Wikipedia:General sanctions
 | This is an information page. It is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines; rather, its purpose is to explain certain aspects of Wikipedia's norms, customs, technicalities, or practices. It may reflect differing levels of consensus and vetting. |
General sanctions are a type of Wikipedia sanctions that apply to all editors working in a particular topic area. These contrast with editing restrictions, also called "personal sanctions", which apply only to individual editors. General sanctions are measures used by the community or the Arbitration Committee ("ArbCom") to improve the editing atmosphere of an article or topic area. They empower administrators to sanction editors who are not complying with general behavioral or editorial guidelines and policies.
Types of sanctions[edit]
Contentious topics[edit]
The contentious topics (formerly called Discretionary Sanctions) procedure is intended to provide administrators with a rapid means to intervene in topic areas that have proved problematic. The goal is to reduce and prevent future disruption to the project. Use of such tools can be authorized by the Arbitration Committee, usually as part of an arbitration case. In addition, community discussions can authorize sanctions based on procedures established by the Arbitration Committee.
In areas which have been designated a contentious topic, any editor may alert another editor that a topic has been designated as a contentious topic. If this is first alert the editor has recieved for any contentious topic you must use {{Contentious topics/alert/first}}, otherwise you can use {{Contentious topics/alert}}. Contentious topic restrictions may not be imposed on an editor unless they were aware that a topic has been designated a contentious topic. Any "aware" editor who repeatedly or seriously fails to adhere to the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standard of behaviour, or any normal editorial process may be restricted "on the spot" by any uninvolved administrator or through a formal request at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard ("AE"). Possible restrictions include, but aren't limited to, blocks of up to one year, article or topic bans, and revert restrictions. For specific pages, uninvolved administrators may also impose preventative restrictions such as page protection and revert restrictions.
Community-authorised discretionary sanctions[edit]
Some community sanctions are based on Discretionary Sanctions which is the predecessor to contentious topics. There are some exceptions to the Arbitration Committee discretionary sanctions procedure that apply:
- Conduct which is below the required standard or breaches of page or individual restrictions are reported to the administrators' noticeboard for incidents and not the arbitration enforcement noticeboard (AE).
- Appeals are made to the administrators' noticeboard and not the arbitration enforcement noticeboard (AE) or to the Arbitration Committee (but case requests can still be filed).
- Sanctions are logged on a page specific to the topic area (for example, Wikipedia:General sanctions/South Asian social groups).
- Templates used to alert and notify editors of discretionary sanctions are specific to community sanctions (see Template:Gs for details).
- Administrators cannot use the community sanctions to delete pages.[1]
Page restrictions[edit]
Pages may be subject to restrictions that limit the types of edits that may be made. Such restrictions can be added as a topic-wide restriction, and can also be applied as a discretionary sanction on a particular page. Applicable page restrictions should be clearly communicated to editors using an editnotice and a talk notice. The most common restriction is the one-revert rule ("1RR").
Extended confirmed restriction[edit]
The extended confirmed restriction (previously called the "500/30 rule") limits editing in a specific topic area to only those accounts that have been extended confirmed. A standard procedure for this type of general sanction was adopted by the Arbitration Committee on 20 September 2021.
Authorisation[edit]
Arbitration Committee sanctions[edit]
The Arbitration Committee may authorize general sanctions for particular pages or subject areas (known as contentious topics), usually following an arbitration case. Administrators employing sanctions must issue appropriate notifications, and log all sanctions imposed, as specified in each case. The Arbitration Committee may revoke these sanctions by passing a "motion in a prior case". Editors wishing to report possible violations of Arbitration Committee sanctions should do so at Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Enforcement.
Community sanctions[edit]
The community may also impose general sanctions on all editors working in a particular area by consensus at the village pump for proposals (VPR), following a notice at the administrators' noticeboard (AN). While community sanctions are not bound by Arbitration Committee procedures and guidelines, they are often based on them. More specifically, multiple community sanctions issued before 2023 are based on the Arbitration Committee discretionary sanctions procedure which was replaced in December 2022 by contentious topics and that newer procedure may be the model for future community sanctions. Deviations from or additions to these standards typically requires community consensus, unless purely clerical in nature. Requests for amendments, clarification, or revocation (if sanctions are no longer required) should also be discussed at VPR, following a notice at AN.[2]
Active sanctions[edit]
Arbitration Committee-authorised sanctions[edit]
Templates[edit]
Use the following templates for these sanctions. Case-specific templates can be found at Category:Standardised_Wikipedia_arbitration_enforcement_templates.
