Talk:Robert Willis (hacker)

Comment by 172.58.78.240
Given that the largest thing he's done is run a fake news network to cause political damage, it's not clear to me why this is Robert Willis (hacker), and not Robert Willis (con artist)

None of the work he did was actual hacking. He was present on teams where other people did things that aren't hacking, such as discovering exposed resources.

Why are we giving this person the opportunity to write himself as a successful person for committing large scale fraud?

Shall we also say Jeffrey Dahmer (surgeon) ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.58.78.240 (talk) 00:09, 15 October 2021 (UTC) His fake "expose" overstating his role in a misinformation grift https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2021/10/hacker-x-the-american-who-built-a-pro-trump-fake-news-empire-unmasks-himself/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.215.45.66 (talk) 15:11, 15 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Please provide reliable sources describing Willis as a "con artist", etc. to support your arguments, or reliable sources that call into question the legitimacy of his other work. Please also recall that WP:BLP applies on talk pages. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 00:45, 15 October 2021 (UTC)
 * That source, which is already used in this article, does not describe him as a "con artist" nor does it call into question his work as a hacker—in fact it verifies it. If you are just hoping for a statement about Willis' role in a misinformation operation to be included, that is already done. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 15:14, 15 October 2021 (UTC)

That reference should not be used; author has admitted the article is full of inaccuracies and it is essentially the same as a blog post by the subject himself: https://ax-sharma.medium.com/a-statement-on-the-hacker-x-story-54172bf9d094 https://robertwillishacking.com/the-machine-enabled-by-facebook-how-i-helped-hack-the-2016-election-via-information-warfare/ It parrots Willis even in obvious factual lies. I suggest it makes the many other links by the same author used here suspect as well. — Preceding unsigned comment added by SjoerdVerweij (talk • contribs) 18:12, 16 October 2021 (UTC)
 * That is not what the Medium piece seems to be saying to me at all. "If I could go back in time and decide to rewrite the ‘Hacker X’ piece, sure I could improve on a few things, but largely speaking, it’d have come out the way it did, which is why I’m fine with it." If Ars issues a retraction, that might be a different story. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 19:08, 16 October 2021 (UTC)
 * He openly admits to repeating falsehoods "Quoting Willis directly, “Russia played such a minor role” but not countering it with a citation, as a news report would. Refuting it wasn’t important". Also note that the article repeats large sections of Willis' own blog post verbatim. Shouldn't that trigger WP:SPS? — Preceding unsigned comment added by SjoerdVerweij (talk • contribs) 19:18, 16 October 2021 (UTC)
 * We may wish to combine this with the discussion below. But no, the article is not self-published. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 19:19, 16 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Ax Sharma was just terminated from Ars, effective immediately, for this article and his follow-up on Medium. Shouldn't that make the article QS? As well as anything else that Sharma wrote about Willis? — Preceding unsigned comment added by SjoerdVerweij (talk • contribs) 19:50, 16 October 2021 (UTC)
 * I think we should wait to see if Ars retracts. But no, I don't think it's fair to suggest that all of Sharma's reporting should be called into question. We normally operate off of the reliability of the publications (rather than the reliability of an individual journalist). If there is indication that Ars is, in a widespread manner, not adequately fact checking, then we should discuss whether Ars is a reliable source (at WP:RSN, not here). The same is true of other publications Sharma has published in (BleepingComputer is another common one, I believe). GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 20:00, 16 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Added article to “Category: American confidence trickers” to give a neutral view to this discussion. I believe one can be both a hacker and a con artist. Twillisjr (talk) 22:51, 22 May 2023 (UTC)

Question about political activism
How did you determine that the Robert Willis mentioned in your sources is the same individual described in this article? I'm a little concerned that the sources don't have photos or make any other mention of details about Willis that could be used to infer it's the same person, aside from the Connecticut connection. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 19:25, 15 October 2021 (UTC)

Willis was also a state house candidate in Connecticut in 2014. Article with photo here: https://www.mycitizensnews.com/news/gop-endorses-willis-in-105th/. It doesn't specifically connect him with the Tea Party, but it does establish that he was a Republican political activist in Fairfield county prior to his candidacy. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.21.250.78 (talk) 19:40, 15 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Is that the same person? I probably should've mentioned when I suggested photos above that I often struggle very much to identify individuals from photos (not faceblindness but probably something similar) so I'll have to rely on others here. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 19:54, 15 October 2021 (UTC)

