Policy:Office actions
Purpose and scope
The purpose of this policy is to help improve the actual and perceived safety of Wikimedia community members, the movement itself, and the public in circumstances where actions on local community governance level are either insufficient or not possible. Local policies remain primary on all Wikimedia projects, as explained in the Terms of Use, and office actions are complementary to those local policies. However, there may be some rare cases where the Wikimedia Foundation must override local policy, such as in complying with valid and enforceable court orders to remove content that might otherwise comply with policy or in protecting the safety of the Wikimedia communities or the public.
Some of the actions described or referenced in this policy mirror actions also taken by the Wikimedia communities and local governance mechanisms. All actions mentioned under this policy refer to actions taken by the Foundation and any equivalent actions performed by the communities are explicitly called out. For example, the terms “global ban” or “event ban” under this policy refer to global bans and event bans enforced by the Foundation respectively even though similar bans may be placed by Wikimedia affiliates or the Community.
Secondary office actions
The actions listed under this section are generally performed at the Foundation’s discretion, as a possible outcome of evaluation of a separate report. Direct requests for these actions will generally be deferred to appropriate community governance mechanisms. In the past, the Foundation has only taken these actions under extraordinary circumstances.
A conduct warning is issued when a situation is observed to be problematic and is meant to be a preventative measure of further escalation. It is considered as a step geared towards de-escalation of the situation, when this is believed to have sufficient margin for it. It informs the recipient that behavior they may consider acceptable is in fact not, grants them the opportunity to reflect on it, and encourages them to take corrective measures towards mitigating and eventually eliminating it.
A conduct warning will usually be issued by the Foundation in situations where a contributor’s online or/and offline behavior is considered borderline abusive, disruptive or otherwise hinders the collaborative process, but does not yet rise to the level of corrective actions. Such a warning will typically aim to address the type of conduct that may include, but is not limited to, repeated personal attacks, edit/status warring, impersonation or otherwise inappropriate in-person commentary and behavior.
There is little evidence that conduct warnings succeed, and the Wikimedia Foundation lacks the resources to counsel warned individuals in how to modify behaviors. However, while the Foundation does not believe that positive contributions outweigh harmful behaviors, there may be some circumstances where a warning is offered as a courtesy to contributors who may be otherwise sanctioned by an event or global ban. Warnings will be given only after an extensive evaluation, including review by multiple relevant staff, and will be issued confidentially. Their intent is not to shame the individual or escalate the situation, but to offer a contributor believed to be working in good faith an opportunity to cease behaviors that will otherwise lead to sanctions.
Interaction bans are typically handled by the Wikimedia community but in extremely rare situations the Foundation may echo such a community-led action by issuing a Foundation interaction ban. In line with local policies, the purpose of a Foundation-issued interaction ban is to help de-escalate interpersonal disputes and long standing conflicts and prevent them from becoming further disruptive for the local community, without depriving the affected individuals of the opportunity to remain active in the Wikimedia projects and continue to contribute in a positive way.
Depending on the specifics of the issue at hand, it may be placed for shorter or longer periods of time; it may also be reviewed and extended to be indefinite, in some situations. It can be placed against one contributor and prevent them from interacting with another (one-way ban), but can also be placed against two contributors and prevent them from interacting with each other (two-way ban).
An interaction ban will typically require of one or more contributors that they do not:
- Edit a specific contributor’s account page and talk page.
- Interact with a specific contributor by replying to their comments in a discussion, on any Wikimedia project page.
- Directly or indirectly refer to or comment on a specific contributor, on any Wikimedia project page.
- Perform changes to a specific contributor’s edits on any Wikimedia page, in any way, by using any of the available tools such as the revert tool.
- Use the “thank” you button on a specific contributor’s edit(s).
- Use the “email this user” feature to contact a specific contributor.
Exceptions to an interaction ban are possible. Those will be defined according to the specifics of the situation and will be communicated to the affected individuals at the time they are informed of the action.
In extremely rare situations, the Foundation may become aware of circumstances and information regarding major breaches of trust performed by Wikimedia functionaries or other users with access to advanced tools that are not possible to be shared with the Wikimedia communities due to privacy reasons and therefore can not be handled through existing community governance mechanisms. In some of those cases the abuses reported may not rise to the level of irreversibly expelling Wikimedians from the communities; however, they may be severe enough to have breached the community’s trust in the individuals involved and therefore warrant removal of administrative rights.
Removal of user rights are usually either permanent or long term. Rebuilding trust is not impossible, which is why individuals are encouraged to reflect on their actions leading up to their advanced rights removal and consider how they may best serve the communities moving forward. In situations of long term removals, and once the no-rights period has elapsed, a contributor may have to fulfill additional criteria before they are permitted to reapply for advanced rights; those are made known to them at the time of the removal of advanced rights.
Requesting an office action
A request for consideration of an office action should be placed to the Foundation team whose purview the specific action falls under. This can be the Support & Safety team or the Legal team. While requests may initially be sent to other Foundation teams or staff and then forwarded accordingly, it is best that the request is sent directly through one of the above communication channels, to ensure speedier review. In order for the request to be considered, it is important that it includes the following:
- Explicitly specifies the action requested.
- Includes a succinct summary of the reasons for the request.
- Provides evidence (URLs) that there has already been attempts to have the issue resolved through local community governance structures where applicable and where possible.