- Article talk page notice:
{{Contentious topics/talk notice|topic=topic code}} - First notification for user talk page:
{{subst:Contentious topics/alert/first|topic=topic code}} - Subsequent notifications for user talk page:
{{subst:Contentious topics/alert|topic=topic code}} - Sanction for user talk page (to actually impose the sanction):
{{subst:AE sanction|sanction=|rationale=|topic=topic code}} - For block notices on user talk page:
{{subst:Uw-aeblock}}}
Decisions[edit]
- Appropriate procedures described at Wikipedia:Contentious topics
| Case | Applicable area | Standard Sanctions | Special Restrictions | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abortion (WP:CT/AB) |
Abortion, broadly construed | Contentious topic | A one-revert restriction (1RR) was removed in September 2020. | |
| Acupuncture (WP:CT/CAM) |
Complementary and Alternative Medicine, broadly construed | Contentious topic | ||
| American politics 2 (WP:CT/AP) |
Post-1992 politics of the United States and closely related people, broadly construed | Contentious topic | The year was changed from "1932" to "1992" in January 2021. | |
| Antisemitism in Poland (WP:APL) |
Polish history during World War II (1933-1945) and the history of Jews in Poland | Extended confirmed restriction (area also falls under WP:CT/EE) | All articles and edits in the area are subject to a "reliable source consensus-required" contentious topic restriction. When a source that is not an article in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal, an academically focused book by a reputable publisher, and/or an article published by a reputable institution is removed from an article, no editor may reinstate the source without first obtaining consensus on the talk page of the article in question or consensus about the reliability of the source in a discussion at the Reliable Sources Noticeboard. Administrators may enforce this restriction with page protections, topic bans, or blocks; enforcement decisions should consider not merely the severity of the violation but the general disciplinary record of the editor in violation. | The extended confirmed restriction in this area is from 2020; the "reliable source consensus-required" restriction was added in 2021 and modified in 2023. |
| Armenia-Azerbaijan 2 (WP:CT/A-A) |
Armenia, Azerbaijan, and related ethnic conflicts, broadly construed | Contentious topic | ||
| Article titles and capitalisation (WP:CT/MOS) |
The English Wikipedia Manual of Style and article titles policy, broadly construed | Contentious topic | ||
| Civility in infobox discussions (WP:CT/CID) |
Discussions about infoboxes and to edits adding, deleting, collapsing, or removing verifiable information from infoboxes | Contentious topic |
|
|
| Climate change (WP:CT/CC) |
The climate change topic, broadly interpreted | Contentious topic | ||
| COVID-19 (WP:CT/COVID) |
COVID-19, broadly construed | Contentious topic | ||
| Eastern Europe (WP:CT/EE) |
Eastern Europe and the Balkans, broadly construed | Contentious topic | The original Balkans remedy is from 2011's Macedonia case; Eastern Europe was added in 2019. | |
| Editing of Biographies of Living Persons (WP:CT/BLP) |
All living or recently deceased subjects of biographical content on Wikipedia articles | Contentious topic | ||
| Falun Gong (WP:CT/FG) |
Falun Gong, broadly construed | Contentious topic | ||
| Gender and sexuality (WP:CT/GG) |
Gender-related disputes or controversies and associated people | Contentious topic | ||
| Genetically modified organisms (WP:CT/GMO) |
Genetically modified organisms, commercially produced agricultural chemicals and the companies that produce them, broadly construed | Contentious topic; 1RR | ||
| Gun control (WP:CT/GC) |
Gun control, including governmental regulation of firearm ownership; the social, historical and political context of such regulation; and the people and organizations associated with these issues | Contentious topic | ||
| Horn of Africa (WP:CT/HORN) |
All pages relating to the Horn of Africa (defined as including Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and adjoining areas if involved in related disputes), broadly construed | Contentious topic | Originally a three-month trial, made permanent in November 2021. | |
| India-Pakistan (WP:CT/IPA) |
All pages related to India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, broadly construed | Contentious topic | ||
| Iranian politics (WP:CT/IRP) |
All edits about, and all pages related to, post-1978 Iranian politics, broadly construed | Contentious topic | ||
| Kurds and Kurdistan (WP:CT/KURD) |
The topics of Kurds and Kurdistan, broadly construed | Contentious topic | ||
| Palestine-Israel articles 4 (WP:CT/A-I) |
The entire set of articles whose topic relates to the Arab-Israeli conflict, broadly interpreted; edits relating to the Arab-Israeli conflict, to pages and discussions in all namespaces with the exception of userspace | Contentious topic; extended confirmed restriction; 1RR | Reverts made to enforce the extended confirmed restriction are exempt from the provisions of 1RR. Also, the normal exemptions apply to 1RR. Editors who violate 1RR may be blocked by any uninvolved administrator. | |
| Pseudoscience (WP:CT/CF) |
All pages relating to pseudoscience and fringe science, broadly interpreted | Contentious topic | ||
| Race and intelligence (WP:CT/R-I) |
The intersection of race/ethnicity and human abilities and behaviour | Contentious topic | ||
| The Troubles (WP:CT/TT) |
All pages relating to The Troubles, Irish nationalism, and British nationalism in relation to Ireland, broadly construed | Contentious topic; 1RR |
Community-authorised sanctions[edit]
Templates[edit]
Use the following templates for enforcing community-issued sanctions. Case-specific templates can be found at Category:Wikipedia community-authorised general sanctions templates.
- Article talk page notice:
{{Gs/talk notice|topic=topic code}} - Notification for user talk page:
{{subst:Gs/alert|topic=topic code}} - Sanction for user talk page (to actually impose the sanction):
{{subst:Community sanction|sanction=|rationale=|topic=topic code}} - For block notices on user talk page:
{{subst:Uw-csblock}}
Decisions[edit]
| Decision & Log | Applicable area | Type | Sanction (summarized from discussion) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Asian social groups AN discussion (WP:GS/CASTE) |
Pages related to South Asian social groups, broadly construed | Community-authorized discretionary sanctions | Pages related to South Asian social groups, broadly construed, are placed under community discretionary sanctions. | effective 11 February 2012 |
| Syrian Civil War and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant AN discussion (WP:GS/SCW&ISIL) |
Pages related to the Syrian Civil War and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant | Community-authorized discretionary sanctions and 1RR that mimic WP:ARBPIA | WP:ARBPIA-equivalent discretionary sanctions and 1RR are in force on "all pages related to the Syrian Civil War and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, broadly construed". Notifications and sanctions must be logged at Wikipedia:General sanctions/Syrian Civil War and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. | effective 31 August 2013 |
| Units in the United Kingdom AN discussion (WP:GS/UKU) |
Articles that have strong ties solely to the United Kingdom, as opposed to other English-speaking countries | Community-authorized discretionary sanctions | In articles that have strong ties solely to the United Kingdom, as opposed to other English-speaking countries, any editor who systematically changes values from one system of measurement to another without clear consensus, who edit-wars over such a change, who disrupts talk page discussions or normal Wikipedia processes pertaining to units in UK-related articles, who engages in forum-shopping, or who otherwise disruptively edits may be sanctioned by an uninvolved administrator. Sanctions can be imposed if, after being notified of the existence of these sanctions, the editor repeatedly repeatedly or seriously fails to adhere to the the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standards of behaviour, or normal editorial processes. Sanctions imposed may include blocks of up to one year in length, bans from editing any page or set of pages, bans on any editing related to the topic or its closely related topics, restrictions on reverts or other specified behaviours, or any other measures that the imposing administrator believes are reasonably necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of the project. Notifications must be logged at the general sanctions page to be effective. Sanctions may be appealed at the administrators' noticeboard. | effective 5 November 2014 |
| Blockchain and cryptocurrency AN discussion (WP:GS/Crypto) |
Pages related to the blockchain and cryptocurrencies | Community-authorized discretionary sanctions that mimic WP:ARBPIA, plus 1RR | WP:ARBPIA-equivalent discretionary sanctions and 1RR are in force on "all pages related to the blockchain and cryptocurrencies, broadly construed". Notifications and sanctions must be logged at Wikipedia:General sanctions/Blockchain and cryptocurrencies. | effective 22 May 2018 |
| Professional wrestling AN discussion (WP:GS/PW) |
Pages related to professional wrestling, broadly construed | Community-authorized discretionary sanctions | The community authorizes standard discretionary sanctions as general sanctions for the topic of professional wrestling, broadly construed. | effective 21 June 2018 |
| Michael Jackson AN discussion (WP:GS/MJ) |
Topics relating to Michael Jackson, broadly construed | Community-authorized discretionary sanctions | The community authorizes standard discretionary sanctions as general sanctions for topics related to Michael Jackson, broadly construed.
