Wikipedia:Conflict of interest/Noticeboard

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Welcome to Conflict of interest Noticeboard (COIN)
This Conflict of interest/Noticeboard (COIN) page is for determining whether a specific editor has a conflict of interest (COI) for a specific article and whether an edit by a COIN-declared COI editor does not meet a requirement of the Conflict of Interest guideline. A conflict of interest may occur when an editor has a close personal or business connections with article topics. An edit by a COIN-declared COI editor may not meet a requirement of the COI guideline when the edit advances outside interests more than it advances the aims of Wikipedia. Post here if you are concerned that an editor has a COI, and is using Wikipedia to promote their own interests at the expense of neutrality. For content disputes, try proposing changes at the article talk page first and otherwise follow the Wikipedia:Dispute resolution procedural policy. Sections older than 14 days archived by MiszaBot II.
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You must notify any editor who is the subject of a discussion. You may use {{subst:coin-notice}} ~~~~ to do so.
Additional notes:
  • This page should only be used when ordinary talk page discussion has been attempted and failed to resolve the issue, such as when an editor has repeatedly added problematic material over an extended period.
  • Be careful not to out other editors. Wikipedia's policy against harassment takes precedence over the COI guideline. If revealing private information is needed to resolve COI editing, and if the issue is serious enough to warrant it, editors can seek the advice of functionaries or the arbitration committee by email.
  • The COI guideline does not absolutely prohibit people with a connection to a subject from editing articles on that subject. Editors who have such a connection can still comply with the COI guideline by discussing proposed article changes first, or by making uncontroversial edits. COI allegations should not be used as a "trump card" in disputes over article content.
  • Your report or advice request regarding COI incidents should include diff links and focus on one or more items in the What is a conflict of interest? list. In response, COIN may determine whether a specific editor has a COI for a specific article. There are three possible outcomes to your COIN request:
1. COIN consensus determines that an editor has a COI for a specific article. In response, the relevant article talk pages may be tagged with {{Connected contributor}}, the article page may be tagged with {{COI}}, and/or the user may be warned via {{subst:uw-coi|Article}}.
2. COIN consensus determines that an editor does not have a COI for a specific article. In response, editors should refrain from further accusing that editor of having a conflict of interest. Feel free to repost at COIN if additional COI evidence comes to light that was not previously addressed.
3. There is no COIN consensus. Here, MiszaBot II will automatically archive the thread when it is older than seven days.
  • Once COIN declares that an editor has a COI for a specific article, COIN (or a variety of other noticeboards) may be used to determine whether an edit by a COIN declared COI editor does not meet a requirement of the Wikipedia:Conflict of interest guideline.
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Corporation timelines[edit]

1 created by Simfish
2 created or expanded by Vipul
3 expanded by Riceissa

Opening a new discussion for these as the earlier one seems a bit of a detour into policy. I'm specifically talking here about SEO link cleanup. Here's what I found at Timeline of Microsoft and suspect similar stuff embedded in many or all of these.

  1. SEO links were added by Simfish (talk · contribs) in late January [1]
  2. Beginning in February, site's pagerank skyrocketed and site visitors went up to 300% of their October-November levels: [2]
  3. The site that was linked to itself has embedded SEO links in tiny text; look at bottom of page [3] for example and see garbage SEO text (spamdexing) and link to passguide.com

Note that many of these articles – including the AWS, Dropbox, Netflix, Square and WhatsApp timelines (non-exhaustive list) – were created by Simfish up to six months (Square, 11/2015) before he added his paid editing declaration mid 2016 [4].

Also we have a bit of a walled garden; the (initial) list above was generated strictly by looking at inlinks to Timeline of Microsoft. - Bri (talk) 19:31, 13 March 2017 (UTC)

Adding Timeline of online dating services for consideration (also Riceissa's creation 10/2015) and Timeline of digital preservation ; is either really an encyclopedic topic, or an SEO coatrack? The digital preservation thing cited blogs and founder/CEO interviews as described on its talkpage; this is my first-pass cleanup but more is needed. The reference deeleted here specifically states that they receive payment for reviews.

