Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/CyboDuck/Archive

Suspected sockpuppets



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There is obvious off-wiki canvassing going on at Articles for deletion/British Independence Day, just as there was obvious off-wiki canvassing going on at the first and second AfDs for the same topic.


 * In the first AfD, Mdmadden, CyboDuck and Slashmire were all not new but idle accounts !voting in favour of keeping the article.
 * In the second AfD, a Reddit user "wikipedia1234" canvassed in /r/TheDonald inviting users to stack the debate, although it's not obvious that any did; Mdmadden also commented in that discussion.
 * For the third and current AfD, the same Reddit user has been posting multiple canvassing notices, and this time the debate is loaded with obvious socks. All three of the older editors are there once again, along with new account Cap1988 which was obviously created for the AfD.

Furthermore, it's apparent from comments like this that Mdmadden views the discussion as a plain majority vote.

To summarize: a series of AfD debates on the same topic which have been publicized externally to recruit anons to support these three users' opinions, with all three having commented in two of the three discussions, one of which hardly edits at all except when this topic is being discussed, plus a fourth created for the sole purpose of participating in the debate. It seems like too many intersections to be a coincidence to me. Ivanvector (Talk/Edits) 18:16, 1 March 2018 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.'' Not sure I understand everything here but I am not responsible or operating anyone else accounts. I'm happy to stir clear of this topic again if it's a problem Slashmire (talk) 16:03, 16 March 2018 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * per my analysis above. Ivanvector (Talk/Edits) 18:19, 1 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Although the technical data shows that the accounts are related to each other to varying degrees, there should be a greater focus on behavior than technical in this case. Think of the technical data as not precluding that one or more of these accounts are operated by the same person. Meat puppets are also possible. For example, with the exception of Slashmire, who is using a proxy, the other three accounts all locate to a reasonably small area of the same country, and two of those three are using the same ISP. However, none of them uses the same IPs, and only Cyboduck and Slashmire have a UA match.
 * Cyboduck and Slashmire are . Mcmadden and Cap1988 are .--Bbb23 (talk) 19:15, 1 March 2018 (UTC)
 * here's my detailed analysis:
 * Mdmadden created the original article in November 2016. It is nominated for deletion on 29 November. Slashmire wakes up having not edited since August to participate in this discussion, makes a few edits to the page, then does not edit again until after the article is deleted five months later (after the second AfD).
 * The reddit user wikipedia1234 was created on 24 April 2017. On that date, both Mdmadden and CyboDuck were active as the only two editors opposing a merge proposal concerning British passports. Both were also the only two who objected to two specific adjectives in the proposal. Mdmadden hadn't edited for two weeks before that and didn't edit again until two weeks later. Same for CyboDuck, except instead of two weeks it was six months.
 * Mdmadden's next edit after the merge proposal was in the second AfD I linked above, at 13:06 UTC, 13 May 2017. They were the only one of these accounts that edited that discussion. wikipedia1234 posted their first canvassing appeal at 14:22 UTC, 14 May 2017. Mdmadden's next edit was at 14:58 that day; they spent the next several hours editing and then didn't come back for a month.
 * Slashmire wakes up again on 18 May 2017, one day before the article is deleted, but does not participate in the discussion. They then go quiet again until October 2017, same as CyboDuck.
 * Slashmire created a new article on 18 February 2018. They noted in the subsequent AfD that they had assembled the recreation from parts of the deleted article. In this discussion:
 * wikipedia1234 posts 4 canvassing notices on Reddit: at 12:10 Feb 20, 16:04 Feb 21, 15:44 Feb 25, and 11:10 Feb 28.
 * Mdmadden, who hasn't edited since 30 January, participates in the AfD at 16:17 20 Feb, 15:31 Feb 21, 15:35 Feb 25, 12:27 Feb 27, 15:56 Feb 28, and in two distinct bursts on Mar 1.
 * Cap1988 is created at 18:59 Feb 20, edits a handful of articles including voting keep in the AfD at 20:04, then disappears after making a last edit at 20:08.
 * CyboDuck and Slashmire both edit the article on 19 February, and both first participate in the AfD on 23 February.
 * My conclusions are:
 * CyboDuck and Slashmire are at least meatpuppets, but with the technical evidence I'm convinced they're the same user. The master is blocked for two weeks, the puppet indefinitely.
 * Mdmadden is at least a meatpuppet to this first user, but I can't conclude one way or the other if they're the same user or not. Nonetheless, I'm convinced from the timeline intersections that Mdmadden is responsible for the off-wiki canvassing at /r/TheDonald. Mdmadden may have created Cap1988, or that may be another user responding to the canvassing; technical evidence suggests it's the former. For these reasons Mdmadden is blocked for two weeks, the puppet indefinitely.
 * I realize this is an unusually complicated analysis and as always I am open to others reviewing my conclusions, but please ping me. Case closed. Ivanvector (Talk/Edits) 19:20, 29 April 2018 (UTC)