Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/DisneyMetalhead/Archive

Suspected sockpuppets



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There is currently an ongoing WP:ANI thread about bludgeoning a discussion at Talk:DC Extended Universe. Essentially, as the discussion wasn't going in their favour and activity died down, DMH decided to come back and reiterate their points over and over and over. As DMH kept replying (and being the only one to do so), it became clear that the discussion was only going in circles. intervened suggesting a RFC and I stated that I was about to open a new subsection to take any final comments / votes, and hopefully wrap up the discussion (which would have likely encapsulated informing the WikiProjects and tagging everyone for comment).

DisneyMetalhead did not take this well at all. They immediately rushed in to open a new subsection themselves, just to espouse the exact same points all over again (this time with more insufficient sources) and make excuses for why the consensus isn't really a consensus. Because "consensus isn't based on votes", the majority viewpoint (backed by multiple sources) is somehow invalid because DMH doesn't like it.

As this was happening, the user jumped in and became the only user in that entire discussion to strongly support DMH's position with the same argument and strawman fallacies as DMH. The only problem? Counting that edit, Popfox3 only had a whopping four edits to their account (all recent). Half of those edits were Popfox taking the same position as DisneyMetalhead in DC Extended Universe discussions. The other two were Popfox3 adding a "space" to their username and talk page immediately after replying to the DCEU discussion, presumably to create the pages, remove the redlinks and appear less suspicious. Every edit since then (there aren't many) has been DC Extended Universe related, or them defending themselves at ANI.

Popfox3's only defense so far has been that he actually created his account back in 2016, but didn't have time to edit until recently. That settles it, right? Wrong. Upon further inspection, DisneyMetalhead created their account in September 2016, while Popfox3 created their account just a month later in October 2016. Similar to Popfox3, DisneyMetalhead has been editing Talk:DC Extended Universe for nearly as long as they have been active.

I'm not the only one who has noted the suspiciousness of the situation either. Both TheJoebro and  find this situation fishy as well, with the latter going as far as to point out that Popfox is either a SPA (at best) or a sock puppet (at worst). I'm also having a hard time buying Popfox's story at ANI.

Other things worth noting are DisneyMetalhead dropping a barnstar on Popfox's talk page soon after it was pointed out at ANI that Popfox3 created a blank userpage and talk page to avoid leaving a redlink. DisneyMetalhead and Popfox3 have both gloated at ANI about being investigated for sock puppetry, so I sure hope they know what a checkuser is.  Dark Knight  2149  21:24, 9 February 2020 (UTC)
 * That's odd. I know you aren't allowed to give too much away, but can checkusers tell if someone is using a VPN or disguising their IP address? I'm trying to figure out if this is a rare instance of a WP:SPA editing at the wrong place at the wrong time and all of the wrong coincidences aligning, or if this might be an issue of sock or meat after all.  Dark Knight  2149  23:54, 9 February 2020 (UTC)

I state again, that I do not know what "Check user" is, as I naively stated that the investigation should check IPs. To those who resolve these issues, I honestly have no idea how these are resolved. Secondly, is there something wrong with welcoming a new user to Wikipedia, after they were berated? I'd argue there's not.--DisneyMetalhead (talk) 01:11, 11 February 2020 (UTC)

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

Both DisneyMetalhead and Popfox3 have a similar, formal, not to say stilted, way with grammar and vocabulary; as can be seen in the two diffs in the final para of DarkKnight2149's submission. As a casual observer at WP:ANI, I had already wondered if they might have been raised in the same clutch. See Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents. Narky Blert (talk) 22:06, 9 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Having observed the ANI discussion from the sidelines, I'd be inclined to say that it certainly isn't a rabbit in disguise. Aside of the evidence presented above, and the fact of such a weird and unnatural "welcome discussion" at Popfox3's talkpage between the two of them attempting to reassure themselves (and others as well, maybe?) that they are not socking, how would DisneyMetalhead even know what Popfox3's IP address is despite otherwise claiming no connection exists between the two of them? IP addresses from active editors are hidden from most Wikipedia users and can only be obtained by Checkusers. If anything, and considering the repeated "go open a SPI and you will be disproven"-taunts, this may hint to them operating the accounts from different IPs in the thought that this would circumvent detection.  Impru 20 talk 22:54, 9 February 2020 (UTC)
 * I was a bit on the fence (and didn't have much time to comment over the weekend), but what says above certainly doesn't reassure me... throw in the fact that DMH has edited while logged out in the past (I'll pull up revisions once I can find them) and a concerning comment made here about having "made various articles and edits over years and various usernames", then I think it's sadly quite plausible that Popfox is DMH. JOE  BRO  64  23:08, 9 February 2020 (UTC)
 * "I have made various articles and edits over years and various usernames." Wow. Narky Blert (talk) 23:14, 9 February 2020 (UTC)
 * "I am accused of being the second account of another user merely because I am taking the same position as them is incredibly rude and uncalled for." - PopFox3
 * "I will wait for that SPI 'investigation' to be over with, and I hope at that point there are some apologies that go around" - DisneyMetalhead.
 * The editor doth protest too much, methinks. "My Boomerang Won't Come Back" - Charlie Drake. Narky Blert (talk) 23:29, 9 February 2020 (UTC)

