Wikipedia:Appealing a block

This page documents an official English Wikipedia policy, a widely accepted standard that all editors should follow. When editing this page, please ensure that your revision reflects consensus. If in doubt, consider discussing changes on the talk page.

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In the course of daily operations, substantial numbers of users and IP addresses are blocked, mainly due to persistent vandalism and edit warring. Such users frequently wish to be unblocked.

About blocking

As do many websites, Wikipedia administrators occasionally block accounts and IP ranges that are deemed responsible for or related to problematic activity. You may be an innocent victim of collateral damage, whereby a block of some other activity has accidentally caused your account to be inaccessible. Alternatively, your account or IP may have been identified by an administrator as responsible for or related to misuse, or some other breach of policy.

If your account has been blocked by mistake, it will be reactivated very quickly, as soon as you let an administrator know of the problem. Otherwise, there is a rapid appeal process which obtains quick review by other independent administrators, and brief discussion of the matter.

What is a block?

A block is a measure used to protect Wikipedia from possible improper use, or modification in breach of editorial policies. Once blocks are over, they become history unless problems recur. Blocks can apply to a user account, an IP, or a range of IPs. A number of automated features identify unblocked usage which apparently should be blocked; this can be quickly rectified if incorrect.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question. I've never done anything wrong and I was blocked! Please advise.

• Do you use an ISP or web accelerator that involves shared IPs? Common examples include AOL, Comcast, StarHub, schools, colleges, or Google Web Accelerator. If so, you may have been affected by collateral damage. If you are using AOL (or any ISP listed above), please see our advice to AOL users. If you are using Google Web Accelerator (or any other web accelerator that uses shared IPs), please disable it for this site by following these instructions.

Question. It says I've been "autoblocked" because of another person whom I don't even know! What do I do?

• See Wikipedia:Autoblock for an explanation. If you use a shared ISP (namely AOL, Comcast, StarHub, schools, colleges, etc.), you may be affected by collateral damage from other users who have edited disruptively. An administrator will sort this out as soon as it's drawn to their awareness - please follow the instructions under the "Autoblocked?" section on your block page, or alternatively here.

Question. I want to edit Wikipedia, but I keep getting blocked because of others on the same network as me. What do I do?

• If you are an unregistered user, it's recommended that you create an account. Shared IP addresses such as school and company networks or proxy servers are frequently blocked for vandalism which often affects many innocent editors on the same network. However, registered users in good standing can request existing blocks on their IP address be "softened" to only affect anonymous editors on their network so that they may continue contributing. See also Wikipedia:Why create an account?

• Note: If your IP address is blocked, you may need to create your account at home, on another computer, or (in rare cases) in another country.
• Note: Many rotating IP addresses of ISPs practising shared IP addresses are blocked as being "proxies" or "zombies" because of the large number of different users sharing the IP. On these computers, logged-in users will be autoblocked immediately. If you encounter such a case, please follow the unblocking request steps or consult an administrator.

How to request to be unblocked

Instructions for requesting an unblock are given on your block page. A quick way to see it again is by trying to edit the Wikipedia:Sandbox by clicking here. If you are not blocked from editing the sandbox then your block has already expired or been lifted and you need not do anything more. Requests for unblocks should be reviewed by administrators other than the one who administered the block. Before changing the block, the reviewing administrator should first attempt to contact the blocking admin to discuss the situation.

The guide to appealing blocks may help you in composing a persuasive unblock request.

Note for others seeking to help blocked users: The template for the message seen by blocked users is viewable at MediaWiki:Blockedtext. At present it contains the following instructions for requesting unblocking:

Current unblock message.