That's fair enough. He looks like the same person to me, but additional imput would be ideal. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.21.250.78 (talk) 20:07, 15 October 2021 (UTC)

It does look like the same person to me. For whatever that's worth. Flowernerd (talk) 07:21, 16 October 2021 (UTC)


 * I'm leaning towards just removing the section. We really need a source that directly connects Willis the hacker/comic book creator/former misinformation operator to the Connecticut local politician; squinting at photos to try to figure out if it's the same guy is bordering on WP:OR. The Ars piece seems to have made some waves (just under 2,000 comments as I write this, and I've been seeing it shared) so I wouldn't be surprised if we can just wait a little bit and other outlets will do the digging required to fact-check this—at which point it can be included. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 19:10, 16 October 2021 (UTC)


 * I've removed the final sentence from the section, since it was from the Ars article Sharma was just fired for. — Preceding unsigned comment added by SjoerdVerweij (talk • contribs) 19:51, 16 October 2021 (UTC)


 * Thanks for noticing my error in attribution there. I don't object to the removal, though for different reasons—it's not a proper quote by Stephenson, it's a quote of Sharma paraphrasing Stephenson, and it's also a little unclear how Stephenson's opinion of Willis's political views is relevant (particularly without any additional discussion of political activities by Willis). GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 19:57, 16 October 2021 (UTC)

It looks like the same person to me as well, they have the same face shape and glasses and same name and it's known that Robert Willis the hacker lives in the same area.

There is another picture of Robert Willis marketer at a PDF from tbe National Kitchen and Bath Association showing a different angle of the same person. Gemory1987 (talk) 00:41, 17 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Again, I have a terrible time recognizing people in photos so I'll pretty much need to take your word for that. But what I said above remains true: "We really need a source that directly connects Willis the hacker/comic book creator/former misinformation operator to the Connecticut local politician". Same goes for this kitchen and bath thing. Robert Willis is just too common a name, and we have to be extremely cautious with WP:BLPs not to mix people up (it's happened before). If a journalist wants to draw conclusions that these are the same person based on those photos (or any other information they may have), and publish it, then we can include it. But without that I think it's just too close to WP:OR. If you want to bring it to WP:BLPN to get some outside opinions, that's also an option. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 00:52, 17 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Here is the Republican American Archives profile of Robert Willis candidate for 105th House District in CT. The photo and address match the resume used earlier to support the Whitehaus Collection/National Kitchen and Bath Association career history. https://archives.rep-am.com/2014/10/16/robert-willis-2/ 184.103.234.164 (talk) 01:09, 17 October 2021 (UTC)
 * I would recommend telling that to a journalist. As I've said, we need a reputable secondary source linking all this together, not online sleuths. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 01:16, 17 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Here's an archived about page from his own blog that outlines his history in Republican politics. https://web.archive.org/web/20170311030503/http://bloodyrubbish.com/robertwillis/ System48s (talk) 21:27, 17 October 2021 (UTC)

Is editing one's own wiki page allowed?
User JohnBarringer1988 appears to only edit pages for Robert Willis and those related to Robert Willis or to embellish articles to add members of Robert Willis's group with self-attested claims. Gemory1987 (talk) 01:19, 16 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Directly editing an article about oneself is strongly discouraged. See Conflict of interest for more on that. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 01:43, 16 October 2021 (UTC)

No, it is not allowed, if you believe there is someone editing their own page, use “COI” at the top of the page: Twillisjr (talk) 13:01, 12 March 2023 (UTC)

Ax Sharma medium follow up on Reference 1
Sharma's medium piece contains text like:

"Everything about the story is carefully structured, from its wording to where and what kind of images were placed. The story may appear to tell one thing on the surface but shows a whole other side of ‘Hacker X’ if you are paying close attention — all of which induces confusion"

This suggests to me that we should not take the claims at face value, but treat them as statements made by Willis about himself.

"Quoting Willis directly, “Russia played such a minor role” but not countering it with a citation, as a news report would. Refuting it wasn’t important, the whole world knows what had happened — but it was left towards the beginning to show Willis’ thought process, and let readers take a peek into his head."

Sharma says he left a known falsehood in the piece without rebuttal.

"Then, one may find obvious contradictions in the story, that stand out: how Koala’s owners wanted to keep Clinton out of the White House at any cost, followed by “Had Clinton’s voter base earned them more money, the pro-Clinton narrative might have been their focus, claim the sources.” Which one is it?"

