Wikipedia:Blocks and bans
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A block is a measure used to protect Wikipedia from being used badly, or from being changed in ways that are against the rules. Once blocks are over, they become history unless problems recur. Blocks can apply to a user account, an IP, or a range of IPs. A number of automated features identify unblocked usage which apparently should be blocked; these are known as autoblocks and can be quickly rectified if incorrect.
Administrators can block users for many reasons. When a user is blocked, they will not be able to change Wikipedia, but can still read Wikipedia. A block or ban applies to the person, not the account, unless the block or ban says differently.
Block
A block is a software setting in Wikipedia that will not allow changing. Common reasons for blocking are:
- Vandalism
- Breaking Wikipedia policies
- Adding pages or sentences that are against copyright
- Having an inappropriate username
Users should be warned with the right warning templates before administrators block them. However, administrators can block a user at any time if they are abusing Wikipedia on purpose or going against other policies. All administrators who block users must have an email address in their settings so they can be contacted or talked to by a blocked user if needed.
If you feel you have been wrongly blocked, please talk to the administrator who blocked you on your talk page or in an email. Make sure to tell the administrator what IP address you are using. When you go to change a page you will see this, and it will tell you your IP address. Ways to contact or talk to administrators are listed on the administrators page.
Most blocks should be for 24 hours, but a user may be blocked for longer if it is needed.
Partial blocks also exist, preventing a user or IP from editing a specific page or namespace.
Ban
The changes some users make are not constructive and do not help Simple English Wikipedia. In most cases, users who make such changes will be told to stop, and an administrator may block them, and prevent them from changing, for a given time. If the behaviour of the user does not change, the community can talk about "banning" the user. A "ban" may mean that a user cannot change certain pages, areas, or do certain things for a long time (usually one year). At some point, an agreement will be reached, called consensus. If this is necessary, an administrator can then take technical measures to implement the ban. If a ban decision is reached, the user will be told about it. Any banned user has the right to get the ban decision reviewed periodically.
Block options
When blocks are set, the administrator can change the effects of the block. They are listed here:
- Auto block
- This changes the effect of a block on registered users. When enabled, it blocks the most recently used IP address by that user, and any other addresses they try to edit from.
- Block account creation
- This changes the effect of a block on a registered user or IP. When enabled, it will stop them from creating an account while they are blocked.
- Block anonymous users only
- This changes the effect of blocks on IPs. When enabled, the block will only affect anonymous users editing from that IP address, not registered users.
- Block e-mail
- This changes the effect of a block on registered users. When enabled, it stops them from using the emailuser tool. This should be used to stop abuse of the emailuser tool. In some cases, it may be used for bad usernames.
- Block talk page access
- This changes the effect of a block on a registered user or IP. When enabled, it will stop them from changing their own user talk page during the duration of their block.
Bots
Bots may be blocked at any time if they are not following the bots policy. The main reasons this may be done are for not being approved or for making changes they are not approved for. For example, a bot approved for interwiki changes should not be making anti-vandalism changes. Bots may also be blocked in the same way as any other account if they are found to be vandalizing or spamming.
Vandal and spambots should be blocked as soon as possible. If you need help to stop a vandal bot, ask a steward in the #wikimedia-stewards IRC channel or at meta:Steward requests/Global, where someone else may be able to report it to the IRC channel. A bot may be attacking other Wikipedias too, which is why you should report it. See this page for more details.
Reciprocal
In some cases, users who have been blocked indefinitely or banned on other Wikimedia Foundation projects move to Simple English Wikipedia. While most of these users will be integrated without problems, some are known as troublemakers. Administrators have the option to block such users. This is decided on a case-by-case basis. In most cases, a user who broke the rules on another project is not blocked unless they also break the rules on the Simple English Wikipedia. They can be blocked if they break the rules here even once, and do not need the same amount of warning as a new user. This is often called the "one-strike" rule. It is made to stop disruptive users, who have a history of making bad changes, from disrupting this project.
Evasion
Users who have been blocked are not allowed to change Wikipedia during their block, or otherwise attempt to avoid their block. This is known as block evasion. If the block is indefinite, they are not allowed to change Wikipedia at all. This applies to editing both as an anonymous or registered user; registered users who have been blocked may not log out to edit.
Administrators may extend or reset the block duration of any user who has been found to have evaded their block. User accounts or IP addresses that were used to evade blocks may also end up getting blocked themselves.
Proxies
Administrators should block anonymous proxies. Open proxies are usually blocked for three years. If it is a Tor proxy, it should be blocked for a shorter amount of time, since they are not usually proxies for long. Administrators should try to not block ISP proxies; this sort of block would affect many people.
Related pages
- Special:BlockList - Currently blocked users, excluding those blocked by range
- Special:Block – Use this to block or unblock a user (sysop only)
- Range blocks – Please do not block ranges unless you know what you are doing!
- MediaWiki:Blockedtext - The message that is shown to blocked users, when they try to change a page.
- Requests for unblock
- Open proxies blocked on Wikipedia