Fram, this request has moved beyond edit warring over The Signpost, and a kerfuffle at AN/I. All this combined (which is far more than the initial case request was) suggests that there should be an in-depth review. Change to Accept. --kelapstick^(bainuu) 21:34, 13 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

• Decline. I was in the middle of writing a long post when I was interrupted in real life, and when I returned I found Kelapstick's one-liner much superior to my four meandering points. So I'm just going to put it in a handy little collapse box and say "per Kelapstick" up here. Opabinia regalis (talk) 06:16, 12 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

• Hammersoft Quite the opposite, in my opinion it would be disrespectful to the community to take any action that implies arbitrators are somehow immune from normal community processes. Outside of arb business, an arb has exactly the same status as any other community member. We don't need to be further reinforcing the perception that Wikipedia has an aristocracy. Capeo, that action was taken by a different committee with different members; I think you'll find that some of us now here would have opposed it. Opabinia regalis (talk) 20:28, 12 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

• Accept Any long-term editor, any administrator, and for damn sure any arbitrator should have known better than to produce BLP violations, especially by intentional choice rather than error or forgetfulness. The actions after this was pointed out to Gamaliel was just as bad. I really, really do not want to spend the next four weeks on this (and therefore would likely support an extremely strong admonishment) but this was not acceptable conduct from an admin and an arbitrator. Courcelles (talk) 16:04, 12 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
• Recuse GorillaWarfare (talk) 18:05, 12 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
• Decline per MastCell and OR. Was the 30+ year old "joke" funny? No. Do we trounce someone for repeating a joke that was covered by Last Week Tonight, The Drudge Report, Vanity Fair, NPR, The Washington Post, CNN, The Huffington Post, Vice, Talking Points Memo and The Hill? Again no, especially when you stand it beside things that were said in AfDs that very same day. If you would like to bar someone from being on the signpost staff and an arb, start a RFC. If you would like to end any leniency for April Fools "jokes", then start a RFC. (I would personally support sending most of this tradition to Valhalla.) None of those things can be done here. --In actu (Guerillero) | My Talk 18:46, 12 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
• Accept in accordance with email request on behalf of arbitrator Salvio giuliano (talk · contribs). Kevin (aka L235 · t · c) 14:27, 13 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
• I'm working on reading through this, but i'm not there yet. The one thing I will note is that if there is consensus to take action against and Arbitrator, that the community do it. They community can further ask for a review by us or just simply let us know. But I'd rather the community not be held back by the fact that the member is a sitting Arbitrator. -- Amanda (aka DQ) 16:34, 13 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

• @Hammersoft and Iridescent: To clarify, I was making a point in general, and I know that kicking the can again is a stupid idea.

Accept There are concerns about abuse of the tools, conduct unbecoming an Arb, and questions about BLP and actions taken around it. Perfect case to accept while remembering our limitations. -- Amanda (aka DQ) 08:43, 15 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

• Accept. The are several points in this request where I think the committee needs to make a statement, and a case would be the open way to do it. Though I would have thought them pretty obvious, this discussions here seems to show otherwise. They have respect to the independence of the Signpost, the common-sense view of the relationship of jokes and BLP, and the delusion that being an arb should be seen by themselves or others as an immunity from criticism or a permission for irresponsibility. DGG ( talk ) 19:21, 14 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
• I'm on holiday at the moment and would prefer not to vote until I get back and can read through this again when I am less exhausted. I will definitely do this by Saturday. Ah, I didn't count the recuses, my vote won't matter. So I shall simply state that Arbs have no special immunity, that I can see the issue concerning his role on Signpost but agree that it would be a community decision or his, and that continuing to discuss the BLP issue perpetuates it. Hopefully a case, which seems inevitable now, can be dealt with a shortened timeline to avoid that. Doug Weller talk 19:58, 14 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]
• Accept Doug Weller talk 20:02, 15 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

1) For the duration of this case DHeyward (talk · contribs) and Gamaliel (talk · contribs) are prohibited from interacting with or discussing each other anywhere on Wikipedia. An exception is granted for the main case page, evidence and workshop pages, but not for any case talk page. This injunction is to be enforced with blocks of up to one week, any blocks made are to be logged on the main case page.

Passed 8 to 0 at 14:00, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

All tallies are based the votes at /Proposed decision, where comments and discussion from the voting phase is also available.

1.1) There is widespread agreement in the Wikipedia community regarding the importance of the biographies of living persons policy. The policy has been adopted and since its inception repeatedly expanded and strengthened by the community. In addition, the Arbitration Committee has previously reaffirmed the values expressed through that policy. Fundamental values and practices concerning biographical content has been emphasised in a resolution of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees and were also expanded and strengthened. If an editor wishes to restore content removed in good faith under the policy, the burden of proof is on those who wish to retain, restore, or undelete the disputed material. Restoring the original content without significant change requires consensus.

