Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Apenuta/Archive

28 October 2014

 * Suspected sockpuppets


 * User compare report Auto-generated every hour.
 * Editor interaction utility

Same copy-pastes from UN documents, same articles and subject matter. Repeated warnings for copyright violation on Jodielavery talk page. Dennis Bratland (talk) 19:25, 28 October 2014 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''

I second the comments from - the editing patterns certainly look very similar. Please note that I just blocked for 31 hours. The editor made a few edits with proper attribution, then resumed the same problematic copy-pasting behavior.-- Mojo Hand (talk) 20:14, 28 October 2014 (UTC)

Newbie users
 * Comment by NAEG

just appeared in my stripped down watchlist today, all on the same articles and with the same style and slant. There are some remarks on the user talk pages that suggest a link between them. NewsAndEventsGuy (talk) 20:20, 28 October 2014 (UTC)
 * UPDATE- if this is a class project, we have a process for class projects to follow.  It would help Emily Carr's case if he/she/it/they provided a WP:DIFF showing that they are now plugged in to that program.   NewsAndEventsGuy (talk) 17:32, 31 October 2014 (UTC)
 * Thanks. We aren't that hierarchical though. ;) I have not run CU myself for this case, but if it does turns out to be the case I think we should at least guide them through the proper process (even personally I am not aware of the full procedures). - Mailer Diablo 03:25, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
 * I don't know it either. The point is that good faith editors are expected to learn about the bells and whistles relevant to them.  If its a good faith school project as claimed, guidance would of course be great.  NewsAndEventsGuy (talk) 06:21, 2 November 2014 (UTC)

Hi there guys, I understand there must be some confusion as far as the edits that have been made in similar areas and similar style in the past few days. There is a group of about 20 students, including myself, from Emily Carr University of Art & Design that have been assigned to work on a project to add information to Wikipedia regarding various areas of climate change/global warming.

I can see how, from an outside perspective, it may look like a case of sockpuppetry, but it is simply because many of the students' edits have been made on the University IP address. I can also see that many of the edits that have been made may not be up to Wikipedia standard, which is a problem we are working on as a class. Nearly everyone in the class is a new user/editor, and so there have obviously been some mistakes related to improper sourcing, or perhaps biased information. We have met as a class to discuss the problems that have come up, and we will try to address these problems promptly. Please be patient with us, as we are still figuring out the ins and outs of how to properly edit.

Thank you! Emilyscarr (talk) 02:34, 29 October 2014 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * - There is evidence to support Emilyscarr's claim in CU. But there are some things that I need a second opinion on. -- DQ   (ʞlɐʇ)  16:51, 31 October 2014 (UTC)
 * Not sure this is the right place, seeing as how I'm a lowly peon regular ed, but see my update comment above. NewsAndEventsGuy (talk) 17:33, 31 October 2014 (UTC)
 * Thanks NewsAndEventsGuy. PhilKnight (talk) 11:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)


 * The following accounts are all editing from an underlying IP address registered to Emily Carr University of Art and Design, and using similar hardware and mostly similar software. That is, in other words, they are nearly, but not quite, from each other.
 * Given that at the moment, it seems unclear whether we are dealing with a class project, or puppet accounts, I haven't tagged or blocked any of these accounts. PhilKnight (talk) 11:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Given that at the moment, it seems unclear whether we are dealing with a class project, or puppet accounts, I haven't tagged or blocked any of these accounts. PhilKnight (talk) 11:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Given that at the moment, it seems unclear whether we are dealing with a class project, or puppet accounts, I haven't tagged or blocked any of these accounts. PhilKnight (talk) 11:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Given that at the moment, it seems unclear whether we are dealing with a class project, or puppet accounts, I haven't tagged or blocked any of these accounts. PhilKnight (talk) 11:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Given that at the moment, it seems unclear whether we are dealing with a class project, or puppet accounts, I haven't tagged or blocked any of these accounts. PhilKnight (talk) 11:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Given that at the moment, it seems unclear whether we are dealing with a class project, or puppet accounts, I haven't tagged or blocked any of these accounts. PhilKnight (talk) 11:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Given that at the moment, it seems unclear whether we are dealing with a class project, or puppet accounts, I haven't tagged or blocked any of these accounts. PhilKnight (talk) 11:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Given that at the moment, it seems unclear whether we are dealing with a class project, or puppet accounts, I haven't tagged or blocked any of these accounts. PhilKnight (talk) 11:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Given that at the moment, it seems unclear whether we are dealing with a class project, or puppet accounts, I haven't tagged or blocked any of these accounts. PhilKnight (talk) 11:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Given that at the moment, it seems unclear whether we are dealing with a class project, or puppet accounts, I haven't tagged or blocked any of these accounts. PhilKnight (talk) 11:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Given that at the moment, it seems unclear whether we are dealing with a class project, or puppet accounts, I haven't tagged or blocked any of these accounts. PhilKnight (talk) 11:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Given that at the moment, it seems unclear whether we are dealing with a class project, or puppet accounts, I haven't tagged or blocked any of these accounts. PhilKnight (talk) 11:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Given that at the moment, it seems unclear whether we are dealing with a class project, or puppet accounts, I haven't tagged or blocked any of these accounts. PhilKnight (talk) 11:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Given that at the moment, it seems unclear whether we are dealing with a class project, or puppet accounts, I haven't tagged or blocked any of these accounts. PhilKnight (talk) 11:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Given that at the moment, it seems unclear whether we are dealing with a class project, or puppet accounts, I haven't tagged or blocked any of these accounts. PhilKnight (talk) 11:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Given that at the moment, it seems unclear whether we are dealing with a class project, or puppet accounts, I haven't tagged or blocked any of these accounts. PhilKnight (talk) 11:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Given that at the moment, it seems unclear whether we are dealing with a class project, or puppet accounts, I haven't tagged or blocked any of these accounts. PhilKnight (talk) 11:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Given that at the moment, it seems unclear whether we are dealing with a class project, or puppet accounts, I haven't tagged or blocked any of these accounts. PhilKnight (talk) 11:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)


 * I've looked through the contributions and I do believe that this is genuine school project. All of the accounts are editing different topics and none of the accounts show any concerns seen with sockpuppetry (e.g. contributing to the same XfD). Also, cross-examining the edits of all accounts on October 28 shows a number of edits within a close range of time. I don't think it's likely one person made such diverse contributions in a short span of time. For now I'll close this case with no action taken. I would recommend that the instructor connects with the WikiEducation program for further assistance. Mike V  •  Talk  16:56, 12 November 2014 (UTC)