Secure login You are currently unable to edit pages on Wikipedia. You can still read pages, but cannot edit, change, or create them. Editing from $7 (your account, IP address, or IP address range) has been disabled by $1 for the following reason(s): $2 This block has been set to expire: $6. Even if blocked, you will usually still be able to edit your user talk page and contact other editors and administrators by email. Note: If you have JavaScript enabled, please use the [show] links across from each header to show more information. Other useful links: Blocking policy · Username policy · Appealing blocks: policy and guide What does this mean? As on many websites, Wikipedia administrators occasionally block accounts and IP ranges that are deemed responsible for or related to problematic activity. You may be an innocent victim of collateral damage, whereby a block of some other activity has accidentally caused your account to be inaccessible. Alternatively, your account or IP may have been identified by an administrator as responsible for or related to misuse, or some other breach of policy. If your account has been blocked by mistake, it will be reactivated very quickly, as soon as you let an administrator know of the problem. Otherwise, there is a rapid appeal process which obtains quick review by other independent administrators, and brief discussion of the matter. The box above gives the information you will need in either case, as provided by the blocking administrator. What is a block? A block is a measure used to protect Wikipedia from possible improper use, or modification in breach of editorial policies. Once blocks are over, they become history unless problems recur. Blocks can apply to a user account, an IP, or a range of IPs. A number of automated features identify unblocked usage which apparently should be blocked; this can be quickly rectified if incorrect. Most common causes Your IP matches that used by another blocked account. Ask for further information and/or request unblocking. Your account or a connected IP has been used in a problematic way, or your username was unsuitable and you need to choose another. The reason should be in the box above. You have just clicked a 'red link' - an article that does not yet exist - but you do not have access to start a new page when no article exists already. Ask someone else to create the page for you, or create an account yourself to do so. You are using Google Web Accelerator or some other web accelerator, or an open proxy, or other similar software to access this site, which can interfere with some aspects of Wikipedia's vandalism-management process. Some schools, colleges, workplaces and ISPs can also cause this problem. Disable these and try again, or see below. What do I do now? If you have never edited Wikipedia before, or do not have an account, please see the "Unregistered?" section (below the "Additional information" header) for specific information. If the reason given is "username", "user...", "contact an administrator for verification purposes", or something similar, then you have been blocked for choosing an inappropriate username. To request a change in username and be unblocked, please follow these instructions. Alternatively, you can create a new account with a more appropriate name. If you are using Google Web Accelerator, please disable it for this site. This also applies to any other web accelerator software you may have installed. If your computer is blocked as an open proxy, please follow these instructions. If a specific reason is given or you wish to appeal, please see the following section. Appealing The current block will automatically expire $6. You have many routes to appeal the block or its duration. First of all, if you are a registred user, you can contact $1 (the blocking administrator) via email. You can use the 'email this user' feature if you have a valid email address registered and confirmed in your user preferences, and have not been specifically blocked from using the feature. Blocked directly? Alternatively, you may appeal the block by requesting that another administrator review the block. To do so, add {{unblock|your reason here}} to the bottom of your user talk page (which you can edit while blocked, unless it is protected) to request unblocking. You will need to state a reason for this, and the block is then free to be discussed. Our guide to appealing blocks may help you in composing a persuasive unblock request. You may use the the freenode IRC network to discuss your block with administrators available at the time. If you have an IRC client, the unblock channel can be found at #wikipedia-en-unblock. If you don't have an IRC client but still wish to use the channel, you can use this link to the Wikimedia toolserver to use a web based client. If you cannot contact $1 or cannot resolve the matter privately, then independent unblock review as described above will be your best solution. More details and other options can be found at Wikipedia:Appealing a block. Please note: While this block may be upsetting or unexpected, abuse of appeal processes, repeatedly using the unblock template when denied, personal attacks, or impolite conduct, will often lead to protection of that page preventing further use of the unblock template. IP blocked? If you are not blocked directly, your IP address ($3) or range has been "hard blocked" due to abuse either by the previous person who was allocated or sharing your IP address. Please copy-paste the following text to the bottom of your user talk page. {{unblock-ip|1=$3|2=<nowiki>$2</nowiki>|3=$1}} Do not do this if you were blocked directly or are not logged in; instead, see the "Appealing" section above (under the "What do I do now?" header). If this problem affects you repeatedly, we encourage you to contact your Internet service provider or IT department and ask them to contact Wikimedia's XFF project about enabling X-Forwarded-For HTTP headers on their proxy servers. This will reduce collateral damage from future autoblocks. Additional information Unregistered? MediaWiki, the software that Wikipedia runs on, identifies users without an account through their IP address. However, some IPs are shared by many people and as a result, unregistered users are sometimes blocked for the misbehavior of another editor. Since administrators have no way to accurately tell the claims of an innocent user from those of an anonymous vandal, you are strongly encouraged to create an account. See Why create an account? for a full list of benefits that come with registration. Some blocks will still allow logged in users to continue editing. If you are currently blocked from creating an account, try the following: Try again after the block on your IP address expires. Create an account from a different computer. Ask a trusted friend on a different network to create an account for you. Be sure to change the password after logging in. Use Wikimedia's secure server; this may bypass your network's proxy server. Emailing us Due to the high volume of email we receive, you are more likely to get a quick response if you try requesting an unblock via your talk page first. Before you email us, please make sure your situation has not already been addressed by the above sections. Your talk page may also contain further details related to your block or IP address and we strongly advise that you review it before contacting us. When sending us an email, please copy-paste and fill out one of these forms. Help us to help you by copying and using the forms provided. If you don't, the first reply will probably ask you to do so. To request unblocking: IP address: http://en.wikipedia.org/description/User_talk:$3 Blocking admin: $4 Block reason: $2 Block originally applied to: $7 Your account name (if you have one): An explanation of why your block is unfair: To request an account: IP address: http://en.wikipedia.org/description/User_talk:$3 Blocking admin: $4 Block reason: $2 Block originally applied to: $7 Preferred account name: Note: your preferred username must not be listed as already taken here, and must comply with our username policy. Even though emails sent to unblock-en-l mailing list are viewable only by administrators and trusted volunteers, under no circumstances should you email us your account's password or reveal it to anyone else even if asked to. When requesting an account, a temporary password will be generated and emailed to you. Please change the password on your new account as soon as possible. This list exists for the purpose of reviewing blocks only — any request to make edits to articles on your behalf will be disregarded. Correspondence containing legal threats, personal attacks or rudeness is likely to be ignored and may result in the lengthening of pre-existing blocks. IMPORTANT: Please do not email us without providing the information requested above. We will always require that information to help you. Click here to contact unblock-en-l.