Hopefully this gives some sense of the scope of cleanup needed across more than a dozen articles. - Bri (talk) 20:03, 13 March 2017 (UTC)

Update -- another editor has initiated a bundled AfD, superseding my trial PROD of Timeline of Microsoft. Waiting to see exactly what's included with Timeline of Amazon.com. - Bri (talk) 20:51, 13 March 2017 (UTC)
Update: one editor has been indeffed for WP:PROMO. The AfD will probably be settled "no consensus": as of now, 7 delete, 8 keep, 3 merge, userfy or draftify. - Bri (talk) 04:12, 21 March 2017 (UTC)
Last update on AfD: it has been closed "no consensus" as expected. - Bri (talk) 16:20, 23 March 2017 (UTC)

TransPerfect[edit]

The user Tpt2001 (as well as multiple IPs prior to them, any one of which could be the same individual) has been attempting to remove information about what they term "incorrect legal activites"[5] without stating why they are incorrect. The "Tpt" in their username suggests to me an affiliation with the company(its full name is "Transperfect Translations) and they may feel that removing this information somehow puts the company in a better light. I've inquired about their username but have not gotten a reply. 331dot (talk) 11:15, 16 March 2017 (UTC)

I would add that it was suggested that I come here after I filed a report at the edit warring noticeboard, which resulted in the page being protected. 331dot (talk) 11:16, 16 March 2017 (UTC)

IPs are still attempting to remove the information without adequate explanation. 331dot (talk) 17:44, 29 March 2017 (UTC)

UNeMed[edit]

article speedied; accounts notified of COI guideline but not responsive.

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The COI is obvious and I issued a warning. That went unheeded. Can anyone please take a look at this? Kleuske (talk) 15:11, 20 March 2017 (UTC)

added Amratlion. Have also left messages at their talk page. Jytdog (talk) 00:33, 21 March 2017 (UTC)
Reported UnMedTTO to UAA for WP:ORGNAME. --Drm310 🍁 (talk) 14:27, 22 March 2017 (UTC)
I went through to clean it, and ended up with nothing. I restored it and have speedy-promo'ed it. Jytdog (talk) 22:16, 22 March 2017 (UTC)
And the article has been deleted. Neither account has responded to my messages, so I guess this is done. Might re-awaken if one of them come back and try to re-create it. I have it watchlisted. Jytdog (talk) 15:12, 23 March 2017 (UTC)
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Makau W. Mutua[edit]

This issue has been taken to ANI. Lepricavark (talk) 21:48, 23 March 2017 (UTC)

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

It seems pretty evident that the above is a SPA. This was brought to my attention when I made the following revert of a BLP violation, only to realize that there does indeed appear to be evidence of an individual scrubbing negative content from the page. See this example from February. Lepricavark (talk) 16:15, 21 March 2017 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Jerry McKenna[edit]

A few days ago, I reverted some edits on the above article by someone with a username that contained the string "McKenna". Today, I get this message on my talk page. Johnson was the creator of the article, and the article is a PR mess. I would venture to say the subject of the article is notable, but as it exists now, I do not know what to do with it. It is my intention with this post to pass this issue on, as it is out of my area of expertise and or interest. Thanks for whatever you can do. John from Idegon (talk) 19:13, 21 March 2017 (UTC)

the user has been responsive which is happy, and hopefully will end the direct editing. Needs cleanup which i started. needs more... Jytdog (talk) 15:17, 23 March 2017 (UTC)

Advertorials from successtory.com point at COI editing[edit]

Companies
Executives

successstory.com describes itself as "a platform which is designed to give you exposure, appreciation, recognition and scaled distribution" -- i.e. advertorials and favorable billionaire profiles. Articles using it as a source have a certain flavor of COI editing and should be looked at.

Note that in one article we have a so-called FIRST Award for Responsible Capitalism of dubious notability, appearing in an article visited for a few years by SPA anon editors as well (one of whom is associated with the magazine). This has come up before in attempts to springboard notability.

Bio for exec at same publication was also created by an SPA. - Bri (talk) 21:34, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

I just sent First Magazine Limited to AfD. - Bri (talk) 18:24, 4 April 2017 (UTC)

COI tag[edit]

Currently this article Talk:Amnesty International India is tagged due to this ad [6] which was answered by an experienced undisclosed paid editor.

Some editors are requesting that the tag be removed.

