Wikipedia:Sockpuppetry - Wikipedia
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 | This page in a nutshell: The general rule is: one editor, one account. Do not use multiple accounts to create the illusion of greater support for an issue, to mislead others, to create controversy, or to circumvent a block. Do not ask your friends to create accounts to support you or anyone else. Multiple accounts are not for collusion, evasion, disruption, or misuse. |
All Wikipedians have a main account from which they may edit. The main account (or primary account) is a prime username that may be the most important account to that person. It may be chief in size as far as number of edits or otherwise perceived by others to be the leading account of that person.
Although not common, some Wikipedians create alternate accounts. An alternate account is an additional username used by a Wikipedian who already has one or more accounts. There are limited, acceptable uses for alternate accounts. For example, a prominent user might create an alternate account to experience how the community functions for new users. If someone uses alternate accounts, it is recommended that he or she provide links between the accounts in most cases to make it easy to determine that one individual shares them.
Multiple accounts include the main account and all alternate accounts. While use of the main account is encouraged, use of alternate accounts is not encouraged. In particular, using an alternate account to avoid scrutiny, to mislead others by making controversial edits with one account and non-controversial ones with another, or otherwise stir up controversy is not permitted. Misuse of an alternate account may result in blocking of that account and will affect that Wikipedian's ability to operate alternate accounts.
A sock puppet (or sockpuppet) is a username used for purposes of multiple account deception. The actions of the sock puppet account typically are prompted or otherwise coordinate with the actions of a second account. In particular, using two usernames to vote more than once in a poll or to circumvent Wikipedia policies is forbidden. Where misuse of an alternate account may result in the blocking of that one account, abuse of a second username account may result in all access to Wikipedia being blocked.
Wikipedians prize their use of consensus to determine issue and their assumption that most people are trying to help the project. Sock puppets are used to counter these prized features such as by giving the impression of more support for a viewpoint and evading sanctions. All sock puppet uses are forbidden and warrant aggressive approaches to protect the encyclopedia from their actions.
Voting and other shows of support
Wikipedia uses a "one person, one vote" principle for all votes and similar discussions where individual preferences are counted in any fashion. Accordingly, sock puppets may not be used to give the impression of more support for a viewpoint. This includes voting multiple times in any election, or using more than one account in discussions such as Wikipedia:Deletion debates, Wikipedia:Requests for adminship, or on talk pages.
In addition to double-voting, sock puppets may not be used for the purpose of deception, distraction, or to create the illusion of broader support for a position than actually exists.
Circumventing policy
Policies apply per person, not per account. Policies such as 3RR are for each person's edits. Using a second account for policy violations will cause any penalties to be applied to your main account. Sock puppets may not be used to circumvent any Arbitration Committee or community sanctions, including blocks, bans, and probations. Evading sanctions will cause the timer to restart, and may lengthen the duration of the sanctions.
Meatpuppets
- [[:|WP:MEAT]]
Some users begin editing on Wikipedia because another user has recruited them to push a certain agenda. Though such users are distinct people, it is difficult to tell them apart from sock puppets. These users are sometimes called meatpuppets, and are a kind of single purpose account.
Do not recruit meatpuppets. It is considered highly inappropriate to advertise Wikipedia articles to your friends, family members, or communities of people who agree with you, so that they come to Wikipedia and support your side of a debate. If you feel that a debate is ignoring your voice, then the appropriate action is to avoid personal attacks, seek comments and involvement from other Wikipedians, or pursue dispute resolution. These are well-tested processes, designed to avoid the problem of exchanging bias in one direction for bias in another.
Wikipedia has policies and processes to mitigate the disruption caused by meatpuppetry:
- Consensus in many debates and discussions is not based upon number of votes, but upon policy-related points made by editors. Newcomers are unlikely to understand Wikipedia policies and practices, or to introduce any evidence that other users have not already mentioned.