In addition, administrators may apply semi-protection or extended confirmed protection for any length of time or indefinitely on articles in the topic area, provided they reasonably believe meatpuppetry or sockpuppetry has occurred. Administrators may also apply temporary semi-protection or extended confirmed protection on talk pages and pages conducting RfCs related to the topic area provided they reasonably believe meatpuppetry or sockpuppetry has occurred. |
effective 27 December 2019 |
| Beauty Pageants AN discussion (WP:GS/PAGEANT) |
Any article on a beauty pageant, or biography of a person known as a beauty pageant contestant, which has been edited by a sockpuppet account or logged-out sockpuppet | Page protections | Eligible articles may be placed under indefinite semiprotection | effective 3 October 2020 |
| Russo-Ukrainian War AN discussion (WP:GS/RUSUKR) |
All articles and discussions related to the Russia-Ukraine War | Community-authorized extended confirmed restriction | Extended-confirmed protection: Only extended-confirmed editors may make edits related to the topic area, subject to the following provisions:
|
effective 7 October 2022 |
| Uyghur genocide ANI discussion (WP:GS/UYGHUR) |
Edits related to Uyghurs, Uyghur genocide, and topics that are related to Uyghurs or Uyghur genocide, all broadly construed | Community-authorized discretionary sanctions | Standard discretionary sanctions | effective 12 June 2021 |
| Armenia and Azerbaijan AN discussion Amendment AN discussion (WP:GS/AA) |
Politics, ethnic relations, and conflicts involving Armenia, Azerbaijan, or both—broadly construed and explicitly including the Armenian genocide | Community-authorized extended confirmed restriction | Extended confirmed restriction: only extended-confirmed editors may make edits related to the topic area, subject to the following provisions:
In the rest of the Armenia–Azerbaijan topic area, the community endorses administrators making liberal use of extended confirmed protection as an arbitration enforcement action. |
effective 3 January 2023, amended 8 September 2023 |
| Kurds and Kurdistan AN discussion (WP:GS/KURD) |
The topics of Kurds and Kurdistan, broadly construed | Community-authorized extended confirmed restriction | Extended confirmed restriction: only extended-confirmed editors may make edits related to the topic area, subject to the following provisions:
|
effective 3 January 2023 |
Obsolete sanctions[edit]
Obsolete types of sanctions[edit]
Article probation[edit]
Article probation is now considered obsolete. When it was in use, article probation involved placing certain articles under increased scrutiny by administrators. Editors who made disruptive edits to articles that had been placed on probation could be banned from further editing of such articles, as well as related articles and/or project pages. Anyone editing an article on probation was intended to be especially mindful of content policies, such as neutral point-of-view, and interaction policies, such as WP:CIVIL, WP:NPA, WP:3RR, and WP:POINT. By 2018 article probation had been superseded by the other "general sanctions" described on this page.
Obsolete Arbitration Committee-authorised sanctions[edit]
| Case & Log | Applicable area | Type | Sanction (quoted from case) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tea Party movement | Pages relating to the Tea Party movement broadly construed. | Discretionary sanctions | Pages related to the Tea Party movement, broadly construed, are placed under discretionary sanctions. This sanction supersedes the existing community sanctions. | Discretionary sanctions were originally authorized as part of a motion suspending the case, then authorized further as part of the final decision. Rescinded by motion, 30 October 2015 – American politics discretionary sanctions continue to apply in this topic area |
| Macedonia | Topics related to the Balkans, broadly defined | Discretionary sanctions | Topics related to the Balkans, broadly interpreted, are placed under discretionary sanctions. Any uninvolved administrator may levy restrictions as an arbitration enforcement action on users editing in this topic area, after an initial warning. | Merged into Eastern Europe by motion, 17 February 2019 |
| Sexology | All articles dealing with transgender issues and paraphilia classification (e.g., hebephilia). | Discretionary sanctions | Standard discretionary sanctions are authorized for all articles dealing with transgender issues and paraphilia classification (e.g., hebephilia).
