Icewhiz
- Icewhiz (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
27 August 2024
– This SPI case is closed and will be archived shortly by an SPI clerk or checkuser.
Suspected sockpuppets
- O.maximov (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
- UnspokenPassion (talk+ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
- Tools: Editor interaction utility · Interaction Timeline · SPI Tools
I've suspected for a while that O.maximov and UnspokenPassion were socks, but I wasn't sure who the master was. When I read Sean.hoyland's recent comment linking to this chart, which lists O.maximov and some IW socks, I checked some IW socks and found similarities.
Mvqr was blocked as an IW sock on Jan 20, 2024. O.maximov was created Feb 8, UnspokenPassion Mar 28.
The timecards of O.maximov and UnspokenPassion match each other, and also match the timecards of some confirmed IW socks, e.g. Mvqr, Hippeus, and Geshem Bracha.
As a sort of baseline example, note the similarity of POV, language, and "drive by" editing pattern of confirmed IW socks Hippeus and Geshem Bracha at Talk:Israel:
- Hippeus ("Already covered sufficiently ... The lede devotes ridiculous amount of space to the conflict while omitting other content.")
- Geshem Bracha ("Already excessively covered. There is too much on the Arab-Israeli conflict in the lead. Much too much. The content needs to be reduced, not increased, as there are many other topics that are missing from the lead.")
- Both of those are votes to exclude criticism of Israel's occupations/annexations from the lead of the article
- That is Hippeus's only edit to the article talk page, no edits to the article itself
- Geshem Bracha has 3 edits to the talk page: the one above, another one about not mentioning settlements, and this one about the Palestinian-Nazi connections; their only article edit was to remove content about illegality of Israeli settlements
O.maximov and UnspokenPassion show the same basic POV, similarity of comments, and "drive-by" habit, as Hippeus and Geshem Bracha. Examples:
- Israel
- O.maximov ("if the Israeli War of Independence isn't mentioned, then it makes no sense to mention the Nakba")
- UnspokenPassion ("If we include Nakba, we’d have to bring in more narratives, like the Independence War, as mentioned above.")
- This is the only edit UnspokenPassion has made to the talk page, no edits to the article; O.maximov has edited both
- Genocide of indigenous peoples
- O.maximov ("We're looking at two groups, both with historical ties to the land, both claiming indigenity.")
- UnspokenPassion ("The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is generally understood as a struggle between two ethnic groups, both laying claim to being indigenous.")
- These are the only edits either account made to that article's talk page. O.maximov made one edit to the article; UnspokenPassion has made no edits to the article.
- Palestinian suicide terrorism - an article created by UnspokenPassion
- UnspokenPassion ("... the term 'terrorism' is entirely appropriate (for instance, see examples like Islamic terrorism, Jewish extremist terrorism, etc.).")
- O.maximov ("It is unclear to me why there are calls to remove the term from this article while its usage in the above mentioned articles like Jewish extremist terrorism, Islamic terrorism, and, I will add, Israel and state-sponsored terrorism is accepted.")
- This is the only edit O.maximov has made to this article or its talk page
FWIW, EIA turned up two articles where Mvqr's only edit was to revert a change, which O.maximov later expanded: Economy of New York City (EIA) and Knowledge economy (EIA)
There are other accounts that I believe are also socks, but O.maximov and UnspokenPassion are the ones where I have the clearest evidence. I don't know if this is enough evidence to warrant further investigation but I figured I'd start here. If this is enough and reviewing admin want to see more, I can post more. If this is not enough then it's probably not even worth me bringing up any other suspicions I have. Thanks for taking a look, Levivich (talk) 19:24, 27 August 2024 (UTC)
Comments by other users
- Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.
Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments
- I'm reluctant to draw definitive conclusions here but the behaviour is consistent with previous IW socks and CU data shows that both of these accounts are unusually sophisticated in obfuscating their IPs. Both are using proxies and are very careful not to overlap. I'm gonna call this
Likely and block both. Input from more experienced CUs would not be unwelcome. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 22:17, 2 September 2024 (UTC)