- Includes any crucial information and evidence in support or the request, including pertinent documentation, subject to specific action requirements as detailed under the corresponding section.
Who performs office actions?
Office actions are performed strictly by Foundation staff or contractors. They may be authorized by any representative or delegate of the Wikimedia Foundation - such as the chair of the Foundation Board of Trustees (currently Christophe Henner) or a member of the Board, the Foundation's legal counsel, certain members of the Foundation office staff or as prescribed by each individual policy related to the specific office action. The Foundation staff members usually performing office actions are:
- Maggie Dennis, interim Chief of Community Engagement and Director of Support, Safety and Programs.
- James Alexander, manager of Trust & Safety team
- Other members of the Support and Safety team.
The office actions will usually come from a role account, with the username User:WMFOffice. In some cases, like performing DMCA takedowns, office actions may be performed by one’s staff account. Either way, they will be clearly indicated both during and after to prevent ambiguities.
Timeline of office actions
Each office action request is as unique as the person it regards. This applies especially to requests regarding conduct issues; content related actions tend to be more straightforward. Moreover, each action listed under this policy is subject to different internal processes; it may be the outcome of evaluation of a reported behavior rather the evaluation happening in order to determine if a requested action is warranted. For these reasons there is no set timeline for office actions in general. However, we do try to respond to them as soon possible and try to adhere to the following timeline guidelines:
- Global bans: 4 weeks
- Event bans: 4 weeks
- DMCA compliance: 7 business days
- Child protection: 24 hours
Appeals
General information
It is important to help clarify a few points regarding office actions in general:
Office actions are extremely rare.
In comparison to actions taken throughout the Wikimedia projects, led by the local community governance mechanisms in pursuit of our vision and mission and in compliance to our Terms of Use, the number of office actions is very very small.
Office actions are preventable.
All conduct mitigated by office actions is unwanted on a Wikimedia project in the first place; if such is observed and corrected (i.e. removed, ceased or otherwise prevented), no complaint is likely to be made as there is nothing to complain about. Similarly, if a complaint is resolved before any action is taken, it’s unlikely for an office action to subsequently take place.
Office actions are transparent when possible, but safety (and legal compliance) come first.
It is not always possible to maintain the same level of transparency for every office action listed under this policy as, in some situations, complete or even partial transparency can compromise the right to privacy and/or safety of involved individuals or hinder ongoing police investigations. We are committed to be transparent wherever possible, but not at the risk of placing Wikimedia users, the public, or the projects in danger.
Office actions are governed by strict internal processes.
The lack of transparency involved in certain office actions does not remove accountability of those enforcing them; they are required to comply with internal processes and protocols and are never enforced without multi-level review and explicit approval. We will share information regarding final office actions and internal processes followed in enforcing them, whenever we can.
Office actions are not based on personal grudges.
They are performed only following explicit complaints to the Wikimedia Foundation about the content of a Wikimedia project or certain abusive behavior taking place within or affecting the wellbeing, trust and safety of contributors in a Wikimedia project. They are also taken in line with prescribed processes and are subject to strict internal review by multiple members of staff in the Wikimedia Foundation hierarchy.
Abusive requests are not acceptable.
We are committed to attempt to address all valid requests for an office action submitted to us, in good faith, and through the appropriate communications channels. However, we will not consider requests themselves breaching our Terms of Use or Friendly space or other behavioral policies, or requests accompanied by demands for preferential treatment (such as control over the article). We will not tolerate intimidation, threats of harm or any other communication that may constitute harassment towards our staff. If any of the above conduct is observed we may entirely refuse to communicate with the reporting party.
Post-action monitoring.
The Foundation does not monitor the projects for breaches to the office actions it has enforced. It relies on the Wikimedia community’s help in keeping the communities safe and thriving by reporting such breaches to the Support & Safety team, who will review them on a case by case basis and take appropriate actions.
Enforcing office actions.
Community members are welcome to but not expected or obliged to help enforce office actions. If they chose to do so on the grounds of upholding the Terms of Use, however, this should not be a punishable action and they should not be subject to sanctions. One can help enforce office actions in multiple ways such as reporting socks of an interaction-banned contributor using them to interact with another user, removing content uploaded by a globally banned user, informing of an event banned contributor’s intent to turn up at an event they should not be attending, etc.
Abuse of office or staff actions.
If you think that the office actions listed under this policy have been abused, you can submit your concerns through trustandsafety@wikimedia.org. This email address can also be used to report potential abuse by staff accounts such as inappropriate conduct or use of their advanced user rights.
Historical background
The office actions policy was originally launched on en.wp by Jimmy Wales, back in February 2006, and shortly afterwards on meta, in order to solidify long standing practices and processes followed by the Foundation, that were not officially recorded elsewhere in the projects at that time. Its original scope focused on page protections and BLP article content changes, in response to increasingly rising number of escalated calls for action, placed directly to the Foundation’s staff, by affected individuals. Danny Wool was the first designated Foundation staff member mandated to accept, review and act on such requests, after Jimmy Wales.
The office actions policy has undergone several iterations since, on both sites, and has been expanded to include a variety of office actions that have been taken over the years as common practice, broadening its original scope. At the same time, strict internal processes have been developed by the Foundation in order to complement as well as standardise office actions and staff use of advanced rights.
Local project versions
- Commons
- Wikipedias
- Wikibooks
See also
- Superprotect rights, granted to WMF staff only, currently defunct