Passed 8 to 1 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

2) Wikipedia is not a place to hold grudges or insult, harass, or intimidate those with whom you have a disagreement. Editors should approach issues intelligently and engage in polite discussion. Editors who consistently find themselves in disputes with each other when they interact on Wikipedia, and who are unable to resolve their differences, should seek to minimise the extent of any unnecessary interactions between them. Interaction bans may used to force editors to do so.

Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

3) Edit warring is unconstructive as it causes ill-will between editors and makes it harder to reach consensus. Editors who engage in multiple reverts of the same content but are careful not to breach the three revert rule are still edit warring. Editors engaged in a dispute should reach consensus or pursue dispute resolution rather than engage in edit warring.

Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

4) In the case of edits which fall afoul of the biographies of living persons policy, exemptions from the edit-warring policy are made for removing BLP violations. Restoring what is perceived to be a BLP violation, instead of discussing whether it is a BLP violation or not, can lead to sanctions.

Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

5) Administrators are accountable for their actions involving administrative tools. As such, they are expected to respond appropriately to queries about their administrative actions and to justify them where needed. Criticism of the merits of administrative actions are acceptable within the bounds of avoiding personal attacks and civility.

Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

6.1) Wikipedia editors are expected to behave reasonably and calmly in their interactions with other editors, to keep their cool when editing, and to avoid acting in a manner that brings the project into disrepute. Administrators are expected to adhere to this at a higher standard. Unseemly conduct—including, but not limited to, lack of respect for other editors, failure to work towards consensus, disrupting Wikipedia to make a point, offensive comments, trolling, harassment, gaming the system, and failure to assume good faith—is inconsistent with Wikipedia. Editors should not respond to such behaviour in kind; concerns regarding the actions of other editors should be brought up in the appropriate forums.

Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

7) Editors are encouraged to engage in frank discussion of matters affecting the project, and are encouraged to share even those facts and opinions which demonstrate the shortcomings of the project, its policies, its decision making structure, and its leaders. Such discourse is limited by the expectation that even difficult situations will be resolved in a dignified fashion, with evidence and without resorting to personal attacks. Editors who have genuine grievances against others are expected to avail themselves of the most appropriate dispute resolution mechanism.

Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

8.1) Administrator tools are not to be used in connection with disputes in which the administrator is involved. In circumstances where an administrator is involved, the administrator should not take administrative action but should instead report the issue to a relevant noticeboard, perhaps with a suggestion for appropriate action, to be dealt with by another administrator. In limited circumstances, such as blatant vandalism or bad-faith harassment, an involved administrator may act, but such exceptions are likely to be rare.

Passed 9 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

9) April Fool's Day jokes are a widespread tradition in the English-speaking world, reflected on Wikipedia as an expression of community jollity and tolerated by established consensus supported by the outcome of various noticeboard and deletion discussions. On Wikipedia the convention has been to speedy close vexatious AfDs but otherwise (for example with joke RfAs) to archive soon after midnight UTC on April 2 with a "humor" template. April Fools is a contentious tradition on Wikipedia, in part because it is not a fully international tradition. April Fool's Day jokes are not exempt from the biographies of living persons policy.

Passed 10 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

10) The Arbitration Committee is responsible for investigating the conduct of its members when serious concerns are raised about their ability to meet defined expectations. However, arbitrators who behave poorly while engaging in routine editing or administrative tasks unrelated to their arbitration duties should be treated like any other community member. It is not necessary to escalate routine disputes to the Committee simply because an arbitrator's conduct is involved.

Passed 10 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

11) The pages associated with arbitration cases are primarily intended to assist the Arbitration Committee in arriving at a fair, well-informed, and expeditious resolution of each case. Participation by editors who present good-faith statements, evidence, and workshop proposals is appreciated. While allowance is made for the fact that parties and other interested editors may have strong feelings about the subject-matters of their dispute, appropriate decorum should be maintained on these pages. Incivility, personal attacks, and strident rhetoric should be avoided in arbitration as in all other areas of Wikipedia.

Passed 10 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

1) Gamaliel has worked in the Gamergate topic area to such an extent that he has painted many opponents with the same brush, leading to an erosion of confidence in his objectivity. See, for example, Kingsindian's, Fram's and Gamaliel's evidence.

Passed 10 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

2) At Gamaliel's request the Arbitration Committee "indefinitely restricted [Gamaliel] from taking any action to enforce any arbitration decision within the GamerGate topic, broadly construed" in this announcement.

Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

3) As part of April Fools Day events Gamaliel created a satirical Signpost news report related to Donald Trump. The page was tagged for speedy deletion as a hoax. Gamaliel reverted the addition of a CSD notice in contravention of the criteria for speedy deletion policy. Gamaliel engaged in edit warring and violated the three revert rule (Fram's evidence) on the Signpost page [11] after others had reverted on the basis of the biographies of living persons policy. Gamaliel was uncivil and disruptive ([12] [13] [14] [15]) in his edits to the Signpost page.

Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

4) Gamaliel created a userbox in his userspace and placed it on his userpage [16] which continued the dispute after the Signpost page had been deleted by community consensus. After an anonymous editor blanked citing WP:POINT, Gamaliel applied full protection. While this protection was technically in accordance with the protection policy it prevented the addition of a deletion discussion notice and perpetuated what other editors believed was a BLP violation. Gamaliel deleted the page himself and removed it from his userpage.

Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

6) During the course of the dispute, Gamaliel belittled the concerns many editors had expressed about his conduct. He cast aspersions and assumed bad faith by describing those editors as being "Gamergate editors" and effectively accusing them of having participated in a coordinated harassment campaign ([17][18]). He failed to recognize that his own actions were problematic and that many concerns were expressed by people not involved with Gamergate, instead making sarcastic and pointed comments ([19] [20]). Gamaliel's conduct was below that expected of an administrator (WP:ADMINCOND, WP:ADMINACCT) and an arbitrator (WP:ARBCOND).

Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

7) The Arbitration Committee acknowledges Gamaliel's resignation from the Committee ([21]), and thanks him for his long service to the community.

Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

8A) There was a discussion on ANI regarding the Signpost page and the creation of the page in Gamaliel's userspace (see the timeline). There were 14 different closes, reverts and re-closes over a period of approximately two days, and the suggestions at WP:CLOSECHALLENGE were not followed. The tenor of discussion was largely uncollegial and incivil.

Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

8B) Gamaliel edit warred to re-close the discussion, which was about him, making three reverts (to JzG's version). [22][23][24]

Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

8C) JzG's close of the ANI discussion indicates a standard of conduct below that expected of an administrator. The close was needlessly inflammatory and belittling, and perpetuated the perceived BLP violation [25].

Passed 11 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

8D.1) Arkon reverted JzG and Gamaliel in their attempts to close and re-close the discussion, which he started [26] [27] [28] [29].

Passed 6 to 4 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

9) DHeyward (talk · contribs) has acted in an incivil manner towards Gamaliel and made personal attacks on the English Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons ([30][31] [32] [33]). Initially DHeyward did not believe he acted inappropriately ([34] [35]). DHeyward has been warned regarding incivility and making personal attacks on Gamaliel on the English Wikipedia and on Wikimedia Commons ([36] [37] [38]). DHeyward and Gamaliel were prohibited from interacting with or discussing each other for the duration of this arbitration case.

Passed 9 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

Note: All remedies that refer to a period of time, for example to a ban of X months or a revert parole of Y months, are to run concurrently unless otherwise stated.

2) Gamaliel is admonished for multiple breaches of Wikipedia policies and guidelines including for disrupting Wikipedia to make a point, removing a speedy deletion notice from a page he created, casting aspersions, and perpetuating what other editors believed to be a BLP violation.

Passed 10 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

3) DHeyward and Gamaliel are indefinitely prohibited from interacting with or discussing each other anywhere on Wikipedia, subject to the usual exemptions.

Passed 9 to 2 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

4) DHeyward (talk · contribs) is admonished for engaging in incivility and personal attacks on other editors. He is reminded that all editors are expected to engage respectfully and civilly with each other and to avoid making personal attacks.

Passed 8 to 1 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

5) For conduct which was below the standard expected of an administrator — namely making an incivil and inflammatory close summary on ANI, in which he perpetuated the perceived BLP violation and failed to adequately summarise the discussion — JzG is admonished.

Passed 10 to 0 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

6) Arkon is reminded that edit warring, even if exempt, is rarely an alternative to discussing the dispute with involved editors, as suggested at WP:CLOSECHALLENGE.

Passed 7 to 4 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

7.1) The community is encouraged to hold an RfC to supplement the existing WP:BLPTALK policy by developing further guidance on managing disputes about material involving living persons when that material appears outside of article space and is not directly related to article-content decisions.

Passed 6 to 4 at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

8) The community is encouraged to hold an RfC regarding whether the leniency for April Fools Day jokes should be continued and if so, what should be allowed.

Passed 10 to 0 with 1 abstention at 03:39, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

0) Should any user subject to a restriction in this case violate that restriction, that user may be blocked, initially for up to one month, and then with blocks increasing in duration to a maximum of one year.

In accordance with the procedure for the standard enforcement provision adopted 3 May 2014, this provision did not require a vote.

In accordance with the procedure for the standard appeals and modifications provision adopted 3 May 2014, this provision did not require a vote.

Any block, restriction, ban, or sanction performed under the authorisation of a remedy for this case must be logged at Wikipedia:Arbitration enforcement log, not here.