These discretionary sanctions apply to any dispute regarding the proper article title, pronoun usage, or other manner of referring to any individual known to be or self-identifying as transgender, including but not limited to Chelsea/Bradley Manning. Any sanctions imposed should be logged at the Sexology case. |
Clarified in Manning naming dispute. Rescinded by motion, 25 November 2017. |
| Austrian economics (April 2014) |
Pages related to Austrian school of economics and the Ludwig von Mises Institute | Discretionary sanctions | Pages related to the Austrian school of economics and the Ludwig von Mises Institute, broadly construed, are placed under discretionary sanctions. This sanction supersedes the existing community sanctions. | Rescinded by motion of the Arbitration Committee (December 2016) |
| Vivaldi (Log) |
Preying from the Pulpit, First Baptist Church of Hammond, Jack Hyles, Hyles-Anderson College, and any related article which contains poorly sourced controversial material | Article probation | Preying from the Pulpit, First Baptist Church of Hammond, Jack Hyles, Hyles-Anderson College, and any related article which contains poorly sourced controversial material are placed on article probation. The expectation is that Vivaldi, Arbustoo, and other editors of these articles will in the course of editing remove poorly sourced controversial material. | Sanctions rescinded by motion, 19 November 2015 |
| Waterboarding (Log) |
Waterboarding | Article probation | The article on Waterboarding, and related pages, are placed on article probation. | Sanctions rescinded by motion, 19 November 2015 |
| Mantanmoreland (Log) |
Naked short selling, Overstock.com, Patrick M. Byrne, Gary Weiss, or any related page or discussion | Editing restriction and article probation | Any current or future editor who, after this decision is announced, makes substantial edits to naked short selling, Overstock.com, Patrick M. Byrne, Gary Weiss, or closely related pages or discussions on any page is directed:
A note concerning these restrictions shall be placed on the talkpage of each of the affected articles. In case of any doubt concerning application or interpretation of these restrictions, the Arbitration Committee may be consulted for guidance. Any uninvolved administrator may impose a reasonable restriction (e.g., a revert or civility limitation) or page-ban against any editor who, after receiving a warning containing a link to this decision, edits naked short selling, Overstock.com, Patrick M. Byrne, Gary Weiss, or any related page or discussion in a disruptive or uncivil fashion, who edits them in contravention of site policies and guidelines, or who attempts to reintroduce subtle or overt partisan advocacy regarding any external dispute concerning these subjects into Wikipedia. |
Sanctions rescinded by motion, 19 November 2015 |
| Lapsed Pacifist 2 (Log) |
"All articles related to Corrib gas controversy and the Shell to Sea campaign" | Article probation and editing restriction | "All articles related to Corrib gas controversy and the Shell to Sea campaign are placed under probation. All fall under 1RR, and a stricter rather than laxer interpretation of addition of and removal unsourced content. Where content or its phrasing is disputed, editors are directed to seek outside opinion at the Content, Reliable Sources, Neutral point of view or Third Opinion Noticeboards, and abide by the consensus achieved thereafter." | Sanctions rescinded by motion, 19 November 2015 |
| Homeopathy (Log) |
Homeopathy and related articles | Discretionary sanctions | Any uninvolved administrator may, on his or her own discretion, impose sanctions on any editor working in the area of conflict (defined as articles which relate to homeopathy, broadly interpreted) if, despite being warned, that editor repeatedly or seriously fails to adhere to the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standards of behavior, or any normal editorial process. The sanctions imposed may include blocks of up to one year in length; bans from editing any page or set of pages within the area of conflict; bans on any editing related to the topic or its closely related topics; restrictions on reverts or other specified behaviors; or any other measures which the imposing administrator believes are reasonably necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of the project. | Superseded by Pseudoscience discretionary sanctions. |
| Abd-William M. Connolley (Log) |
Cold fusion and related articles | Discretionary sanctions | Cold fusion and related pages are are placed under discretionary sanctions. Any uninvolved administrator may levy restrictions as an arbitration enforcement action on users editing in this topic area, after an initial warning. | Superseded by Pseudoscience discretionary sanctions. |
| Israel-Lebanon (Log) |
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict | Article probation | Any user, particularly Tasc, who engages in edit warring with respect to 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict may be banned from the article for an appropriate period. All bans are to be logged at Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Israel-Lebanon#Log of blocks and bans. | Superseded by the discretionary sanctions in the Palestine-Israel articles case |
| Kosovo (Log) |
All articles related to Kosovo | Article probation | All articles related to Kosovo are put on Article probation to allow more swift dealing with disruption. | Superseded by the discretionary sanctions in the Macedonia case |
| Occupation of Latvia (Log) |
Occupation of Latvia 1940-1945 | Article probation | The article at the locus of this dispute is placed on probation. Any editor may be banned from it, or from other reasonably related pages, by an uninvolved administrator for disruptive edits, including, but not limited to, edit warring, incivility, and original research. The Arbitration Committee reserves the right to appoint one or more mentors at any time, and the right to review the situation in one year, if appropriate. If the article is not substantially improved by continued editing the Arbitration Committee may impose editing restrictions on users whose editing is counterproductive or disruptive. | Superseded by the discretionary sanctions in the Digwuren case, 27 July 2008 |
| Digwuren (Log) |
Topics related to Eastern Europe, broadly defined | General restriction | Any editor working on topics related to Eastern Europe, broadly defined, may be made subject to an editing restriction at the discretion of any uninvolved administrator. The restriction shall specify that, should the editor make any edits which are judged by an administrator to be uncivil, personal attacks, or assumptions of bad faith, he may be blocked for the duration specified in the enforcement ruling below. Before the restriction shall come into effect for a particular editor, that editor shall be given an official notice of it with a link to this decision. | Superseded by discretionary sanctions through motion, 27 July 2008 |
| Prem Rawat 2 (Log) |
Prem Rawat and related articles | Article probation | The Prem Rawat article and all related articles are subject to an editing restriction for one year. No user may revert any given changes to a subject article more than once within a seven day period, except for indisputable vandalism and BLP violations. Furthermore, if a user makes any changes to a subject article, and those changes are reverted, they may not repeat the change again within a seven day period. | Expired 20 April 2010. |
| Prem Rawat (WP:CT/PR) |
All pages relating to Prem Rawat, broadly construed | Contentious topic | Expired 10 October 2023. | |
| Great Irish Famine (Log) |
