Re:A Wikipedia editor's long-running campaign
by hndamien on Monday May 21, 2018 @01:25AM
(#17116317)
There is an unfortunate asymmetry that breaks wikipedia this way which is counter to the asymmetry that makes wikipedia work. Making an article is harder than reverting or deleting it. This asymmetry produces all of the content and stops it from going too pear shaped. The asymmetry of good actors getting annoyed by bad actors and leaving unfortunately swings in the other direction.
This would not be without precedent. I was an active Wikipedia editor in 2004-2006, and I recall an editor (later admin), who was otherwise a great contributor and a positive force in the project, who had a seemingly unhealthy obsession with singer Ashlee Simpson. After multiple arbitration proceedings, he was restricted from editing her Wikipedia entry under threat of 24-hour bans for each edit.
Here is the notice of the final arbitration ruling [1], mentioning the prolonged history of the case.
To be fair, it was a different time back then. Not sure if a ruling like that could or would be done today.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2...