Arbitration Committee (Wikipedia) Explained

Arbitration Committee
Abbreviation:Arbcom
Membership:15

On Wikimedia Foundation projects, an Arbitration Committee (ArbCom) is a binding dispute resolution panel of editors. Each of Wikimedia's projects are editorially autonomous and independent, and some of them have established their own ArbComs who work according to rules developed by the project's editors and are usually annually elected by their communities. ArbComs generally address misconduct by administrators and editors with access to advanced tools, and a range of "real-world" issues related to harmful conduct that can arise in the context of Wikimedia projects.[1] [2] Rulings, policies and procedures differ between projects depending on local and cultural contexts. According to the Wikimedia Terms of Use, users are not obliged to have a dispute solved by an ArbCom.[3]

The first Wikimedia project to use an arbitration committee was the Swedish Wikipedia, soon followed by the widely covered English Wikipedia Committee. Over time, other Wikimedia projects have established Arbitration Committees as well.

The English Wikipedia ArbCom was created by Jimmy Wales on December 4, 2003, as an extension of the decision-making power he formerly held as CEO of site-owner Bomis.[4] [5] Wales appointed members of the committee either in person or by email following advisory elections; Wales generally appointed editors who received the most votes to the ArbCom.[6]

The English Wikipedia's ArbCom acts as a court of last resort for disputes among editors and has been described in the media as "quasi-judicial" and a Wikipedian "High or Supreme Court", although the Committee states it is not and does not pretend to be a formal court of law. English Wikipedia's ArbCom has decided several hundred cases in its history.[7] The Foundation's Arbitration Committee process has been examined by academics researching dispute resolution, and has been reported in public media in connection with case decisions and Wikipedia-related controversies.[5] [8] [9]

History

In November 2002, Swedish Wikipedia's Swedish: [[Thing (assembly)|Tinget]] became the first instance akin to a prototype arbitration committee on any Wikipedia language version.[10]

In October 2003, as part of an etiquette discussion on Wikipedia, Alex T. Roshuk, then legal adviser to the Wikimedia Foundation, drafted a 1,300-word outline of mediation and arbitration. This outline evolved into the twin Mediation Committee (MedCom) and Arbitration Committee, formally announced by Jimmy Wales on December 4, 2003.[5] [11] Over time the concept of an "Arbitration Committee" was adopted by other communities within the Wikimedia Foundation's hosted projects.

When founded, the Committee consisted of 12 arbitrators divided into three groups of four members each.[4] [12]

In 2004, an Arbitration Committee was founded on the French Wikipedia,[13] and in 2007, on the German,[14] Polish, Finnish and Dutch Wikipedias.[15] In 2023 Arbitration Committees were used on eleven Wikipedia versions and the English Wikinews.[16]

On English Wikipedia

A statistical study published in the Emory Law Journal in 2010 indicated that the committee has generally adhered to the principles of ignoring the content of user disputes and focusing on user conduct.[5] The same study also found that despite every case being assessed on its own merits, a correlation emerged between the types of conduct found to have occurred and the remedies and decisions imposed by the committee.[5]

In 2007, an arbitrator using the username Essjay resigned from the committee after it was found he had made false claims about his academic qualifications and professional experiences in an interview with The New Yorker.[17] [18] [19] Also in 2007, the committee banned Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Carl Hewitt from editing the online encyclopedia for "disruptive" behavior of manipulating articles to align with his own research.[20]

In 2008, the committee decided upon a set of rules of conduct for editors when editing articles related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Editors are required to have made over 500 edits for at least 30 days to edit articles related to the conflict, can only make one revert per day across the entire field, and can be banned from editing related articles. The ruling was reaffirmed and expanded in 2009 and 2015.[21]

In May 2009, an arbitrator who edited under the username Sam Blacketer resigned from the committee after it became known he had concealed his past editing when obtaining the role.

In 2009, the committee was brought to media attention as a result of its decision to ban "all IP addresses owned or operated by the Church of Scientology and its associates, broadly interpreted", as part of the fourth Scientology-related case.[7] Such an action had "little precedent"[7] in the eight-year history of Wikipedia and was reported on several major news services such as The New York Times, ABC News, and The Guardian.[7] [22] [23] Satirical news-show host Stephen Colbert ran a segment on The Colbert Report parodying the ban.[24] In 2022, the Committee lifted the ban citing the lack of disruption in recent years.[25]

In 2015, the committee received attention for its ruling pertaining to the Gamergate controversy, in which one editor was indefinitely banned from the site and several others were banned from editing topics relating to Gamergate and gender.[26]

In June 2015, the committee removed advanced permissions from Richard Symonds, an activist for the British political party Liberal Democrats.[27] Symonds had improperly blocked a Wikipedia account and associated its edits with former Chairman of the Conservative Party Grant Shapps,[28] and leaked this to The Guardian. Shapps denied ownership of the account, calling the allegations "categorically false and defamatory".[29] Symonds said in an interview he stood by his actions.[30]

