Wiki governance audit/2021/Wikinews

Steps

General instructions

On the checklist page, indicate what has been checked (or in some cases, not checked) and the problems that are found. Any problems found do not have to be related to the checklist, but could plausibly be solved with reasonable effort.
If you have to ask another user for help, or post on a page, indicate that you have done so and a reasonable timeframe to check back and make sure that proper action was taken.
Sometimes proper action is not feasible (technically/politically/etc.) That is okay, but note that for next year.

Bureaucracy

Should the wiki even exist?
- Generally, the answer is almost always yes.
- CPP summarizes valid reasons why it should not anymore. Generally, the issue would be a very small number of pages.
- Chapter or user group wikis are owned by that chapter or user group. If that group ceases to exist it is unclear what happens. If the wiki seems to be out of date or unused, it may be worth following up with the group to see if they still want to keep using it.
Should the wiki allow global sysops?
- The cutoff is less than 10 admins or less than 3 admins making a logged action within the last 2 months. However, stewards have been reluctant to enforce the 10 admins part.
- However, local communities are allowed to override default behavior. See Global sysops/Local discussions.
  - If you think that a community needs help but doesn't fall below the threshold, you are welcome to start a discussion with that community.
- Change requests should be made at SRM.
Should the wiki adopt the global bot policy?
- The instructions are at Bot policy/Implementation. It is probably best to focus on wikis that don't have bureaucrats; wikis with lots of admins/bureaucrats that have not signed on probably have rejected the policy.

Confusion

Do the sidebar pages lead to valid destinations?
Are they listed on Project:Village pump (Q16503)?
Are they on Distribution list/Global message delivery?

Inactivity

Are there inactive rights holders (admin/interface admin/bureaucrat/CU/OS)? [1]
- Any CU/OS that has no edits/logged actions in over 1 year can be removed by going straight to SRP.
- If the wiki is listed at Admin activity review/Local inactivity policies then ask a bureaucrat or admin to perform the policy and remove the inactive admins.
  - If all the admins are inactive under that policy it is unclear what to do. Some requests at SRP in that situation have been successful.
- Chapter wikis and some other special wikis are exempt from the global AAR. See User:Openbk/list2 for a list.
  - But it may be worth asking around (i.e. the chapter) to have admins removed who are clearly inactive, or to come up with an inactivity policy.
- If the wiki does fall under AAR: what happened in this year's run? Occasionally wikis are indeed missed for some odd reason.
  - 2021 note: if AAR for this year has not happened yet then please let that process run, and focus on rights holders who have been inactive for 3 years and were missed in AAR19.
Are speedy deletions backing up? Check on Global sysops/Speedy delete requests.
- If an administrator has edited recently, ask them to review. If not or they do not answer after 7 days, go to SRM.
Check Special:RecentChanges - are there any obvious problems? (vandalism/spam not being addressed, runaway bots, etc.)
Are there long-term projects related to this wiki on SRM that aren't being addressed?

Malicious behavior

If there are no current administrators, some of the following steps can be skipped.

Typically the two most abused admin rights have to do with blocking and user rights.

Check Special:Log/block.
- Focus on blocks of established users. On a cursory glance does this seem right to you?
- Are blocks being made that show that the admin has no idea how to do range blocks?
Check Special:Log/rights.
- It is the general expectation of stewards nowadays that permanent adminship requires 8 support votes, and bureaucrat requires 15 support votes. +sysop/crat without any obvious discussion is troubling. (Chapter/test wikis are given an exemption from this).
Check the user rights structure through pages like Special:Statistics or Special:ListGroupRights. Does it make sense to you?
Check the CU and OS logs. Even if there are no permanent CU/OS holders, it is worth a check to determine if there has been misuse of rights by stewards, WMF staff, or OC. (Of course, the number of users who can actually check this is limited. There will be a separate item for this in the checklists, and we may have to close some annual rounds without this having been completed for all wikis).
Obvious problems with content (NPOV, machine translations) should generally be referred to SWA, SRM, or RFC as appropriate.
If there are recent RFCs or SWAs related to this wiki, they may be worth reviewing.
Check AbuseFilter for malicious abusefilters.
- Previous examples: Requests_for_comment/Userrights_on_Hindi_Wikipedia#Comment_by_Nemo, User:Snowolf/List of wikis with weird restrictions
- This may require additional privileges if the filter is private.

When you are making notes, please just state the facts and use diffs, and try to keep personal commentary to a minimum until this is referred to another venue. Generally issues from this section need to go to discussion with that admin, then with the community, then to RFC. User:Rschen7754/Help, my wiki went rogue! may also have some suggestions.

Privacy

Check for privacy-violating scripts: Load the wiki in a browser like Chrome, Firefox, or Microsoft Edge. Open the developer console with F12, click on the Network tab, and reload the page. Are all the scripts from Wikimedia sites? (wmflabs.org is not okay, they do not have the same NDA that the production environment uses).
- If you are not an interface administrator (or GS/GEI/steward) you will need to request assistance at SRM.

