Misplaced Pages

• WP:SPI
• WP:RFCU
• WP:SSP

Welcome to Sockpuppet investigations (SPI). Please see the sockpuppet policy for detailed definitions and descriptions of what sockpuppetry is and is not. This page is used to discuss whether a user is likely to have violated that policy, or breached other restrictions (eg blocks or bans) using multiple accounts.

Skip to: Submitting an SPI case • open cases • cases awaiting CheckUser

CheckUser

CheckUser is a tool that allows authorized users to look at technical information left when a user/IP makes an edit. This technical information can help determine if a single person is using more than one account. Use of the checkuser tool is governed by policies on the English Misplaced Pages and Wikimedia Foundation levels. For more information, see the Foundation policy, the local policy and the Foundation privacy policy.

When not to request CheckUser

There must be credible evidence supporting the suspicion of sockpuppetry, and good cause why CheckUser is required. Requests for checkuser without evidence will be declined, because CheckUser is not for fishing. CheckUser is also not magic pixie dust, and should not be requested to investigate canvassing or meatpuppetry,  Stale account(s) that have not edited for many months, or cases where behavioral evidence is sufficient to decide the matter (see also the duck test).

Making Quick CheckUser requests

See #Quick CheckUser requests. This page may also be used for other CheckUser requests unrelated to sock abuse, such as:

• Blatant attack or vandalism accounts, and an IP block is needed
• Collateral damage checks for proposed IP range blocks
• Purported suicide notes and threats of harm (try IRC first in an emergency, either at #wikipedia-en-spi , or via your browser)

Evidence and SPI case guidelines

If the evidence is sensitive, privacy is needed, or if it involves sock puppetry by an administrator, seek advice by email from a Checkuser or the Arbitration Committee first. Private information, emails, logs, etc, may not be posted on the wiki; if they are important evidence, you must also seek advice by email first.

You need to provide evidence showing the accounts or IPs are likely to be sock-puppets and acting in a disruptive or forbidden manner, which other users will then assess. If there is no evidence showing forbidden sock-puppetry, then nothing will happen and the case is likely to be speedily closed by the SPI clerks. Most SPI cases are decided based upon behavioral evidence, that is, the behavior of the accounts or IPs concerned. This evidence needs to be explicit; that is, use verifiable evidence in the form of diffs, links to the pages in which the sock puppetry is occurring, and reasonable deductions and impressions drawn from said evidence. Evidence solely consisting of vague beliefs or assumptions will be rejected.

Some general guidelines when making your SPI case:

• Remember to always assume good faith when possible.
• After submitting a case, consider notifying the suspected accounts by adding {{subst:socksuspectnotice|PUPPETMASTER}} ~~~~ to the bottom of their talk pages. Notification is not mandatory, and may, in some instances, lead to further disruption or provide a sockpuppeteer with guidance on how to avoid detection.
• Do not use any section headers ("===") on case pages as this will break the report templates and mess up the formatting.
• Keep it simple. Simple, concisely presented evidence leads to a quickly resolved case.

• After administrators and/or checkusers have reviewed the case, it will be closed and archived by an SPI clerk. (Administrators may mark a case closed using {{SPIclose}}.)

Submitting an SPI case

Create the case by replacing "SOCKMASTER" with the name of the oldest account, or previous case name in the box below. Note that these buttons may be used either for creating a new case or reopening an old one. For example, if the case name is about User:John Doe or a prior case is at Misplaced Pages:Sockpuppet investigations/John Doe, then you should enter Misplaced Pages:Sockpuppet investigations/John Doe in the box, then click the button.

Administrators' instructions

If you wish to help out at SPI, but are unsure how to get started, please read Misplaced Pages:Sockpuppet investigations/SPI/Administrators instructions. If you need help with anything, please ask one of the active SPI clerks.

See also

• SPI clerks and clerking
• List of indicator icons used at SPI
• Suspected sock puppets and Requests for checkuser – predecessors to SPI which both ceased as of January 2009
• The SPI bot's user page, talk/bug page and edits.