- In votes or vote-like discussions, new users tend to be disregarded or given significantly less weight, especially if there are many of them expressing the same opinion.
- For the purposes of dispute resolution, the Arbitration Committee has ruled that when there is uncertainty whether a party is one user with sock puppets, or several users acting as meatpuppets, they may be treated as one entity.
As opposed to sock puppets, meatpuppets usually are actual newbies, and it is important to not bite the newbies. Users who are recruited as meatpuppets have presumably never seen the editing side of Wikipedia before, and some of them may broaden their interests and turn into productive editors. If meat puppets are disrupting a discussion that you are involved in, it is better to disregard them than to get angry at them or call them "meatpuppets" to their faces.
Administrative sock puppets
The community has strongly rejected users having more than one username with admin powers. If an administrator leaves, comes back under a new name and is nominated for adminship, it is expected that they will give up the admin access of their old account (this may be done by the old account without showing a link between accounts). In general, only one account with access greater than that of a normal user account should be operated. There have been three users known to have legitimately used a secondary account with administrative powers. Danny used the account Dannyisme for Foundation work until his resignation in March 2007. Similarly, Bastique now uses the account Cary Bass for Foundation purposes. RedirectCleanupBot is currently the only approved bot with administrator rights.
Inappropriate uses of alternate accounts
Avoiding scrutiny
Alternate accounts should not be used to edit in ways that would be considered improper if done by a single account. Using alternate puppet accounts to split your contributions history means that other editors cannot detect patterns in your contributions. While this may occasionally be legitimate (see below under legitimate uses), it is a violation of this policy to create alternate accounts — or to edit anonymously without logging in to your account — in order to confuse or deceive editors who may have a legitimate interest in reviewing your contributions.
"Good hand, bad hand" accounts
- [[:|WP:GHBH]]
The use of alternate accounts for deliberate policy violations or disruption specifically is proscribed:
- All users are proscribed from operating a "bad hand" account for the purpose of disruption or stirring up controversy. It is never acceptable to keep one account "clean," while using another account to engage in disruptive behavior.
- Admins are also proscribed from operating a "bad hand" account for the purpose of engaging in editing disputes while at the same time appearing to be a neutral admin dealing with page protection or three-revert rule issues on the same articles.
Legitimate uses of alternate accounts
Alternate accounts have legitimate uses. For example, prominent users might create a new account to experience how the community functions for new users.
Segregation and security
Some editors use alternate accounts to segregate their contributions for various reasons:
- A user making substantial contributions to an area of interest in Wikipedia might register another account to be used solely in connection with developing that area.
- Since public computers can have password-stealing trojans or keyloggers installed, some users may use an alternate account when editing under these conditions to prevent the hijacking of their main accounts.
- Someone who is known to the public or within a particular circle may be identifiable based on his/her interests and contributions; dividing these up between different accounts might help preserve the person's anonymity. Users with a recognized expertise in one field, for example, might not wish to associate their contributions to that field with contributions to articles about less weighty subjects.
- A person editing an article which is highly controversial within his/her family, social or professional circle may wish to use an alternate account so that readers unfamiliar with NPOV policy will not assume his/her information edits are statements of personal belief.
Doppelganger accounts
- See also: Wikipedia:Doppelganger account
A doppelgänger is a German word for a ghostly double of a living person. In the context of a user account, a doppelganger account is a second account created with a username similar to one's main account to preemptively prevent impersonation by vandals. Such accounts are permitted and should be marked with the {{doppelganger}} or {{doppelganger-other}} tag (or simply redirected to one's own userpage). Doppelganger accounts should not be used for editing.
Clean start under a new name
If you have a negative track record and you have decided to make a genuine, clean and honest new start, and do not wish it to be tarnished by your prior conduct, you can simply discontinue using the old account(s), and create an unconnected new account which becomes the only account you then use, and is used in a good manner.