A 2017 study found the committee's decision making was mostly unaffected by extra-legal factors such as nationality, activity, experience, and conflict avoidance. The same study found the committee's decision making was much more affected by time constraints than that of conventional courts.[31]

On March 13, 2023, the Arbitration Committee began an investigation into the coverage of the history of Jews in Poland in response to an essay published by Jan Grabowski and Shira Klein. Klein stated that the coverage of the topic was flawed largely due to "a group of committed Wikipedia editors have been promoting a skewed version of history on Wikipedia".[32] In its decision, the committee confirmed that source manipulation is a conduct issue and strengthened the already-tight restrictions on the type of sources that could be used in the area.[33] Three editors were topic-banned.[33]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Arbitration Committee . March 19, 2021 . February 24, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210224170917/https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Arbitration_Committee . live.
  2. Web site: Wikimedia Committees . March 19, 2021 . April 18, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210418185007/https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Resolution:Wikimedia_Committees . live.
  3. Web site: Wikimedia Terms of Use - # 13 Disputes and Jurisdictions . March 19, 2021 . March 18, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210318221122/https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_Use/en#13._Disputes_and_Jurisdiction . live.
  4. Web site: [WikiEN-l] Wikiquette committee appointments ]. June 29, 2021 . Wales . Jimmy . December 4, 2003 . lists.wikimedia.org . . June 29, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210629154748/https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikien-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/MOI6255G4Y4XYXOSQFN6QJDZF45O6GG6/ . live.
  5. Wikitruth Through Wikiorder . Emory Law Journal . 2010 . David A. . Hoffman . Salil Mehra . 59 . 2010 . 1354424.
  6. Book: Wikipedia: The Missing Manual . . Broughton, John . 2008 . 208–209 . 9780596553777 . September 27, 2016 . July 26, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200726081056/https://books.google.com/books?id=h37N0BvkVSUC&pg=PA208 . live.
  7. News: The Wars of Words on Wikipedia's Outskirts . June 9, 2009 . Cohen . Noam . June 7, 2009 . The New York Times . https://web.archive.org/web/20140328091528/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/technology/internet/08link.html?hpw . March 28, 2014 . live.
  8. Web site: Wikipedia sentinel quits after 'sock-puppeting' scandal . June 9, 2009 . Welham . Jamie . Nina Lakhan . June 8, 2009 . The New Zealand Herald . APN Holdings NZ Limited . September 18, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200918112535/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10577178 . live.
  9. Web site: Church of Scientology members banned from editing Wikipedia . June 9, 2009 . Moore . Matthew . May 30, 2009 . The Daily Telegraph. London . https://web.archive.org/web/20090602104528/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/wikipedia/5408761/Church-of-Scientology-members-banned-from-editing-Wikipedia.html . June 2, 2009 . dead.
  10. Web site: Så fungerar Wikipedia/Wikipedias historia . Lennart Guldbrandsson, sv.wikisource.org . March 9, 2010 . 2015-11-24 . November 25, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151125123752/https://sv.wikisource.org/wiki/S%C3%A5_fungerar_Wikipedia/Wikipedias_historia#Tinget_och_skilkom . live.
  11. Web site: Law office of Alex T. Roshuk . June 14, 2009 . Roshuk . Alex T. . 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090629055224/http://www.roshuklaw.com/ . June 29, 2009 . dead.
  12. Web site: Secrets of Greatness: Great Teams . June 15, 2009 . Hyatt . Josh . June 1, 2006 . Fortune . Time Warner . April 13, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100413085723/http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/31/magazines/fortune/mysql_greatteams_fortune/index.htm . live.
  13. Book: fr . Web Social: Mutation de la Communication . Florence Millerand . Serge Proulx . Julien Rueff . PUQ . 2010 . 66 . 9782760524989 . September 27, 2016 . December 23, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161223211806/https://books.google.com/books?id=yIa-UMDxWjEC&pg=PA66 . live.
  14. ,Web site: Wikipedia sucht Schiedsrichter . June 9, 2009 . Kleinz . Torsten . April 30, 2007 . Heise Online . de . https://web.archive.org/web/20090501114321/http://www.heise.de/newsticker/Wikipedia-sucht-Schiedsrichter--/meldung/89083 . May 1, 2009 . live.
  15. Web site: Komitet arbitrażowy oraz mediatorzy w Wikipedii . February 1, 2012 . August 31, 2007 . Blog wikipedystyczny . pl . May 1, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090501114321/http://www.heise.de/newsticker/Wikipedia-sucht-Schiedsrichter--/meldung/89083 . live.
  16. Web site: Arbitration Committee - Meta . 2023-06-23 . meta.wikimedia.org . en.