I'm late to this SPI unfortunately, but I have something to share. I previously spotted some odd behavior from DisneyMetalhead, did some digging, and compiled a document on them in 2018. I never got around to posting it for various reasons, but it seems like a good time to do so. In early 2018, I noticed a pattern that any time Disney got into a discussion, the IP (or vice versa) would pop in with direct agreement/support. Here are some examples:


 * Runaways (TV series)
 * Deadpool 2
 * Shazam! (film)
 * List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films
 * Black Panther (film)
 * User:Adamstom.97
 * User:Favre1fan93

I checked their editing habits on the Editor Interaction Analyser and the similarities became very apparent. Particularly when surveying their edits on pages like Arrowverse, 47 Meters Down, Kick-Ass (film series) (Note: this article has been deleted since I wrote this), Geneva Robertson-Dworet, and Shaft (film series).

Having re-assessed the IP's edits when making this post, I noticed the two have continued to edit in tandem—though much less frequently than before—and with no more talk page interaction. In the past 10 months alone, they routinely edited articles in quick succession, such as Lady and the Tramp, Martian Manhunter, [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shazam!_(film)&diff=next&oldid=891548459 Shazam! (film)], John Wick, and many others. The two of them have also made up all 48 of the non-admin edits on Draft:Bad Moms (franchise), and 30 of 31 edits on Draft:Grease (franchise) since they were created by Disney in early 2019. The other IP on Draft:Grease,, seems to be a dynamic IP range that Disney also uses, since it has another overlapped edit on a draft created by Disney at Draft:Kindergarten Cop (film series). However, these dynamic IPs don't seem to have been used improperly like the main IP.

I wasn't sure if Popfox3 was actually him, but he has absolutely been guilty of this behavior in the past—and it wasn't subtle at all. Pre  fall  00:46, 10 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Holy moly, that was the IP I was looking for. I only knew it was DMH from their edit descriptions/topic areas. Good grief. JOE BRO  64  00:50, 10 February 2020 (UTC)
 * But this wasn't a simple case of "logged out editing". Going from the diffs that presented, the IP address was used to act as a different person and even voted/interacted with DMH as a totally separate user. There might not be any sanctions for logged out editing, but that is definitely sock puppetry.  Dark  Knight  2149  01:01, 10 February 2020 (UTC)

Note: I do not know what IPs are currently being referenced, but again I state that this current log-in/user is the sole log-in I have used. I do know that for a time, when I would do edits at my college, the internet would time out and so I would have to log back into my log-in repetitively. Could this be one of the times, that was mentioned?--DisneyMetalhead (talk) 01:18, 11 February 2020 (UTC)

Question: Will I be notified of when this "witch hunt" of an investigation is over/decided? I 'gloated' that an IP address look-up would solve this (naive assumption, given I have no idea how these are resolved), but assume that through various avenues I will be notified of the outcome? I assumed it would be determined relatively fast as to what is found? Thanks m8s!--DisneyMetalhead (talk) 01:28, 11 February 2020 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * - From the diffs and from my own reading of the evidence I see some kind of link between these users. Because this is possible vote fraud on Talk:DC Extended Universe, meets one of the criteria listed as a reason to run a CU check. Dreamy Jazz 🎷 talk to me &#124; my contributions 23:12, 9 February 2020 (UTC)
 * ❌, closing.--Bbb23 (talk) 23:45, 9 February 2020 (UTC)
 * , DMH is not using proxies of any kind., even assuming the IPs were DMH, there will be no sanctions for logged out editing that took place so long ago.--Bbb23 (talk) 00:52, 10 February 2020 (UTC)