Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Gbibgim/Archive

Suspected sockpuppets



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Above users repeatedly edit the same, usually niche, pages, or edit the same very specific kinds of content in different articles. Seems likely that nearly all of the IP addresses that have edited the Fiann Paul page should also be considered sockpuppets, but most have made only a single edit so this is difficult to prove. At least two more suspected sockpuppets only active on international Wikipedia sites (see below). Before mentioning the affected pages, it is relevant to note that Fiann Paul's Wikipedia article begins: "Fiann Paul is an Icelandic explorer, athlete, artist and speaker. He is the world's most record-breaking explorer, and holds the world's highest number of performance-based Guinness World Records ever achieved within a single athletic discipline, ranking above Roger Federer and Michael Phelps... [and] is known for being the fastest ocean rower".

Pages edited by more than one of the above users and addresses:
 * Fiann Paul : all of the above accounts (this is by far the most-affected page)
 * Only ever edited Fiann Paul: Robertmcwilliams, Phaesula, 2 of the above IP addresses
 * Consecutive edits by two of the above IPs, the latter edit with description "minor additions and corrections to the previous edit" strongly suggesting that they are the same person
 * Robertmcwilliams also created the Spanish version of the Fiann Paul page; Phaesula created the German version, and contributed to the Spanish and Icelandic versions, with no other activity; a separate user MarieLansdown2 who is not active on English Wikipedia created the Portuguese version, contributed to the Spanish version, and made contributions on Wikidata relating to Fiann Paul, with no other activity; another user named Markwangho created the Chinese version and made a contribution on Wikidata relating to Fiann Paul, with no other activity; I have not checked for international activity by the other accounts.
 * Ocean rowing : Gbibgim, Svedlundp, 114.198.16.239
 * Ocean Explorers Grand Slam : Beedilk (also created this page), Hyphenglad
 * Consecutive edits by Beedilk and Hyphenglad on the same sentence about Fiann Paul
 * Uvavnuk : Beedilk, Isivensk1
 * Isivensk1 made an edit 4 hours after Beedilk, with both edits inserting Fiann Paul's connections to "The Song of Uvavnuk"
 * Guinness World Records : Beedilk, Svedlundp
 * Sport in Iceland : Beedilk, Svedlundp
 * Records set by Reinhold Messner : Beedilk, Svedlundp
 * Editing the "Guinness World Records", "Records", or similar sections or dedicated pages for Roger Federer and various other sportspeople: Beedilk, Svedlundp
 * Inserting references to Fiann Paul into many articles (non-comprehensive list below):
 * Beedilk:
 * Southern Ocean
 * Drake Passage (possible edit warring indicated in edit description)
 * Persistence hunting
 * Ice bath
 * My Neighbour Totoro
 * Svedlundp:
 * List of Antarctic expeditions
 * List of Arctic expeditions
 * List of pescetarians
 * List of northernmost items
 * Kulusuk Airport
 * Hyphenglad:
 * The Impossible Row (possible edit warring with user RTotzke, see history)

I did not see any evidence of the suspected accounts supporting each other in discussions or votes, which Svedlundp has been involved in (e.g. 1, 2), nor any evidence of the use of different accounts to engage in edit wars without triggering WP:3RR. However, the use of so many accounts to influence practically all the content regarding a specific topic/person for a period of over 4 years (2016 until the end of 2020) seems sufficiently serious to warrant a report. It also seems very likely that these accounts are operated by Fiann Paul himself or someone close to him, which would put most of the accounts' activity under WP:COI/WP:SELFPROMOTE, but I am not sure how to report this. A clear majority of the content contributed by the above users, including all of or the majority of the Fiann Paul page, likely also fails WP:NOTE. Massivefranklin (talk) 17:57, 20 July 2021 (UTC)

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

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * . CheckUser data is only retained for a limited time, and all accounts listed are too to be checked. I have not examined the behavior very closely, but given that the most recent account, Hyphenglad, has not edited since November 2020, and given our currently severe SPI backlog, I suspect that the best course of action may be to wait until these accounts resume activity before spending administrative time dealing with this case. Mz7 (talk) 05:30, 27 July 2021 (UTC)
 * I concur with Mz7. This case is too stale for us to be able to effectively action it. Please re-report if disruption resumes. Closing. --Blablubbs (talk) 11:51, 28 July 2021 (UTC)