Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Enforcement/Archive197/EtienneDolet evidence

Tag-teaming:

Vladimir Putin

I first noticed a recurring pattern of tag-team edit-warring at Vladimir Putin. Apparently, they don’t like Putin, and aren’t afraid of saying it. In a recent exchange at VM’s TP, Mvbw states:
“Yes, that man does not deserve a decent BLP page. Let it be ridiculous.”
They have both edited to that effect. Mvbw pushes the view that Putin was directly targeting civilians in Syria, while repeatedly making analogies of Putin with Hitler. Meanwhile, VM forces concerning material ([1][2]) into this BLP article in which Mvbw supports and edit-wars over ([3][4]). Although there are many other incidents of this nature, I must emphasize that I am merely mentioning these diffs to exemplify a coherency among these two users when it comes to pushing a shared POV. As you will see, this appears to be in the form of tag-team edit-wars. Examples of this at Vladimir Putin, and other articles, can be found as follows:

8-10 Feb 2016

VM removes material [5] Mvbw reverts to VM's version [6] VM reverts [7] Mvbw reverts [8] VM reverts [9]

15 Feb 2016

VM [10] followed by Mvbw [11]

17 Feb 2016

VM reverts [12] VM again [13] Followed by Mvbw [14]

20 Feb 2016

VM reverts [15] Followed by Mvbw [16]

25-26 Feb 2016

VM reverts [17] Followed by Mvbw [18] (WP:NINJA-style, even after he said he’s on break) Mvbw again [19] VM again [20]

Other EE articles

At Donetsk People's Republic (history)

Mvbw steps in on several occasions to revert to VM’s version when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 8-20 February 2015, 14-15 May 2015, 22 January 2016, 15 February 2016

At Luhansk People's Republic (history)

Mvbw’s first edit was a revert to VM's version on 18 December 2014 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war. A series of tag-team reverts reappear thereafter.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 18 December 2014, 22-28 January 2016, 13-15 February 2016

At Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People (history)

Mvbw’s first edit was a revert to VM's version on 16 May 2016 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war. A series of tag-team reverts reappear thereafter.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 16-17 May 2016

But also at Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation (history)

Mvbw’s first edit was a revert to VM's version on 20 November 2014 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 20 November 2014, 7-9 January 2016

At Yulia Tymoshenko (history)

VM’s first and only edit was a revert to Mvbw's version on 4 October 2015 when Mvbw was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 4 October 2015

At Polandball (history)

Mvbw’s first and only edit was a revert to VM's version on 13 March 2015 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 9-13 March 2015

At 1992-94 Crimean crisis (history)

VM’s first and only edit was a revert to Mvbw's version on 23 November 2014 when Mvbw was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 23 November 2014

At Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War (history)

Mvbw’s reverts to VM's version on 3 March 2016 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 3 March 2016

At 2014 anti-war protests in Russia (history)

Mvbw’s first edit was a revert to VM's version on 20 December 2015 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 10-11 December 2015

At 2015 Kharkiv bombing (history)

Mvbw’s first and only edit was a revert to VM's version on 25 March 2015 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 23-25 March 2015

At Russian military intervention in Ukraine (2014–present) (history)

Although both editors edited this article before the period when I believe the tag-teaming began, from 20 September 2014 they begin to perform identical reverts. Mvbw has edited the article very sparsely before then, but he really increases his edit frequency after this date.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 20 September 2014, 28 November 2014, 2 December 2014, 10 December 2014, 5 February 2015, 7-8 August 2015

At First Yatsenyuk Government (history)

Mvbw’s first and only edit was a revert to VM's version on 18 April 2015 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 18 April 2015

At Kharkiv Oblast (history)

Mvbw’s first and only edit was a revert to VM's version on 25 March 2015 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 23-25 March 2015

At Republic of Crimea (history)

Mvbw reverts to VM’s version on 7 December 2015 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 7 December 2015

At The Holocaust in Poland (history)

Mvbw’s first and only edit was a revert to VM's version on 21 September 2015 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 20-21 September 2015

At The Harvest of Sorrow (history)

Mvbw’s first edit to this article was a revert to VM's version on 21 October 2015, within a few hours of VM’s first edit to the article. This is a relatively obscure article created only a few days prior to these users’ involvement. I find the odds of both these users appearing at this article so closely to each other by chance extremely small.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 21-23 October 2015

At Casualties of the Ukrainian crisis (history)

Mvbw’s first edit was a revert to VM's version on 31 August 2015 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 31 August 2015

At Luhansk Oblast (history)

Mvbw’s first and only edits are two reverts on VM’s behalf on 20 November 2014, when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 19-20 November 2014

At Cold War II (history)

Mvbw reverts to VM's version on 27 June 2015 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 24-27 June 2015

At Dmytro Tymchuk (history)

VM’s first edit was a revert to Mvbw's version on 12 June 2014 when Mvbw was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 12-16 June 2014

At New Russia Party (history)

Mvbw’s first and only edit was a revert to VM's version on 20 November 2014 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 19-20 November 2014

At Kherson Oblast (history)

Mvbw’s first and only edit was a revert to VM's version on 24 March 2015 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 23-24 March 2015

At Volnovakha bus attack (history)

