Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Craft37by/Archive

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The suspicion I have is based on their mutual action on the article Grand Duchy of Lithuania, in which they use and reintroduce each others text. User:Admiral buba created a blatant pov edit on the article Grand Duchy of Lithuania, here and in following edits. After it was challenged it was reinstated by User:Craft37by here and in his edits thereafter. As that was challenged by User:Sabbatino, User:Admiral buba intervened again here with his original text and here with an edit summary that expresses the POV nature of these edits. User:Craft37by then readded his part of the text here, including the text by User:Admiral Buba, here, here. After being challenged again, User:Craft27by reinstated his text along with the earlier text by User:Admiral buba here, and again here. After being challenged again, this time by myself User:Admiral buba reverted the whole text (Craft's and his own) again here. User:Craft37by challenged me on my talkpage here and not a minute went by after I answered him that the whole affair was again reverted by User:Admiral buba here, which seems a bit too coincidental to me. Also they very nifty avoided a 3rr violation between the two of them. As you may know there may be other issues as this behavior has been going on for ages on this and other pages by Litvinist POV editors. Gerard von Hebel (talk) 19:28, 9 July 2016 (UTC)

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 * Comment. I agree with this SPI's creator. It is strange that two users started adding the same information into the article. Nevertheless, 3RR rule was broken by one of the reported users and needed actions should be taken. – Sabbatino (talk) 20:31, 9 July 2016 (UTC)
 * User:Hebel, I just blocked Craft37by for edit warring due to a 3RR complaint. At present the block is only 48 hours. Can you say who are the other 'Litvinist editors' and which other articles are affected? A set of people with a common POV that they assert aggressively might be enough reason for a checkuser. As an alternative, it might e a reason to consider a ban from Eastern Europe under WP:ARBEE. EdJohnston (talk) 01:30, 10 July 2016 (UTC)
 * EdJohnston, I'll find out for you. But we are talking here about a general POV problem that occurs from time to time. I don't think that past editors involved in this matter necessarily are sockpuppets. It is a recurring problem however. I'll report to you about this. Gerard von Hebel (talk) 20:24, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

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 * The two accounts are . Craft37by is a much older account.--Bbb23 (talk) 19:33, 9 July 2016 (UTC)
 * I see, I wouldn't have known about that, I just jotted them down in the order they appeared in the edit history of the article. Gerard von Hebel (talk) 19:36, 9 July 2016 (UTC)
 * SPI goes by date creation, not even first edit date, to determine which account is the oldest. To find out when a user account was created, click on their contributions and then on "user rights".--Bbb23 (talk) 19:49, 9 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Switching order of the two accounts so that the older one (Craft37by) is the suspected master. — Rich wales (no relation to Jimbo) 01:20, 10 September 2016 (UTC)
 * I've had a look and while it's impossible to rule out sockpuppetry, there are other plausible explanations for the edits. Combined with the "possible" CU result above, I'm not comfortable imposing a block at this time.  Both of the accounts have previously been advised of WP:ARBEE, and further disruptive editing in this area is likely to lead to a block, regardless of any sock-puppetry issues.  Lankiveil (speak to me) 10:46, 10 September 2016 (UTC).

Suspected sockpuppets



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CU checked after evidence presented on master's talkpage. Yunshui 雲 水 11:55, 6 September 2018 (UTC)

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Both accounts are ✅. Blocked and tagged. No further accounts located. Yunshui 雲 水 11:55, 6 September 2018 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets



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 * Craft37by restores content (he was originally banned for his behavior in this particular situation) on 11:51, 11 July 2018‎
 * 46.53.178.122 restores the same content on 23:03, 11 July 2018
 * 46.53.178.122 adds content on 13:20, 11 August 2018
 * 86.57.247.119 restores content on 16:56, 20 August 2018
 * 109.126.131.113 restores content on 20:55, 4 September 2018, which was originally added by Kirylpl (sockpuppet of master account) on 00:37–00:42 (multiple edits), 4 September 2018‎