What happens next

When a block is appealed, other editors - most of whom probably have no involvement in the matter - will review your editing history, which has been logged, as well as the reason for the block and the history leading up to it. Requests for unblocking are listed at Category:Requests for unblock.

Editors with administrator access will strongly avoid wheel warring, that is, overriding each other's decisions, in almost all cases, since this is in itself a serious breach of administrator policy. For this reason, blocks will not usually be allowed to become a source of conflict; rather, consensus will be sought, by means of a fair and objective examination of the matter and of any policies alleged to have been breached.

The routes to resolve a block are agreement by the blocking admin, a (very rare) override by other admins in the case that the block was clearly unjustifiable, or appeal to the Arbitration committee to make a formal ruling on the matter.

• If there is agreement that you may have been blocked unfairly, you may be directly unblocked (if the block was clearly and obviously a mistake), but this is very rare unless there genuinely were no prospective grounds for the block. Usually the blocking admin's judgement is respected if there is any question of doubt.
• You may be unblocked if the blocking admin changes their mind or can't be reached, and an unblock is considered reasonable.
• When you are unblocked, you may then follow the dispute resolution process if you believe that you were treated unfairly.
• If an unblocking needs discussion, reaching a consensus usually takes several days.

Appeal to the Arbitration Committee

In principle, any blocked user may appeal their block to the Arbitration committee as a last resort, after other attempts to have the block lifted have failed. In practice, the Arbitration committee rarely (if ever) hears cases involving short-term blocks, since most arbitration cases take at least 4 weeks to reach a final decision. Allegations that an administrator has acted improperly by making a block can be dealt with more efficiently by the dispute resolution process after the block has expired.

Indefinite blocks (that amount to a ban from Wikipedia) may be appealed to the Arbitration Committee. Banned users should not create new accounts, or sockpuppets to file an appeal. Rather, they should contact a member of the committee or an Arbitration clerk by email and ask that a request be filed on their behalf. Generally speaking, the banned user will make the request on his or her talk page, which will be copied to WP:RFAR by a clerk. In some cases, a banned user may be unblocked for the sole purpose of filing an appeal. In such cases, editing of other pages is grounds for immediate re-blocking.

Other possible appeal steps

In highly unusual cases, you may wish to utilize the dispute resolution process while you are still blocked. To do so, you may contact other Wikipedians by email, or by editing your talk page (which you may do even while blocked).

Abuse of the unblocking process

A usual block prevents users from editing all pages except their user talk page. Users are allowed to retain editing access to their user talk page, in order to have a chance for appeal, and so that they are not shut out completely and are able to participate at least to some degree in Wikipedia, whilst the block is active.

Upon a request to seek arbitration, editing access may be restored to a limited number of other pages (such as those connected with their appeal) pending the formal decision, so that the matter (and any evidence, facts, mitigating circumstances, or corrections) can be presented as well.

A minority of editors who are blocked use these privileges poorly, for personal attack or to play games and make a point. Inevitably the response to such actions is simple - editing access is blocked in its entirety and without further discussion, whereas if the user had been responsible and reasonable, an entirely different result might well have happened.

Wikipedia blocks are usually warnings only, and once over and learned from, unless repeated, they are in the past. Wikipedia and its administrators and arbitration committee have a real wish for everyone who is capable of acting responsibly to be able to enjoy editing.

Users who are blocked are asked to use this as a chance to reflect, an opportunity to show their understanding and ability to act responsibly, and a period of time to let the matter pass and be learned from.