Global file deletion reviewer

←Policies and guidelines

Global file deletion reviewer policy & information

This page outlines the standards and guidelines related to the Global file deletion reviewer and their use of their rights.

The global file deletion reviewer is a global group that permit trusted users to view deleted revisions in File and File talk namespaces, but without the ability to undelete them unless they are already local administrators. This permission is enabled on every public WMF wikis by default, while local community has right to opt-out.

Appointment

Requests for global file deletion reviewer rights should be placed on Steward requests/Global permissions. Typically, candidate should be a Commons administrators or a VRT permission agents, otherwise they should provide a valid reason for requesting this right. The request will be approved by a steward if there is a consensus for the user to become a global file deletion reviewer after a period of discussion of no less than two weeks.

By default, appointment will be temporary, lasting for two years. Requests for renewal can be done by placing a new request on the same page.

Removal

• Misuse or abuse: This permission can be revoked by a steward in the case of abuse or serious misuse. Such requests can be made to any steward by placing a request on Steward requests/Permissions#Removal of access or, in emergencies, the #wikimedia-stewards^connect IRC channel.

• Inactivity: If a global file deletion reviewer has made no global edits for one year, the permission may be revoked by a steward. They may re-apply through the regular process.

Assigned rights

• viewdeletedfile – View files and pages in the File and File talk namespaces that are deleted
• deletedhistory – View deleted history entries, without their associated text (this right is for technical purpose only)

Background

Since the creation of Wikimedia Commons, various wikis have been migrating local files with a free license to Wikimedia Commons in order to make those files available on all sites. However, this has created a number of difficulties in terms of validating licenses. These specifically include, but are not limited to:

• Local file description pages which hold the information necessary to validate licenses got deleted;
• Difficulty in determining whether the files migrated to Wikimedia Commons are the same as the local ones;
• Safer handling of deletion requests on Wikimedia Commons for images with reason "Local image has been deleted";
• Speed up the process of license verification on deleted files by VRT permission agents.

Based on the above issues, this user group was proposed to be created. It aims to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy and delay to improve efficiency.

See also

• First RfC (proposed in 2014)
• Second RfC (proposed in 2022)