Great Irish Famine | General restriction | The article Great Irish Famine is placed under the mentorship of three to five administrators to be named later. All content reversions on this page must be discussed on the article talk page. The mentors are to have a free hand, do not have veto over each other's actions, will be communicating closely and will generally trust each other's judgement. Any mentor, upon good cause shown, may ban any user from editing Great Irish Famine or a related page. All bans shall be posted on the affected user's talk page and at Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Great Irish Famine#Documentation of bans. When possible, mentors should favor article bans over page protection. The Committee will review the mentorship arrangement in approximately one month upon request of any involved editor and again at future points if warranted. If a review reveals that the mentors agree that the article has demonstrated the ability to grow without strife, the mentorship may be ended. Otherwise, the mentorship will continue for one year. | Mentors named: Daniel, Ryan Postlethwaite, Angusmclellan. Expired 1 September 2008. |
| Falun Gong (Log) |
Falun Gong and all closely related articles | Article probation | It is expected that the articles will be improved to conform with Wikipedia:Neutral point of view, and that information contained in them will be supported by verifiable information from reliable sources. The articles may be reviewed on the motion of any arbitrator, or upon acceptance by the Arbitration Committee of a motion made by any user. Users whose editing is disruptive may be banned or their editing restricted as the result of a review. | Superseded by discretionary sanctions, 19 January 2010 |
| Ayn Rand (Log) |
Articles relating to Ayn Rand, broadly interpreted | Discretionary sanctions | An uninvolved administrator may impose a topic ban, revert limitation, or other appropriate sanction against any other editor who edits Ayn Rand or related articles or pages disruptively, provided that a warning has first been given with a link to this decision. | Rescinded by motion, 11:22, 30 November 2014 (UTC) |
| Monty Hall problem (Log) |
All articles relating to the Monty Hall problem | Discretionary sanctions | "Any uninvolved administrator may place standard discretionary sanctions on accounts editing in this area, after a first warning." | Rescinded by motion, 11:22, 30 November 2014 (UTC) |
| Tree shaping (Log) |
All articles relating to the topic covered by the article currently located at Tree shaping. | Discretionary sanctions | "The topic covered by the article currently located at Tree shaping, interpreted broadly, is placed under discretionary sanctions." | Rescinded by motion, 11:22, 30 November 2014 (UTC) |
| Gibraltar (Log) |
All pages related to Gibraltar and its history, people, and political status, broadly interpreted. | Discretionary sanctions | Standard discretionary sanctions are authorized for all pages related to Gibraltar and its history, people, and political status, broadly interpreted. | Rescinded by motion, 11:22, 30 November 2014 (UTC) |
| Bluemarine (Log) |
Matt Sanchez | Article probation | The article on Matt Sanchez is placed on article probation. | Article probation discontinued in January 2018 |
| Brahma Kumaris (Log) |
Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University | Article probation | The principals in this matter are expected to convert the article from its present state based on original research and BK publications to an article containing verifiable information based on reliable third party sources. After a suitable grace period, the state of the article may be evaluated on the motion of any member of the Arbitration Committee and further remedies applied to those editors who continue to edit in an inappropriate manner. Any user may request review by members of the Arbitration Committee. | Article probation discontinued in January 2018 Formally terminated by motion in July 2020 |
| Election (Log) |
2004 U.S. presidential election controversy and irregularities and its sub-articles | Article probation | Articles which are the locus of dispute, Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Election/Proposed decision#Locus of dispute, are placed on probation. Any editor may be banned from any or all of the articles, or other reasonably related pages, by an administrator for disruptive edits, including, but not limited to, edit warring, incivility, and original research. The Arbitration Committee reserves the right to appoint one or more mentors at any time, and will review the situation in one year. | Article probation discontinued in January 2018 |
| Free Republic (Log) |
Free Republic and Democratic Underground | Article probation | It is expected that the article will be improved to conform with Wikipedia:Neutral point of view, that information contained in it will be supported by verifiable information from reliable sources. The article may be reviewed on the motion of any arbitrator, or upon acceptance by the Arbitration Committee of a motion made by any user. Users whose editing is disruptive may be banned or their editing restricted as the result of a review. Amended by motion Additionally, any uninvolved administrator may impose a reasonable editing restriction (for example, 1RR) or page ban upon any editor who repeatedly engages in disruptive or uncivil editing of Free Republic or any closely related page. Prior to imposing such a ban or restriction, a warning should be given on the affected user's talkpage. All bans and restrictions shall be logged at Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Free Republic#Log of blocks and bans |
Article probation discontinued in January 2018 |
| Neuro-linguistic programming (Log) |
Neuro-linguistic programming and related pages | Article probation | The article on Neuro-linguistic programming, and related pages, are placed on article probation. Any user disrupting these pages may be banned from the article and related articles by an uninvolved administrator. | Article probation discontinued in January 2018 |
| Crosswiki issues | All discussions about the integration of Wikidata on the English Wikipedia | Discretionary sanctions | Standard discretionary sanctions are authorised for all discussions about the integration of Wikidata on the English Wikipedia for a period of one year from the enactment of this motion, unless ended earlier by the Arbitration Committee. | Adopted by motion on 27 November 2017. Expired by its own terms on 27 November 2018. |
| GamerGate | All edits about, and all pages related to, (a) GamerGate, (b) any gender-related dispute or controversy, (c) people associated with (a) or (b), all broadly construed. | Discretionary sanctions | The community Gamergate general sanctions are hereby rescinded and are replaced by standard discretionary sanctions, which are authorized for all edits about, and all pages related to, (a) GamerGate, (b) any gender-related dispute or controversy, (c) people associated with (a) or (b), all broadly construed. | Superseded by Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Gender and sexuality discretionary sanctions, which were created by motion |
| Waldorf education | all pages relating to Waldorf education, broadly construed | Discretionary sanctions | Standard Discretionary sanctions are authorised with immediate effect for all pages relating to Waldorf education, broadly construed. This supersedes the existing Article Probation remedy set down in Waldorf education, remedy 1 and re-affirmed in the Waldorf education review, remedy 2. | Amended by motion 08:47, 30 January 2013 (UTC), rescinded by motion 23:38, 1 February 2022 (UTC) |
| Scientology | Scientology topic, broadly construed | Discretionary sanctions and a general restriction | Standard discretionary sanctions are authorised with immediate effect for the Scientology topic broadly construed. All warnings and sanctions shall be logged in the appropriate section of the main case page.