I have presented five diffs, which connect to each other in one way or another, because I cannot track all the edits made by Craft37by, and all the content was added by him at some point, which was also reverted by me or other users. All IPs, including the already banned master and sockpuppet accounts, follow the same pattern. They all tend to add WP:OR and WP:FRINGE content ("Lithuania is Samogitia, and Belarus is the "real" Lithuania" or "Lithuanian language is Samogitian language, while Belarusian language is the "real" Lithuanian language", etc.), which goes against the majority scholars, and is accepted by the minority (usage of nationalist and questionable scholars, which are known as "Litvinist" scholars; more can be found here at the end of paragraph with links to the definition about the "Litvinist" concept). In addition, lack of competence can be seen in the edits as they are grammatically incorrect, maps/images are placed anywhere (including horrible grammar and/or usage of other language in the descriptions), including the strong emphasis on the "Lithuania is not Lithuania" claim. EDIT: I would also like to point out that all IPs point to Minsk, Belarus, but I doubt that administrators will take this into consideration – Sabbatino (talk) 15:38, 6 September 2018 (UTC)

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 * IP 86.57.247.119 was already blocked, I have also issued a short block on IP 109.126.131.113. IP 46.53.178.122 has not edited recently, so I have not blocked that IP. Yunshui 雲 水 15:47, 6 September 2018 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets



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All these IPs (all of them point to Minsk, Belarus) keep re-adding the same content that was originally added by the sockmaster or its sockpuppets. After the History of Belarus page was protected, the IP editor started using multiple IPs to restore the same content on various talk pages where he started accusing me and other editor of being "Russian trolls/agents" and "being paid by administrators" to make the reversions (or "censorship" in his words) – the same behavior can be seen by the sockmaster and its sockpuppets. The accusations can be seen on the affected talk pages' histories. The affected talk pages include: I thought about asking for the protection of these talk pages, but I then asked for an advice from Yunshui, who banned some of the sockpuppets tied to the user, at User talk:Yunshui and he advised me to either ask for protection or open an SPI. – Sabbatino (talk) 20:52, 4 March 2019 (UTC)
 * – restorations of "warning" by IPs: 02:38, 1 March 2019; 23:04, 3 March 2019; 21:25, 4 March 2019.
 * – addition of the same "warning": 23:06, 3 March 2019.
 * – a total of eight restorations on talk page by multiple IPs.

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 * The edits by the unblocked IPs are too old. Closing. Bbb23 (talk) 22:34, 4 March 2019 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets



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A completely new editor went straight to Talk:Lithuania blabbering about "Lithuania=Samogitia, Belarus=Lithuania" nonsense, which was the same agenda used by the sockmaster. – Sabbatino (talk) 10:55, 16 March 2020 (UTC)

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 * , I did some digging here, and I do see some similarities in beliefs (see, for example, Craft37by's comments at (bottom section), and compare to Ofisrom's thoughts on the correct name for Lithuania here). However, speaking as someone not super familiar with the history (in either sense - history of this editor or the disputed Lithuanian history) here, I don't see sufficient evidence to prove sockpuppetry - it could very well be someone else with Litvinist beliefs. I've given them the DS warning for Eastern Europe; I'd suggest closing this SPI and blocking if Ofisrom continues to try to POV-push. creffett (talk) 16:18, 9 April 2020 (UTC)

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 * Nothing to compare to. All previous socks are . -- Amanda  (aka DQ) 11:34, 16 March 2020 (UTC)
 * , you say it's the same behaviour shown by the master, yet the master doesn't appear in the archives of that talk page - . Please provide paired diffs showing the master and sock making the same changes or pursuing the same agenda to support your allegation. Cabayi (talk) 10:15, 6 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Lack of evidence. Cabayi (talk) 18:33, 12 April 2020 (UTC)