If you start under a new name, you should be aware that the new account will be noticed:
- If you continue editing the same articles, or your writing style is so distinctive that it will quickly be noticed, then it is likely a connection will be made, and the perceived concealment may only cause it to be seen negatively when discovered. (If you change your behavior, and the articles you work on, there is no reason for a connection to be made between the two accounts.)
- If identified by checkuser or accused of being a sockpuppet later on: Checkuser is only used when there is a suspected breach of policy. If you don't use the old account, there is no reason a request would be made.
View this clean start under a new name as a courtesy extended to you; do not abuse this courtesy by engaging in disruptive behavior again or to mislead others.
Bots
Editors who operate bots (programs that edit automatically or semi-automatically) are encouraged to create separate accounts (and request they be marked as bot accounts via Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval), so the automated edits can be filtered out of recent changes. (See Wikipedia:Bot policy for bot procedures and policies)
'Role' accounts
Role accounts, accounts which are used by multiple people, are only officially sanctioned on Wikipedia in exceptional cases. The one currently permitted role account on en: is Schwartz PR, the account for a public relations firm working closely with the Foundation. If you run one account with multiple users, it is likely to be blocked.
Alternate account identification
If someone uses alternate accounts, it is recommended that he or she provide links between the accounts in most cases to make it easy determine that one individual shares them.
- Editors who wish to publicly display a link on an alternate account to their main or primary account may do so by tagging the "secondary" ones with {{User Alternate Acct|MAIN ACCOUNT}}
- Main or primary accounts may be marked with {{User Alt Acct Master}}
Sock puppets typically are identified through requests posted at Wikipedia:Suspected sock puppets based on their visible edits and/or requests posted at requests for checkuser based on edit information that is accessible by the few Wikipedians who have checkuser privileges. Handling of a sock puppet account may include blocking the sock puppet account and tagging the blocked account user and user talk pages.
Characteristics of sock puppets
Not surprisingly, sock puppet accounts usually show much greater familiarity with Wikipedia and its editing process than most newcomers. They are more likely to use edit summaries, immediately join in existing edit wars, or participate vocally in procedures like Articles for deletion or Requests for adminship as part of their first few edits. They are also more likely to be brand new or a single purpose account when looking at their contributions summary.
Straw puppets
One type of sock puppet is sometimes referred to as a "straw man sock puppet." They are created by users with one point of view, but act as though they have an opposing point of view, to make that point of view look bad, or to act as an online agent provocateur. They will often make poor arguments which their "opponents" can then easily refute. This can allow them to essentially make straw man arguments. Such sock puppets thus become a personification of the straw man argument which their creators argue against. They often act unintelligently or appear uninformed, and may behave in an overtly bigoted manner. The effect is often to obfuscate the debate and prevent a serious discussion of the arguments from each side. Suspicion of such sock puppets is often harder to verify though, as there are often people who naturally behave in such a manner with the same effects.
Wikipedia:Suspected sock puppets
If you think that someone is using sockpuppets and wish to get further people's comments on the matter, you should create a report at Wikipedia:Suspected sock puppets and follow the instructions there.
Checkuser
Wikipedia operates a process known as Checkuser to identify some sock puppets in certain cases. Where it is unclear whether or not sock puppetry is in progress, server log information can be consulted. To comply with Wikimedia Foundation privacy policy, this is limited to a handful of users with checkuser privilege and only done in serious cases, with reasonable cause, to check if user A is the same as user B based upon some evidence.
Requests may be made at requests for checkuser. "Fishing" – or general trawling of users in a debate for possible sockpuppets – is not supported and requests for such checks are unlikely to be agreed to. Also, it is important to note that checkuser cannot ever confirm with certainty that two accounts are not connected. It can only confirm they are connected, or that at the time of checking there is no obvious machine-identifiable evidence of connection.
You may wish to post a report at both requests for checkuser and Wikipedia:Suspected sock puppets.
Administrators' noticeboard
In some cases, it may be appropriate to list a suspected sock puppet account at Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism or Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents.