Any editor who, in the judgement of an uninvolved administrator, is (i) focused primarily on Scientology or Scientologists and (ii) clearly engaged in promoting an identifiable agenda may be topic-banned for up to one year. Any editor topic banned under this sanction may be re-blocked at the expiry of a topic ban if they recommence editing in the topic having made few or no significant edits outside of it during the period of the topic ban. |
Rescinded by motion |
| Landmark Worldwide | The topic of Landmark Worldwide, broadly construed | Discretionary sanctions | Standard discretionary sanctions are authorized for the topic of Landmark Worldwide, broadly construed. | Passed by motion, rescinded by motion |
| Transcendental Meditation movement | Pages concerning Transcendental Meditation and related biographies of living people, broadly interpreted | Discretionary sanctions | All pages concerning Transcendental Meditation and related biographies of living people, broadly interpreted, are placed under discretionary sanctions. Any uninvolved administrator may levy restrictions as an arbitration enforcement action on users editing in this topic area, after an initial warning. | Passed in final decision, rescinded by motion |
| Ancient Egyptian race controversy (January 2008) |
Pages relating to Ancient Egyptian race controversy and associated articles, broadly construed | Discretionary sanctions | Standard discretionary sanctions are authorized with immediate effect for all pages relating to Ancient Egyptian race controversy and associated articles, broadly construed. | Passed by motion, rescinded by motion |
| Gender Gap Task Force | Any page relating to or any edit about: (i) the Gender Gap Task Force; (ii) the gender disparity among Wikipedians; and (iii) any process or discussion relating to these topics, all broadly construed. | Discretionary sanctions | Discretionary sanctions are authorised for any page relating to or any edit about: (i) the Gender Gap Task Force; (ii) the gender disparity among Wikipedians; and (iii) any process or discussion relating to these topics, all broadly construed . | Scope amended by motion on 7 February 2015. Authorization rescinded by motion in February 2019, in which the Committee consolidated all gender-related DS authorizations into the GamerGate arbitration case (t) (ev / t) (w / t) (pd / t). |
| Ireland article names (restriction enacted by motion after the original case) | "The appropriate titles for the article or articles concerning the country of Ireland and the island of Ireland" | General restriction | Discussions relating to the naming of Ireland articles must occur at Wikipedia:WikiProject Ireland Collaboration.and Moderators of Wikipedia:WikiProject Ireland Collaboration may ban any contributor from the pages within the scope of the WikiProject for up to a month when a contributor is disrupting the collaboration process. |
Enacted by motion on 12 June 2009. Rescinded by motion on 2 December 2023. |
Obsolete community-authorised sanctions[edit]
| Decision & Log | Applicable area | Type | Sanction (quoted from discussion) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ludwig von Mises Institute ANI discussion & Talk:Austrian economics/General sanctions | Austrian economics-related pages | General sanctions | Any uninvolved administrator may, at his or her own discretion, impose sanctions on any editor working on a page within the topic of Austrian Economics, if, despite being warned by an uninvolved administrator, that editor repeatedly or seriously fails to adhere to the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standard of behavior, or any normal editorial process. Sanctions may be appealed to the administrator who placed them or the administrators' noticeboard.
(Notifications and sanctions must be logged at Talk:Austrian economics/General sanctions.) |
Indefinite[inconsistent] |
| Template:Editnotices/Page/Tea Party movement | Tea Party movement | 1RR | From Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Archive219# Sanctions on Tea Party movement No editor may make more than one (1) revert on the same content per twenty-four (24) hour period, excluding blatant vandalism. The three revert-rule still applies to the article at large. This restriction is not license for a slow-moving revert-war (e.g., making the same revert once a day, every day); editors who engage in a slow-moving edit war are subject to blocking by an uninvolved administrator, after a warning. | Superseded in September 2013 by ArbCom imposed discretionary sanctions in the Tea Party movement case. |
| Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents & Wikipedia:General sanctions/Abortion/Log | Abortion and all related articles. | 1RR and discretionary topic bans or blocks | 1) No editor may make more than one (1) revert on a page within the area of conflict per twenty-four (24) hour period, excluding blatant vandalism and BLP violations. 2) Provided that a warning has first been given with a link to this decision, any uninvolved admin may impose a topic ban or blocks on disruptive editors for actions including, but not limited to, edit warring, personal attacks, excessive incivility and assumptions of bad faith. Such topic bans or blocks may be of up to three months duration. Users who violate WP:BLP within the area of conflict may also be sanctioned per this clause. Uninvolved administrators can independently impose sanctions, including escalating blocks or topic bans of up to three months, provided the individual has been notified of the terms of this scheme and possible sanctions (The template {{subst:Uw-probation|Article|Probation terms page}} can be used for ease) Indefinite topic bans can be proposed at WP:AN or at ANI as the result of discussion of specific incident. All sanctions imposed under this provision are to be logged below and may be appealed to the imposing administrator, the appropriate administrators' noticeboard, or the Arbitration Committee. | Superseded by case remedy at Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Abortion and is now discretionary sanctions |
| Wikipedia:General sanctions/Climate change probation (log, enforcement requests, discussion) (WP:GS/CC) |
Climate change and related articles | Article probation | Pages related to Climate change (broadly construed) are subject to the following terms of article probation: Any editor may be sanctioned by an uninvolved administrator for disruptive edits, including, but not limited to, edit warring, personal attacks, incivility and assumptions of bad faith. Sanctions imposed may include restrictions on reverts or other specified behaviors, bans from editing the climate change pages and/or closely related topics, blocks of up to 1 year in length, or any other measures the imposing administrator believes are reasonably necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of the project. For the purpose of imposing sanctions under this provision, an administrator will be considered "uninvolved" if he or she is not engaged in a current, direct, personal conflict on the topic with the user receiving sanctions (note: enforcing this provision will not be considered to be participation in a dispute). Prior to any sanctions being imposed, the editor in question shall be given a warning with a link to these provisions; and, where appropriate, should be counseled on specific steps that he or she can take to improve his or her editing in accordance with relevant policies and guidelines. Sanctions imposed under this provision may be appealed to the imposing administrator, the appropriate administrators' noticeboard, or the Arbitration Committee. Administrators are not to reverse such sanctions without either (1) approval by the imposing administrator, or without (2) community consensus or Committee approval to do so. All sanctions imposed are to be logged at Wikipedia:General sanctions/Climate change probation/Log. | Superseded by WP:ARBCC |
| Coronavirus and COVID-19 AN discussion (WP:GS/COVID19) |
All articles and edits relating to COVID-19, broadly construed | Community-authorized discretionary sanctions | Any uninvolved administrator may, at their own discretion, impose sanctions on any editor working in the area of conflict if, despite being warned, that editor repeatedly or seriously fails to adhere to the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standards of behavior, or any normal editorial process.
