Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Asdfg12345/Archive

31 March 2015

 * Suspected sockpuppets




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I suspect Aaabbb11 to be a sock of Asdfg12345 due to a few factors: the first is a heavy concentration in Falun Gong related articles, with a tendency to attempt to promote the POV that the Chinese government is presently engaging in genocide against members of that faith. The second is a very similar pattern of use of personal page space. The third is a very similar username.

I am troubled by this even though Asdfg12345 is not currently active, because of Asdfg12345's history of blocks for edit warring on Falun Gong articles. I suspect this user created the Aaabbb11 account in order to obfuscate that history.

First instance of Aaabbb11 user space after it was last speedily deleted. Note the use of personal userspace to promote an anti-china and pro-FLG resource. I believe this was the case prior to its previous speedy deletion although I am unable to access those diffs. However this pattern has continued. []

Last instance of Asdfg12345 prior to posting retirement message. Note the extensive use of personal userspace to promote anti-China and pro-FLG resources and information.

The history of Aaabbb11 shows an interest in any China articles that can be linked to the Falun Gong. Edit tags frequently make use of inflamatory language such as "CCP not keen to publicise its lies" and "genocide"

This same pattern of behaviour appears in the edit history of Asdfg12345 note the frequent characterization of persecution of FLG as genocide.

I am concerned about sock puppetry because Asdfg12345 was previously blocked three times ] for edit warring in Falun Gong articles. Meanwhile Aaabbb11 has been engaging in some troubling edits on China. Simonm223 (talk) 14:58, 31 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Additional evidence based on behaviour Aaabbb11 has engaged in since I opened the investigation request: Both Aaabbb11 and Asdfg12345 use their user space as a place to make veiled comments regarding editors that their POV pushing has brought them into conflict in very similar (somewhat passive aggressive) ways.


 * Aaabbb11:
 * Asdfg12345: Simonm223 (talk) 13:23, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

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


 * Stopping editing with one account and then resuming editing with a new account is not technically abuse of multiple accounts. However if these accounts are shown to be connected, then the user is violating Asdfg12345's indefinite topic ban from Falun Gong articles, imposed by this AE thread by, which was never lifted nor appealed as far as I can tell, though it doesn't seem to be registered in the log.
 * Also, the previous case does not seem to have ever been completed; it may have just gone away when the old system was merged into WP:SPI, that's before my time. All of those accounts (including the filer) have long since been inactive. However, that case made a point that the socks in that case all had an identical tendency to gleefully goad their opponents by spamming talk pages with POV links until the opponent makes a frustrated misstep, then pounce on them for policy violations ( was indeffed for it, the others "retired" when they were topic-banned). That appears to be exactly what is happening with Aaabbb11 spamming Simonm223's talk page with a Falun Gong-sympathetic YouTube link, then after being asked to stop, goading him on their own talk page instead (despite not understanding how pings work), and has now followed him to China (the article, not the country) with more Falun Gong POV stuff.
 * The username pattern could be a basic coincidence - they're simple nonrandom patterns at the start of the alphabet - but the fact that both accounts are Falun Gong POV warriors and the new account has quickly picked up the old account's battles with Simonm223 strongly suggests a connection.
 * For transparency's sake: Simonm223 and I know each other in meatspace and occasionally discuss wiki things over beers, however I came across this by way of his post at WT:SPI (which is on my watchlist) regarding interpretation of the policy. He did not ask me to comment here, but I reviewed what he wrote and elected to comment anyway. I can be trouted on my talk page if you like, but please consider the points above. Ivanvector (talk) 23:17, 31 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Response from original requester I actually wasn't aware of Asdfg12345 having current topic bans on Falun Gong when I posted this request - though that only exacerbates my concerns. Also, yesterday night, I suspect in response to my reversion of some of their edits and to this request, Aaabbb11 put the following comment on my wall, calling me "easily the most disruptive long term editor on wikipedia" - I rather resent this comment, but it is in keeping with the previous behaviour of Asdfg12345 attempting to bait other editors into mistakes with borderline inappropriate comments. Simonm223 (talk) 10:33, 1 April 2015 (UTC)


 * My suspicion towards this user being a sock is based on two aspects:
 * Looking at his contribution history, this editor exclusively edits articles relating to FLG, and nothing else from other topics. Essentially, the only purpose of this account is to improve PR for FLG. Paired with the fact that this user commenced editing on 14:56, 30 November 2014, it seems to me that this is very likely an account made by an existing user to avoid scrutiny.
 * What's very telltale is this talkpage comment. Quote, "I would never use an id like that, far too slow to type in, too long and too messy to tell someone." I've seen many socks in the past 7 years, and this is a common theme from many SPIs where they dig their own hole. A sensible person would respond with "I'm not a sock" if the allegation was presented to them, while an actual sockmaster overdoes it. "Oh, that would be a hassle to type in", "oh, this name is too inelegant", classic hallmarks of trying too hard. People tend to do that out of fear, however a person telling the truth is confident on their position and has no reason to fear, and thus doesn't do it. His words suggest to me that he lacks confidence.
 * That's all I have to add for now. -- benlisquare T•C•E 02:00, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments
Insufficient evidence presented to connect the two accounts. Whether the user should be blocked for reasons other than sock puppetry belongs in a different venue. Declined and closing.--Bbb23 (talk) 17:54, 5 April 2015 (UTC)