I posted on the talk page. The tag seems reasonable to me given the ad. According to the ad page, the buyer has posted only the one job, for which they received two proposals from users (linked on that page). Clicking on those, I find that this person has a 5-star review from them: [7] (archived version: [8]).
Perhaps it's a complete coincidence, and someone else created the page right around the same time the ad was posted. This guy managed to convince them that he took care of it, and they liked it well enough to give him an excellent review. That could have happened, right? BlackcurrantTea (talk) 07:08, 29 March 2017 (UTC)

Scott Logic[edit]

I noticed these IPs in the revision history for Scott Logic. Both are registered to the company [9], [10]. Jwilsonatscottlogic's username seems obvious, so I've included him. All three have edited only the Scott Logic article. None of the three have a COI statement. I've left all of them the basic COI information and a notice of this discussion.

The creator of the article, Nataliej82, might also be included, as they, too, have only worked on Scott Logic, but they haven't edited for over three years. Because of that, I haven't left them a notice; please do so if you feel it's appropriate. BlackcurrantTea (talk) 07:53, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

Neal Ashkanasy[edit]

Obvious COI editing. There are also a lot of edits by anonymous IPs geolocating to the area where the subject works. Cleanup tags removed multiple times. I lack the time to go into this more deeply. Randykitty (talk) 13:42, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

Sindhuja Sukumaran[edit]

This editing smells fishy. Article recration, VC bios, and so on. The initial rev of LiquidHub in sandbox is especially telling with an awards section that dwarfs the rest of the article. Another editor has brought up concerns at SPI as well [12]. Bri (talk) 22:55, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

Citizens United (organization)[edit]

Concerns are self-evident, and edits by the organization's self-professed executive vice president require scrutiny. 2601:188:1:AEA0:65F5:930C:B0B2:CD63 (talk) 17:39, 28 March 2017 (UTC)

Note also the user has written a long statement on my talk page confirming his or her conflict. Dyrnych (talk) 19:44, 28 March 2017 (UTC)

LiquidHub[edit]

Need some help with this article. Iridescent and I have both attempted to purge promo stuff like "marketing, branding and identity" friendly blogs and CEO interviews recently. But SPAs keep popping up to restore it. Bri (talk) 17:42, 28 March 2017 (UTC)

  • I previously removed about 2/3 of the most blatant spam, but IMO this probably ought to be deleted under G11. (It was tagged for deletion at one point, but—inevitably—the tag was removed). While the topic probably is notable in Wikipedia terms, the existing version is irredeemable spam—if one disregards the contributions of the paid editors, there's literally nothing left. If anyone wants to AFD it, I certainly wouldn't argue. ‑ Iridescent 19:15, 28 March 2017 (UTC)
I worked over the Herzberg article. didn't make it to the main show above. Another day. Jytdog (talk) 07:08, 30 March 2017 (UTC)
One of the editors listed above is still uncommunicative yet is editing LiquidHub and in fact de-prodded it. - Bri (talk) 13:16, 31 March 2017 (UTC)

Could someone help me understand the issue? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sindhuja Sukumaran (talk • contribs) 10:17, 1 April 2017 (UTC)

User:4dmbrown[edit]

This user has only edited two articles of their own creation (Allstrac, Inc., and User:4dmbrown/sandbox, both deleted G11) as wholly promotional. On their user page they identify as 'a data-driven customer management professional with a passion for startups'- exactly the subjects of their artcles. The User page indicates a clear case of paid editing. Their non-denial is less than convincing. — O Fortuna! Imperatrix mundi. 14:09, 29 March 2017 (UTC)

ouch. I reached out to them. Their userpage needs fixing too. Jytdog (talk) 05:16, 30 March 2017 (UTC)

Article exchange / User:Swtechwr[edit]

First, Swtechwr has been discussed at this noticeboard before, see the archives. This time around he's been adding references to a different company: Tricentis, including adding citations to an op-ed written by the CEO of Tricentis. The product page for Tricentis Tosca was just speedily deleted as an obvious advertisement. He's admitted to some relationship with Tricentis here. This isn't great, but I'm used to seeing that kind of thing. However, he's just gone to another COI editor I've been talking with and proposed a Quid pro quo arrangement where they create articles for each other. Is this kind of thing appropriate? - MrOllie (talk) 14:29, 29 March 2017 (UTC)

Heck no! And barter is a form of compensation - PAID still applies. I've reached out on their Talk page. Jytdog (talk) 05:04, 30 March 2017 (UTC)

Gold Crude Research[edit]

I've copied the following from WT:COI. --Tryptofish (talk) 00:47, 30 March 2017 (UTC)