The sanctions imposed may include blocks of up to one year in length, bans from editing any page or set of pages within the area of conflict, bans on any editing related to the topic or its closely related topics, restrictions on reverts or other specified behaviors; or any other measures which the imposing administrator believes are reasonably necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of the project.
Prior to any sanctions being imposed, the editor shall be given a warning with a link to this decision and, where appropriate, should be counseled on specific steps that he or she can take to improve their editing in accordance with relevant policies and guidelines.
Additionally, any uninvolved administrator may impose on any page or set of pages relating to the area of conflict page protection, revert restrictions, prohibitions on the addition or removal of certain content (except when consensus for the edit exists), or any other reasonable measure that the enforcing administrator believes is necessary and proportionate for the smooth running of the project. Administrators should add an editnotice and talk page notice on restricted pages. Editors who ignore or breach page restrictions may be sanctioned by any uninvolved administrator only if the editor was warned about this decision and an editnotice describing the page restriction was placed on the restricted page.
Sanctions imposed may be appealed to the imposing administrator or at the appropriate administrators' noticeboard. |
Superseded by Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/COVID-19 |
| Homeopathy/Article probation (Log) |
Homeopathy and related articles | Article probation | Editors making disruptive edits may be banned by an administrator from homeopathy and related articles or project pages. Editors of such articles should be especially mindful of content policies, such as WP:NPOV, and interaction policies, such as WP:CIVIL, WP:NPA, WP:3RR, and WP:POINT. Editors must be individually notified of article probation before being banned. All resulting blocks and bans shall be logged at Talk:Homeopathy/Article probation#Log of blocks and bans, and may be appealed to the Administrators' noticeboard. | Template |
| Gamergate AN discussion (WP:GS/GG) |
All pages within the page within the topic space of Gamergate controversy broadly construed | Community-authorised discretionary sanctions | Any uninvolved administrator may, on his or her own discretion, impose sanctions on any editor working on a page within the topic space of Gamergate controversy broadly construed, if, despite being warned, that editor repeatedly or seriously fails to adhere to the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standards of behavior, or any normal editorial process. This may include, but is not limited to, page banning, topic banning, semi protection, Pending Changes enabling, or blocking any editor with an interest other than that of the Wikipedia community and without regard for compliance with content rules. Sanctions may be appealed to the administrator who placed them, the administrators' noticeboard, or the Arbitration Committee | Superseded by ArbCom discretionary sanctions, see Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/GamerGate |
| Electronic cigarettes AN/I discussion (WP:GS/ECIG) |
All articles related to electronic cigarettes, broadly construed | Community-authorised discretionary sanctions | The community authorizes general sections for all articles related to electronic cigarettes, broadly construed. Any uninvolved administrator may, acting on their own discretion, impose sanctions on any editor working within this topic if, despite being warned, that editor repeatedly or seriously fails to adhere to the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standards of behavior, or any normal editorial process. Possible sanctions include, but are not limited to: page bans, topic bans, semi-protection, pending changes protection, or blocks of up to one year for any editor so warned. Sanctions issued under this authority must be logged at Wikipedia:General sanctions/Electronic cigarettes. Sanctions may be appealed to the administrator who placed them, the administrators' noticeboard, or the Arbitration Committee. | Superseded by Arbitration Committee-authorised discretionary sanctions, see Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Editor conduct in e-cigs articles (closed on 17 November 2015). |
| Post-1978 Iranian politics AN discussion (WP:GS/78IRP) |
Pages related to Post-1978 Iranian politics | Community-authorized discretionary sanctions | Standard discretionary sanctions | Superseded by Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Iranian_politics |
| India–Pakistan AN discussion (WP:GS/IPAK) |
Pages related to any conflict between India and Pakistan | Community-authorised 500/30 rule | All IP editors, accounts with fewer than 500 edits, and accounts with less than 30 days tenure are prohibited from editing articles related to any conflict between India and Pakistan. Administrators may apply extended confirmed protection for any length of time or indefinitely to enforce this prohibition on any article they reasonably believe to be related to the conflict. | Abolished following a community review, closed on 17 October 2021. Limited extended confirmed protection enforcement at administrator discretion continues under the ARBIP regime. |
| Mixed martial arts AN discussion (WP:GS/MMA) |
All pages within the topic of mixed martial arts (MMA) | Community-authorised discretionary sanctions | Any uninvolved administrator may, on his or her own discretion, impose sanctions on any editor working on a page within the topic of mixed martial arts, if, despite being warned, that editor repeatedly or seriously fails to adhere to the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standards of behavior, or any normal editorial process. This may include, but is not limited to, banning from participation in deletion discussions any editor who reasonably appears to be acting in coordination with an interest other than that of the Wikipedia community and without regard for compliance with content rules. Sanctions may be appealed to the administrator who placed them, the administrators' noticeboard, or the Arbitration Committee | Revoked by the community (30 November 2015) |
| Barack Obama (log, enforcement requests, discussion) (WP:GS/BO) |
Barack Obama and related articles | Article probation | The Barack Obama related-pages (broadly construed) are subject to the following terms of article probation. Any editor may be sanctioned by an uninvolved administrator for disruptive edits, including, but not limited to, edit warring, personal attacks, incivility and assumptions of bad faith. Sanctions imposed may include restrictions on reverts or other specified behaviors, bans from editing the Obama pages and/or closely related topics, blocks of up to 1 year in length, or any other measures the imposing administrator believes are reasonably necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of the project. For the purpose of imposing sanctions under this provision, an administrator will be considered "uninvolved" if he or she is not engaged in a current, direct, personal conflict on the topic with the user receiving sanctions (note: enforcing this provision will not be considered to be participation in a dispute). Sanctions imposed under this provision may be appealed to the imposing administrator, the appropriate administrators' noticeboard, or the Arbitration Committee. Administrators are not to reverse such sanctions without either (1) approval by the imposing administrator, or without (2) community consensus or Committee approval to do so. All sanctions imposed are to be logged at Wikipedia:General sanctions/Obama article probation/Logs. | Sanctions revoked at AN/I in 2015 |