Here he acknowledges contradictions in what he posted with no reporting to separate Willis's claims from the reporting.

This feels like a flimsy source to reference so heavily. Gemory1987 (talk) 19:11, 16 October 2021 (UTC)

Additionally, much of the piece is identical with a literal blog post by Willis. Gemory1987 (talk) 19:13, 16 October 2021 (UTC)


 * "This suggests to me that we should not take the claims at face value, but treat them as statements made by Willis about himself." I don't agree with this, but putting that aside for now: the only statements in this article currently solely supported by the Ars piece are:
 * Willis was born in Stamford, Connecticut and raised by his mother and her family, who had immigrated to the United States from Italy.
 * In October 2021, Willis revealed in an Ars Technica profile that he was "Hacker X", a previously anonymous individual described by Theresa Payton in her 2020 book, Manipulated: Inside the Cyberwar to Hijack Elections and Distort the Truth. Willis described how he had helped run a massive fake news operation from 2015–2017, which had promoted the candidacy of Donald Trump, spread hoaxes, and published political propaganda.
 * Willis has been described as "not a Democrat or even a proper Republican ... just antiestablishment", and he has said he identifies as socially liberal and fiscally conservative.
 * The only claims we are "taking at face value" are his birthplace and information about his family. The rest is attributed in-text. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 19:17, 16 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Unfortunate details missing about his father who lived with and supported the entire family. 24.155.14.131 (talk) 03:10, 13 March 2023 (UTC)

Ax Sharma terminated
Ars Technica's Creative Director has said, on tbe Ars Technica forum thread about this article:

" Gemory1987 (talk) 19:19, 16 October 2021 (UTC)

Ars's Creative Director, Aurich Larson has said, in tbe forum thread on tbe story:

"Let me not bury the lede: We are terminating our relationship with Ax Sharma, effective immediately.

It is not our editorial standard to “drop hints” and purposely add confusion and smoke to a story. We got blindsided by his personal blog post on Medium, and find the content of what he wrote upsetting." Gemory1987 (talk) 19:20, 16 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Has Ars issued a retraction? That would certainly change things. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 19:20, 16 October 2021 (UTC)

They have not issued a retraction yet. I will update when they do. Gemory1987 (talk) 19:22, 16 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Is there a way to get a link to the Aurich quote? Or at least a post number? There's no search that I know of. tedder (talk) 04:21, 17 October 2021 (UTC)
 * GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 04:31, 17 October 2021 (UTC)
 * It appears that Ars has not retracted, and has in fact published an editorial note standing by the factuality of the article (while committing to paying more attention to editorial approach—something that, I think, is largely not relevant here). GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 00:01, 18 October 2021 (UTC)
 * What's disturbing is that Ars didn't really address any of the potential factual inconsistencies within the story and with what is out on the internet, but was willing to take what Sharma reported at face value, despite there being significant inconsistencies. 198.73.125.181 (talk) 14:54, 18 October 2021 (UTC)
 * That is probably a conversation to have with Ars, not here. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 15:27, 18 October 2021 (UTC)

Willis blog post today
Today Willis has acknowledged on his own blog that he was a Tea Party organizer and worked for a plumbing company.

Can we now include his history as written and linked Friday and Saturday? Gemory1987 (talk) 19:44, 18 October 2021 (UTC)
 * I've restored the political views stuff: . I have not restored the content relating to a kitchen and bath company−it was sourced only to Willis's resume and to a press release from the organization, which is really not sufficient. Wikipedia is not here to reprint someone's resume; if reliable, third-party sources think it's noteworthy, then we could include it. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 20:07, 18 October 2021 (UTC)

The first caption is misleading.
The background for Willis there is the same as this Wikipedia file. File:Google_Fiber_store,_Austin_1.jpg

There is no record of "Willis speaking at Google in 2015". That appears to be a man posing at a lectern in the Google Fiber store in Austin. Gemory1987 (talk) 00:15, 23 October 2021 (UTC)
 * I've removed the detail from the caption since it's not really necessary. As for whether Willis is "posing at a lectern" or giving a speech at Google, it's not particularly relevant to this article either way. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 00:44, 23 October 2021 (UTC)

Internet Archive Link
Input cropt.com to the Wayback Machine and it will resolve Willis’ former graphic design information. There is an edit war regarding this citation. Twillisjr (talk) 12:39, 12 March 2023 (UTC)


 * Cropt.com on the Internet Archive