  17. News: After False Claim, Wikipedia to Check Degrees . June 14, 2009 . Cohen . Noam . March 12, 2007 . The New York Times . June 24, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170624122625/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/12/technology/12wiki.html?ex=1331352000&en=668e67bce73bf6c6&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss . live.
  18. News: Growing Wikipedia Refines Its 'Anyone Can Edit' Policy . June 9, 2009 . Hafner . Katie . June 17, 2006 . The New York Times . May 6, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140506171106/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/17/technology/17wiki.html?scp=3&sq=Arbitration%20Committee%20Wikipedia&st=cse . live.
  19. News: A Contributor to Wikipedia Has His Fictional Side . June 9, 2009 . Cohen . Noam . March 5, 2007 . The New York Times . May 6, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140506170932/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/technology/05wikipedia.html?scp=1&sq=Essjay&st=cse . live.
  20. Web site: Wikipedia ban for disruptive professor . The Guardian . December 9, 2007 . December 3, 2014 . Kleeman, Jenny . October 6, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141006123252/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/dec/09/wikipedia.internet . live.
  21. News: Benjakob . Omer . October 4, 2020 . The Second Intifada Still Rages on Wikipedia . live . https://archive.today/20240108170214/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2020-10-04/ty-article/.highlight/the-second-intifada-still-rages-on-wikipedia/0000017f-e7fb-da9b-a1ff-efff2c230000 . 8 January 2024 . 2024-03-06 . Haaretz . en.
  22. Web site: Wikipedia bans Church of Scientology from editing . June 14, 2009 . Fitzsimmons . Caitlin . May 29, 2009 . The Guardian . https://web.archive.org/web/20090611225227/http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/may/29/wikipedia-scientology . June 11, 2009 . live.
  23. Web site: Wikipedia Blocks Church of Scientology From Editing Entries . June 14, 2009 . Heussner . Ki Mae . Ned Potter . May 29, 2009 . ABC News . https://web.archive.org/web/20090602204246/http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/AheadoftheCurve/Story?id=7708616&page=1 . June 2, 2009 . live.
  24. Web site: Wikipedia Bans Scientologists . June 14, 2009 . Colbert . Stephen . June 4, 2009 . Flash Player . Comedy Central . MTV Networks . December 12, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151212100110/http://www.cc.com/video-clips/oqx005/the-colbert-report-wikipedia-bans-scientologists . dead.
  25. Web site: Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Clarification and Amendment . Wikipedia . 10 February 2022 . en . 7 January 2022 . March 25, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220325182505/https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia%3AArbitration%2FRequests%2FClarification_and_Amendment&oldid=1064249361#Clarification_request:_Scientology . live.
  26. News: Gamergate, Wikipedia and the limits of 'human knowledge' . The Washington Post. January 29, 2015 . January 30, 2015 . Dewey, Caitlin . January 29, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150129195454/http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/01/29/gamergate-wikipedia-and-the-limits-of-human-knowledge/ . live.
  27. News: Censure for Grant Shapps' Wikipedia accuser - BBC News . BBC News . June 8, 2015 . August 23, 2015 . August 18, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150818193258/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-33055855 . live.
  28. Web site: Andy McSmith's Diary: Ed Balls and Jack Straw off the Labour peerage list . . June 8, 2015 . August 23, 2015 . July 28, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150728044537/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/andy-mcsmiths-diary-ed-balls-and-jack-straw-off-the-labour-peerage-list-10306167.html . live.
  29. Web site: Nick Clegg mocks Grant Shapps over Wikipedia affair . Randeep Ramesh . The Guardian . April 22, 2015 . December 13, 2016 . July 8, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170708130822/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/22/nick-clegg-mocks-grant-shapps-wikipedia-affair . live.
  30. Web site: Wikipedia volunteer who blocked 'Grant Shapps' account: I stand by my decision . Randeep . Ramesh . April 24, 2015 . The Guardian . December 13, 2016 . December 10, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161210173634/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/23/interview-richard-symonds-wikipedia-administrator-blocked-account-linked-to-shapps . live.
  31. Konieczny . Piotr . August 11, 2017 . Decision making in the self-evolved collegiate court: Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee and its implications for self-governance and judiciary in cyberspace . International Sociology . 32 . 6 . en . 755–774 . 10.1177/0268580917722906 . 149261265 . 0268-5809.
  32. News: Harrison . Stephen . April 5, 2023 . Wikipedia's "Supreme Court" to Review Polish-Jewish History During WWII . en-US . Slate . 2023-06-12 . 1091-2339.
  33. Web site: Wikipedia Arbitration Committee . World War II and the history of Jews in Poland . 20 May 1923 . 20 January 2024.

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