A

ar.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

No issues found. --Rs chen 7754 20:38, 14 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

B

bs.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

Project was soft-closed. No issues found. --Rs chen 7754 22:10, 19 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

C

ca.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

No issues found. --Rs chen 7754 22:30, 19 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

cs.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

The temporary admin meets the activity criteria with the abusefilter [2] (which doesn't show on the logs oddly enough). Tchoř does not, will request removal shortly. --Rs chen 7754 17:57, 26 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Done. --Rs chen 7754 19:06, 26 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

D

de.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy:	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

Requested deletion of old requests. --Rs chen 7754 05:10, 27 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

3 pages deleted. --Rs chen 7754 19:54, 27 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

E

el.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

2019: I asked the local admin to handle some speedy deletions, and the response was to fullprotect their user talk page. [3] --Rs chen 7754 00:07, 6 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Project is apparently soft-closed. Didn't find any problems. --Rs chen 7754 05:20, 27 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

en.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

2019: Some inconsistent handling of inactivity in the past, but in 2020 some rights were removed. --Rs chen 7754 00:07, 6 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

There were some problems in the past (notably, caused by one active administrator/bureaucrat and having the rest be mostly inactive). There are still some problems (I don't think they need an ArbCom) but things are better now, with a new admin team. --Rs chen 7754 05:39, 27 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

eo.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

2 stale deletion requests. --Rs chen 7754 06:34, 28 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

2 pages deleted. --Rs chen 7754 19:18, 28 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

es.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy:	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

No issues found. --Rs chen 7754 06:44, 28 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

F

fa.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

No issues found. --Rs chen 7754 19:36, 28 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

fi.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

No issues found. --Rs chen 7754 21:48, 2 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

fr.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy:	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

2019: some inactivity but appears to have been resolved in 2020. --Rs chen 7754 00:08, 6 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

No issues found. An inactivity check was last done in 2021 so ignoring for now. --Rs chen 7754 22:02, 2 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

H

he.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

No issues found. --Rs chen 7754 21:27, 2 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I

it.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy:	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

Some stale deletion requests, asked on village pump. --Rs chen 7754 21:42, 2 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

1 page deleted. --Rs chen 7754 02:36, 9 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

J

ja.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

Inactivity discussion was started, ignoring for now. No other problems found. --Rs chen 7754 06:31, 11 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

K

ko.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

No problems found. --Rs chen 7754 06:40, 11 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

L

li.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

No problems found. --Rs chen 7754 06:53, 11 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

N

nl.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

No issues found. --Rs chen 7754 07:00, 11 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

no.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

Project was soft-closed but no issues found. --Rs chen 7754 17:39, 30 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

P

pl.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

Proposed global bot policy. --Rs chen 7754 17:51, 30 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Postponing another week due to lower than expected input. --Rs chen 7754 19:49, 14 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Moved to SRM. --Rs chen 7754 19:08, 21 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Done. --Rs chen 7754 21:37, 21 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

pt.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

No issues found. --Rs chen 7754 20:03, 14 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

R

ro.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

No issues found. --Rs chen 7754 19:12, 21 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

ru.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy:	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

Because of the current world situation I did additional checks for NPOV, and I think ru.wikinews is doing okay: [4] No other issues found. --Rs chen 7754 19:26, 21 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

S

sq.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

Wiki was soft closed. Requested desysop of extra abuse filter account (will not be counted in statistics). --Rs chen 7754 19:36, 21 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

sr.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

Requested desysop of extra abuse filter account (will not be counted in statistics). No other issues found. --Rs chen 7754 19:43, 21 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

sv.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

2019: asked about inactivity policy but got an unclear response. --Rs chen 7754 00:08, 6 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

About the same. Will invoke the policy, notifications required 1 month before removal.

~~Rasmus 28 - [5]~~ responded
Jsdo1980 - [6]
Green Yoshi - [7]
Popperipopp - [8]
Micke - [9]
Calandrella - [10]

Rs chen 7754 20:04, 21 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Moved to SRP. --Rs chen 7754 00:14, 22 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Rights removed. --Rs chen 7754 18:05, 22 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

T

ta.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

No problems found. --Rs chen 7754 21:16, 22 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

U

uk.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

No issues found. --Rs chen 7754 21:49, 22 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Z

zh.wikinews (done)

Bureaucracy: Done by Rschen7754 AllPages Bot policy: aa,gb	Confusion: Done by Rschen7754	Inactivity: Done by Rschen7754 Stewardry RecentChanges Delete	Malicious behavior: Done by Rschen7754 block rights Statistics ListGroupRights AbuseFilter CU OS logs checked: Not done	Privacy: Done by Rschen7754

No issues found. --Rs chen 7754 22:03, 22 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]