Wikipedia:Blocking policy

Blocks are one of the technological means by which bans are enforced, and are also used to deal with vandalism, bots, and inappropriate usernames.

There are three types of blocks:

user accounts
anonymous IPs
IP ranges.

Sysops have the power to block any of these for any period of time, but such blocks should follow our blocking policy.

Since September 2003 it has been possible for sysops to block usernames. This may be used to enforce bans declared by Jimbo or the arbitration committee, or to deal with cases of vandalism.

When blocks may be used

The situations when sysops are permitted to block users are given below. Blocks should not be used in other cases. In particular, blocks are not meant to be used against unpopular opinions, or one-off vandalism incidents.

Bots

As discussed in Wikipedia:bots, bots must have prior approval on wikipedia talk:bots, and must follow certain minimum standards. In any case, sysops may block any bots that appear to be "out of control" on sight.

Vandalism

See Wikipedia:Dealing with vandalism for detailed policy

Sysops may, at their judgement, block IP addresses that vandalise Wikipedia. For dynamic IPs, such blocks should last 24 hours. For static IPs, such blocks should initially last 24 hours, but repeat violators may be blocked for a maximum of one month.

Sysops may also permanently block user accounts that do essentially nothing but vandalism. However, user accounts that perform a mixture of valid edits and vandalism should not be blocked in this manner. Instead, consider taking a quickpoll to decide whether accounts that go on a "vandalism spree" should be given an emergency temporary ban.

Reincarnations of blocked vandals will be reblocked if they continue vandalising, or if they edit in a way which suggests they are likely to continue vandalising - eg "YOU CAN'T BLOCK ME!!11!!", etc, etc.

Blocks should not be used against isolated incidents of vandalism.

Usernames

According to our username policy, inflammatory, deliberately confusing, and other inappropriate usernames are not allowed.

Co-operative contributors should normally just be made aware of our policy via a post on their talk page. Where a change must be forced, there are two ways this happens. If it is a mild or borderline case, or if the user is not currently editing Wikipedia, we create a sub page of Wikipedia:Requests for comment for a discussion on the user's name, to determine if there is a general consensus. Normally such discussions are left for at least a week.

In extreme cases (for instance, a username consisting of a highly offensive statement or a string of profanities), sysops make on-the-spot judgements that a username is against our username policy. They base this decision in part on discussions on the user's talk page, and the requests for comments page. They also base it on any relevant precedents. This action is controversial: see Wikipedia talk:Blocking policy#Usernames.

Sysops can force a namechange by blocking the username (with an expiry time of infinite). The blocking sysop should include MediaWiki:UsernameBlock in the block message (by writing {{msg:UsernameBlock}} in the "reason" field). If a user or user talk page has already been created, the blocking sysop should add MediaWiki:BlockedDueToUsername {{msg:BlockedDueToUsername}} to it/them, but should not create a user or user talk page where one does not exist.

Care should be taken to unblock the user's IP address. To unblock the IP but not the username, wait until the user next tries to edit a page, and something like #1234 was blocked because they share an IP with OldUserName will appear at Special:Ipblocklist. Click "unblock" next to that number. Then the user can log in under their new name. This process will hopefully be improved in the future.

Note that it is entirely reasonable for an account to be blocked both for vandalism and for having an inappropriate username. In that case the IP should be left blocked, and MediaWiki:UsernameAndVandalismBlock and MediaWiki:BlockedDueToUsernameAndVandalism used instead.

Disruption

This is not an actual policy. It was proposed 9th April 2004: see talk

Sysops may, at their judgement, block IP addresses that disrupt the normal functioning of Wikipedia. Such disruption is to be objectively defined by specific policies, and may include changing other user's signed comments, or making deliberately misleading edits. For dynamic IPs, such blocks should last 24 hours. For static IPs and user names, such blocks should initially last 24 hours, but repeat violators may be blocked for a maximum of one month.

Sysops may also permanently block user accounts that make lots of disruptive edits. However, blocks should not be used against isolated incidents of disruptive behaviour from otherwise productive contributors - use quickpolls instead.

This policy may be updated if some variant of the three strikes policy goes live. In that case, it would take three concurring sysops to block a disruptive user.

Reincarnations of blocked disruptive users will be reblocked if they continue being disruptive, or if they edit in a way which suggests they are likely to continue being disruptive - eg "YOU CAN'T BLOCK ME!!11!!", etc, etc.

Bans

Users that have been banned are typically blocked from editing wikipedia. Such bans may occur as the result of:

Tempban following a quickpoll
Ruling by Arbitration Committee
Ruling by Jimbo Wales

Where it is becomes clear that a user account is a "reincarnation" of an existing banned user, the reincarnating account can likewise be blocked.

See wikipedia:banning policy

Anonymous proxies

Following discussion on the wikien-l mailing list, sysops are permitted and encouraged to IP-block anonymous proxies indefinitely [1]. See the entire thread for discussions about the legitimacy of using an anonymous proxy to edit Wikipedia.

Open proxies

user:Proxy blocker automatically blocks open proxies.

Effects of being blocked

Blocked users can still see all Wikipedia pages, but the "Edit this page" link brings up a "User is blocked" page which explains the reason behind the block and gives information on how to request unblocking. Links and {{msg:}} includes all work as normal in the "reason" section.

The scope of the block depends on the expiry time that was entered at the time of the block, which may be "indefinite" or "infinite" (IE, until explicitly unblocked).

When an IP is blocked, or range of IPs are blocked, accounts which share that IP are automatically blocked, preventing one from simply creating a new account to avoid the block. When a logged in user is blocked, IPs of the account are also automatically blocked.

There is an internal autoblock expiry time variable, which is set to 24 hours, meaning that when a username is blocked indefinitely, their IP will be automatically unblocked 24 hours after they last accessed a page.

Accidental blocks

Occasionally, users with floating IPs will find that they have been blocked accidentally, due to that fact that their present IP was previously used by a vandal or hard-banned user. These blocks will disappear if IP change can be forced. If that is not possible, the block should be reported to the nearest friendly sysop via email.

Users who act so as to impersonate a previously banned user, to impersonate a known vandal, or to pretend to be engaging in vandalism, are also likely to be accidentally blocked. To avoid this problem, do not act in this way. "Don't do that then".

How to block

Sysops may go to Special pages and select the "Block a user/IP address" link. This takes them to Special:Blockip, which has further instructions. Special:Blockip is also accessible via the [block] link that appears next to each non-logged in user on recent changes.

Expiry times are entered in the GNU standard format, which is described in the tar manual. Alternatively, a block may be "indefinite" or "infinite", meaning the block is permanent, until a sysop explicitly unblocks the account.

If you don't enter an expiry time, you will see an error message.

For information about blocking ranges of addresses, see Range blocks.

Unblocking

Special:Ipblocklist contains a list of all currently blocked users and IPs. Sysops will see a link to [unblock] next to each user. After clicking this, you should type in the reason that you are unblocking the user and then click the Unblock this address button. Sysops are able to unblock themselves by following this procedure.

Sysops may unblock users if:

They were blocked in violation of this policy.
The reason for blocking no longer applies.
The block has lasted too long.
In other appropriate cases

The last is a bit woolly! The point is that there are no hard and fast guidelines on unblocking. Sysops must use their common sense and good judgement. In controversial cases, it's probably better to discuss things first.