Today I received a request for a paid article on the Upwork platform. I receive similar requests on a monthly basis (and always reject them with a link to this page) but this one was different in that the client included the name of the company, Gold Crude Research. So please keep an eye on it, as it's likely that someone else will accept the offer and create the article. Please feel free to move this message to a more appropriate place if there is one (I just couldn't find the proper place for this kind of message). Cheers! --Felipe (talk) 13:26, 29 March 2017 (UTC)

Thanks. Watchlisted! Jytdog (talk) 05:04, 30 March 2017 (UTC)
Someone already added the company as an external link at Economic calendar. --Calton | Talk 14:45, 30 March 2017 (UTC)

Lord Myners[edit]

Not an issue for COIN. Please don't report requests for editors here. - Bri (talk) 18:19, 4 April 2017 (UTC)

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Hi there, I am trying to work with the community to provide sourced updates to Lord Myners' page. It's listed as mid-importance in Peerage and Baronetage but I'm finding it tricky engaging with the editing community. I have a COI in that Lord Myners is the Chairman of the company I work for but am keen to work with someone on building a more complete entry as there's quite a lot of factual (and reference-able) information missing. What are my next steps to making that happen? I've copied it to my sandbox and added in additions with sources throughout to try and make it easy for someone to pick up. Hope you can help me out!

Paul Myners, Baron Myners

Jackedelman (talk) 12:49, 30 March 2017 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

EdlustarBeatz[edit]

The user BookingsEdward has repeatedly attempted to create an article about a South African rapper whose birth name is Edward Mathake but goes by EdlustarBeatz. I believe the name and the nature of their editing indicates an association with this rapper, most likely someone who is responsible for "booking" the apperances of "Edward". 331dot (talk) 19:30, 30 March 2017 (UTC)

Paten Hughes[edit]

The COI is clear: This is not an autobiography. It is written by a professional third party writer, simply using an affiliated login. The user should be blocked for the username alone since the user is not Paten Hughes. — JJMC89 (T·C) 04:52, 31 March 2017 (UTC)

The user has been renamed to Finguerres. — JJMC89 (T·C) 16:57, 31 March 2017 (UTC)
Sent to AfD. Notability is marginal; despite much name-dropping in the article, the article subject is at best marginally notable for uploading videos to Vimeo about her tomato-growing. Reference to Variety did not mention the article subject. John Nagle (talk) 03:57, 1 April 2017 (UTC)

Rick Bergman[edit]

Not an issue for COIN. Please don't report requests for editors here. - Bri (talk) 18:18, 4 April 2017 (UTC)

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Hi, I've posted some suggestions for improving Rick Bergman on the article's Talk page. The proposed updates include infobox improvements, removing a non-notable "Media coverage" section, and replacing primary sources with secondary ones. All the changes are fully detailed and sourced. I have a COI—I work for a communications firm that represents Bergman's employer, Synaptics—so I won't be editing the article myself. I'd be grateful if someone else could take a look and offer feedback. Thank you! Mary Gaulke (talk) 14:24, 4 April 2017 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Triple-S Management Corporation[edit]

Also editing the CEO's page Hernando Ruiz Jimenez. Mlpearc Phone (open channel) 18:17, 4 April 2017 (UTC)

Removed PROD tag on Hernando Ruiz Jimenez. Mlpearc Phone (open channel) 18:40, 4 April 2017 (UTC)
They are blocked now. CambridgeBayWeather, Uqaqtuq (talk), Sunasuttuq 19:28, 4 April 2017 (UTC)

Decibel Therapeutics[edit]

Clear case of UPE. Editor has repeatedly moved from sandbox to article space, even after being advised of AFC being a better bet. I have trimmed it of most of its cruft, etc, and tagged it. But further eyes on the article as it now stands would be appreciated. — O Fortuna! Imperatrix mundi. 19:15, 4 April 2017 (UTC)

Trimmed even more cruft, proposed deletion. - Bri (talk) 19:41, 4 April 2017 (UTC)
Check. Nice one. — O Fortuna! Imperatrix mundi. 09:08, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Inlinetext and admin/checkuser corruption[edit]

Inlinetext has made some pretty serious accusations at User talk:Inlinetext#April 2017 of admin/checkuser collusion with the Beutler Ink firm. Bringing it up here as it is within the Conflict of Interest Noticeboard purview. Please note I am making zero comments at this time as to the merits of the accusation. If this is way off base, I do not object to this being hatted by another COIN regular. Bri (talk) 21:12, 4 April 2017 (UTC)

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