| Consensus & Wikipedia:General sanctions/2012 Presidential Campaign/Log | 2012 Presidential Campaign articles | Community general sanctions | Consensus is to adopt Community article probation on all articles about American presidential and vice-presidential candidates and their campaigns, broadly construed, which will expire 3 months from their imposition. Editors making disruptive edits may be banned by any uninvolved administrator from articles on probation and related articles or project pages. Editors of such articles should be especially mindful of content policies, such as WP:NPOV, and interaction policies, such as WP:CIVIL, WP:NPA, WP:3RR, and WP:POINT. | Expired (11 Dec 2012) |
| Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents/La goutte de pluie | 1RR and semi-protection | 1) No editor may make more than one (1) revert on any of the listed articles per twenty-four (24) hour period, excluding blatant vandalism and BLP violations. Editors who breach the restriction may be warned or blocked at the discretion of the enforcing admin. 2) In addition, the articles are indefinitely semi-protected; unregistered and unconfirmed editors must propose changes on the discussion pages of the articles. |
Revoked by community discussion. 00:29, 6 November 2014 (UTC) | |
| British Isles AN/I discussion (WP:GS/BI) |
Anywhere on Wikipedia where the term "British Isles" is either added or removed | Article probation | Any editor who systematically adds or removes the term "British Isles" from multiple articles without clear sourcing and justification, or who edit-wars over such addition or removal, may be added to the list of topic-banned editors. For the purpose of adding users to the list and enforcing restrictions under this provision, an administrator should be uninvolved. An administrator will be considered "uninvolved" if he or she is not engaged in a current, direct, personal conflict on the topic with the user receiving sanctions (note: enforcing this provision will not be considered to be participation in a dispute). Sanctions imposed under this provision may be appealed to the imposing administrator, the appropriate administrators' noticeboard, or the Arbitration Committee. Administrators are not to reverse such sanctions without either (1) approval by the imposing administrator, or without (2) community consensus or Committee approval to do so. All sanctions imposed are to be logged at Wikipedia:General sanctions/British Isles Probation Log. | Article probation discontinued in January 2018 |
| Zeitgeist Movement AN/I discussion (WP:GS/ZG) |
All articles related to the topic of the Zeitgeist Movement. This includes all articles on the films, organization, movement, and individuals connected to these other topics. | Community-authorized discretionary sanctions | The community authorizes general sanctions for all articles related to all articles related to the topic of the Zeitgeist Movement. This includes all articles on the films, organization, movement, and individuals connected to these other topics.
Any uninvolved administrator may, at his or her own discretion, impose sanctions on any editor that edits pages related to Zeitgeist Movement, if, after being notified of the existence of these sanctions, that editor repeatedly or seriously fails to adhere to the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standards of behavior, or any normal editorial process. Sanctions imposed may include blocks of up to one year in length, bans from editing any page or set of pages within the scope of these sanctions, restrictions on reverts or other specified behaviors; or any other measures which the imposing administrator believes are reasonably necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of the project, such as page protections and discussion collapsing. Prior to any sanctions being imposed, the editor must be given a notification with a link to this decision and, where appropriate, should be counselled on specific steps that he or she can take to improve his or her editing in accordance with relevant policies and guidelines. Notifications and sanctions must be logged at Wikipedia:General sanctions/Zeitgeist Movement. Sanctions imposed may be appealed to the imposing administrator or at the administrators' noticeboard. |
Suspended by community consensus on 22 August 2018 |
| Sarah Palin/Article probation (Log) (WP:GS/SP) |
Sarah Palin and related articles | Article probation | From Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive504#Sarah Palin probation proposal Pages related to Sarah Palin (broadly construed) are subject to the following terms of article probation: 1) Any editor may be sanctioned by an uninvolved administrator for disruptive edits, including, but not limited to, edit warring, personal attacks, incivility and assumptions of bad faith. 2) Sanctions imposed may include restrictions on reverts or other specified behaviors, bans from editing the Palin pages and/or closely related topics, blocks of up to 1 year in length, or any other measures the imposing administrator believes are reasonably necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of the project. 3) For the purpose of imposing sanctions under this provision, an administrator will be considered "uninvolved" if he or she is not engaged in a current, direct, personal conflict on the topic with the user receiving sanctions (note: enforcing this provision will not be considered to be participation in a dispute). 4) Sanctions imposed under this provision may be appealed to the imposing administrator, the appropriate administrators' noticeboard, or the Arbitration Committee. 5) Administrators are not to reverse such sanctions without either (A) approval by the imposing administrator, or without (B) community consensus or Committee approval to do so. 6) All sanctions imposed are to be logged at Talk:Sarah Palin/Article probation#Log of sanctions | Revoked by the community, October 2011 |
| Tony Abbott | Tony Abbott article | 1RR | This article is subject to 1 revert per 24-hour period per editor. Editors who breach the restriction may be warned or blocked at the discretion of the enforcing admin. | |
| Bundy standoff ANI discussion & Log | The Bundy standoff article | 1RR and discretionary topic bans or blocks | Any uninvolved administrator may impose sanctions on any editor disrupting that article with escalating blocks, a topic ban, or restrictions on editing. A 1RR restriction is also implemented for the duration. | Expired. Original operation – sixty days beginning April 23, 2014 |
| Men's rights article probation | Men's rights movement and related pages | General article probation | Sanctions imposed may include restrictions on reverts or other specified behaviors, bans from editing the Men's rights pages and/or closely related topics, blocks of up to 1 year in length, or any other measures the imposing administrator believes are reasonably necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of the project. Additionally, a 1-revert rule applies to all related pages (until October 27, 2014). | Article probation discontinued in January 2018 |