Mvbw’s first edit was a revert to VM's version on 27 January 2016 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 17 January 2015, 23-34 January 2015

At Assassination of Anna Politkovskaya (history)

Mvbw's first edit in 2015 was a revert to VM's version when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 4 December 2015

At Warsaw Pact (history)

Mvbw’s first edit was a revert to VM's version on 28 December 2015 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 27-28 December 2015

At Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (history)

Mvbw’s first and only edit was a revert to VM's version on 24 March 2015, when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 23-24 March 2015

At Russification of Ukraine (history)

Mvbw’s first edit was a revert to VM's version on 28 April 2015 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 23-28 April 2015

At Oles Buzina (history)

Both editors suddenly appear at the article for the first time within minutes of each other. Mvbw reverts to VM's version several times in May 2015.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 18 April 2015, 1-9 May 2015

At Crimean status referendum, 2014 (history)

Mvbw’s first and only edit in 2015 was a revert to VM's version when VM was in the middle of an edit-war. But tag-team edit-warring goes back to April 2014.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 2 April 2014, 20-21 October 2014, 13-15 May 2015

At Crimea (history)

Mvbw’s first and only edit in 2015 was a revert to VM's version when VM was in the middle of an edit-war. But tag-team edit-warring goes back to November 2014.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 28-30 November 2014, 2 August 2015

At Anna Politkovskaya (history)

Mvbw’s first edit was a modified revert to VM's version when VM was in the middle of an edit-war on 13 September 2015. Tag-team edit-warring reoccurs in October 2015.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 13 September 2015, 15-17 October 2015

At Novorossiya (confederation) (history)

VM reverts to Mvbw's version when Mvbw was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 2-3 December 2014

At Donetsk Oblast (history)

Mvbw’s first edit was a modified revert of VM's version on November 2014 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war. Tag-team edit-warring reoccurs in March 2015.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 20 November 2014, 24-25 March 2015

Non-EE articles but over EE material

At Philip M. Breedlove (history)

VM’s first edit was a revert to Mvbw's version on 6 May 2015 while Mvbw was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 3-5 May 2015, 30-31 May 2015

At Battle of Berlin (history)

VM’s first edit was a revert on 11 February 2015 a few days after Mvbw was reverted

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 5-12 February 2015

At Ghouta chemical attack (history)

Mvbw’s first edit to this article was a revert on 5 June 2015. VM and Mvbw made back and forth reverts ever since. Recurring patterns of tag-team reverts appeared as recent as December 2015. Lots of gaming going on between them in this 1RR article.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 5-6 June 2015, 3-6 December 2015

At Khan al-Assal chemical attack (history)

Mvbw’s first edit was a revert on 26 May 2015 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war. There appears to be some gaming going on in this 1RR article as well.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 26 May 2015

At NATO (history)

Mvbw’s first and only edit was a revert to VM's version on 24 September 2015 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 22-24 September 2015

At Foundations of Geopolitics (history)

Mvbw’s first and only edit was a revert to VM's version when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 6-7 March 2015

At John Maynard Keynes (history)

Mvbw’s first and only edit was a revert to VM's version on 5 February 2015 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 4-5 February 2015

Non-EE articles

At Debbie Wasserman Schultz (history)

Mvbw’s only two edits were reverts made when VM was in the middle of an edit-war. There appears to be some gaming going on in this 1RR BLP article.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 1-3 August 2016

At Donald Trump (history)

Mvbw’s first and only edit was a revert made when VM was in the middle of an edit-war. There appears to be some gaming going on in this 1RR BLP article.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 4 July 2016

At Use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Civil War (history)

Mvbw’s first and only edit was a revert made when VM was in the middle of an edit-war. There appears to be some gaming going on in this 1RR article as well.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 27-29 August 2015

At Covert United States foreign regime change actions (history)

Mvbw’s second edit was a revert to VM's version when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 19-23 May 2015

At Xinjiang conflict (history)

Mvbw’s first and only edit was a revert to VM's version on 11 September 2015 when VM was in the middle of an edit-war.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 10-11 September 2015

At Human rights in Venezuela (history)

Mvbw’s first and only edit was a revert made when VM was in the middle of an edit-war, though on slightly modified content.

Relevant diffs: Mvbw and VM

Relevant date(s): 23-29 September 2015

Additional Comments

Taken as a whole, these incidents point to a pattern of tag-teaming. Effective enough as it is, the disruption this has caused Wikipedia is considerable. Many lone users have been blocked going up against these two tag-teaming editors, and several articles have gone into page protection (i.e. Yulia Tymoshenko, Donetsk People's Republic). The gaming at 1RR articles is also concerning (i.e. Khan al-Assal chemical attack, Ghouta chemical attack). As aforementioned, both appear to share a similar POV. Describing the POV these editors are pushing on Wikipedia is complex, but I would loosely describe it as follows: “Pro-Ukraine and anti-Russia/Soviet Union” on Ukraine related topics, “anti-Putin and his policies” on Russia related topics, particularly his biography (almost to a point of paranoia), “anti-Assad” on Syria, and generally pro-USA and pro-NATO on various other articles. Now, it has shifted to pro-Clinton, anti-Trump. Their behavior is strongly reminiscent of WP:ACTIVIST and WP:ADVOCACY.