Incorrect sock puppet accusation
In some cases it may not be completely clear whether an account is a sock puppet, as the purpose is usually to avoid detection. Similarities in interests and editing style can be noted, but not everyone may be familiar enough with the user to understand the evidence. Keep in mind there can be multiple users who are driven to start participating in Wikipedia for the same reason, particularly in controversial areas such as articles about politics, religion, or articles for deletion.
If you have been accused incorrectly of being a sock puppet, do not take it too personally. New users are unknown quantities. Stay around a while and make good edits, and your record will speak for itself. That generally is the only real way to prove that you are not anyone's puppet; even CheckUser cannot give anything beyond a negative confirmation.
Blocking
If a person is found to be using a sock puppet, the sock puppet accounts may be blocked indefinitely. The main account also may be blocked at the discretion of any administrator. IP addresses used for sock puppetry may be blocked, but are subject to certain restrictions for indefinite blocks.
Tagging
Several templates are available for marking user pages and talk pages of sock puppet accounts to characterize different steps in the process. The templates serve as a convenient shorthand only and are not part of this policy.
Suspected tagging
- Username suspected - {{Sockpuppet|1=Username|evidence=[[EvidenceLink]]}}
- IP address suspected - {{IPsock|1=Username|evidence=[[EvidenceLink]]}}
Confirmed tagging
- User page tagged with general identified - {{SockpuppetProven|1=Username|evidence=[[EvidenceLink]]}}. "EvidenceLink" can be replaced with something such as "[[Wikipedia:Suspected sock puppets/Username]]":
- User page tagged with Checkuser identified - {{SockpuppetCheckuser|Username|Optional name of CheckUser case (what is after
Wikipedia:Requests for checkuser/Case/)}} - User talk page tagged with block notice: {{sockblock}}
- Sockpuppeteer - The original or best-known account of a user that operates sock puppets may be tagged with {{Sockpuppeteer}}.
Alternate accounts being used inconsistent with this policy or otherwise used inappropriately may be blocked as "an inappropriate alternate account" and tagged as inactive an inappropriate alternate account . Consensus may be used to identify an alternate account as an inappropriate alternate account. Blocking or other remedy for an inappropriate alternate account may be determined by consensus or determined at the discretion of an admin.
Obtaining consensus
There may be several ways to obtain a consensus. One way to obtain such a consensus may be to post a request at one of the administrator notice boards, such as Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents. The consensus should lasting at least five days and be closed by an admin with top and bottom templates.
What is an alternate account
Two accounts are considered alternate if they are operated by the same editor and contain interleave posts where one post from a second account is added anywhere in Wikipedia between two posts from a first account. However, a situation may arise where an editor has a main account, closes that account, and opens a new main account.
A time overlap is only one way to determine whether two accounts are alternate accounts. Consensus may determine that two accounts are alternate accounts even though they do not overlap in time and that only one account is active. For example, there may be a use connection between the two or more accounts that shows them in a constant state of succession as a line of alternative accounts. It is the actions of the editor, not the name of the account, that makes two or more accounts alternate accounts.
Treatment of the editor
There is a significant difference between an editor who inappropriately uses an alternate account and a person operating sock puppets. Thus, an editor who inappropriately uses an alternate account may still contribute to the encyclopedia through their main account. An inappropriate alternate account is not sock puppet account and assumption of good faith still applies to the main account of that editor. Aggressive approaches applied to protect the encyclopedia from sock puppets ordinarily should not be applied to the main account of an editor in good standing who inappropriately used an alternate account.
Elevation of remaining alternate accounts to sock puppet account
Policies apply per person, not per account. Misuse of one alternate account will affect that person's ability to operate alternate accounts. If there is a consensus that a person is using one alternate account inappropriately, then subsequent use of an alternate account by that same person is considered evading community sanctions. That account now is considered a sock puppet account and the matter may be addressed through the above Sock puppet account section and Identification and handling of suspected sock puppets section.