Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Conflict of interest reports

This page is a procedural policy developed by the Arbitration Committee in consultation with the Wikipedia community. Any significant edit to this page should have approval from the Arbitration Committee. If in doubt, consider discussing changes here.

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WP:COIVRTWP:COIVRT

This page in a nutshell: Private reports of undisclosed conflict of interest or paid editing should be sent to paid-en-wp

wikipedia.org. Access to the queue is supervised by the Arbitration Committee.

To deal with reports of undisclosed conflict-of-interest or paid editing, where reporting such editing on-wiki would lead to posting another editor's personal information without their consent, editors can send reports to paid-en-wpwikipedia.org. These reports are handled using the volunteer response team (VRT) system by members of the CheckUser and Oversight teams, or by specially-appointed administrators. Reports may be sent to the Arbitration Committee for review at their discretion; for example, a credible report involving an administrator should be referred.

Appointments

Administrators may apply for access by emailing the Committee at arbcom-en-cwikimedia.org.

The Committee carefully vets all applications with feedback from the functionaries team; very clear consensus from the Committee is needed for a candidate to be presented for consideration to the Community.
During consultation, comments concerning the candidates may be submitted publicly or privately.
The Committee shall review all the comments submitted and other relevant factors prior to finalising an official appointments motion to be posted to the noticeboard.^[1]
After confirming that the user has signed both the Wikimedia Foundation and the VRT confidentiality agreements, the Committee will submit a request to the VRT administrators to assign permission.

List of appointment rounds

Users with access

Current members of the CheckUser and Oversight teams automatically have access to the queue. In addition, the following administrators have access:

331dot (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
Bilby (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
Extraordinary Writ (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
Robertsky (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)

Queue members also have access to a mailing list, which can be used for coordination.

Blocks

Blocks with rationales that depend on information from this queue ("COIVRT blocks") must be done with a link to the ticket number in the log entry. Wikipedia:Blocking policy § Confidential evidence must be followed.

The template {{subst:uw-upeblock}} has a |ticket= parameter. {{subst:uw-upeblock|ticket=yes}} tells administrators that they block was placed based on evidence from this queue; {{subst:uw-upeblock|ticket=ticket number here (without the ticket: prefix)}} includes that and a courtesy link to the VRT ticket.

Appeals of COIVRT blocks are, by default, heard on Wikipedia through the regular unblock appeals process. Per Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Procedures § Handling of block and ban appeals, the Arbitration Committee hears appeals of COIVRT blocks where members with access to the queue disagree on the interpretation of [the] evidence or believe the request would be better handled by the Arbitration Committee. If either of those circumstances apply, {{subst:uw-upeblock|arbcom=yes}} can be used to direct appeals to arbcom-enwikimedia.org. The |arbcom= parameter should be used in addition to the |ticket= parameter.

In April 2026, the Arbitration Committee advised administrators that loosening or lifting COIVRT blocks without the express written consent of someone with access to the queue or the Arbitration Committee can result in revocation of administrative permissions.

Removals

The Arbitration Committee may request that VRT admins withdraw access to the queue if it loses confidence in an editor due to abuse or violations of global privacy policies (such as inappropriately disclosing privacy-related information).

Users who cease to be administrators will lose their access, as will users who leave the CheckUser and Oversight teams unless they request otherwise. This applies where they remain as administrators.

Complaints regarding the use of the VRT queue should be emailed to the Arbitration Committee at arbcom-enwikimedia.org.

Notes

↑ This process requires a minimum support ratio of 70% from arbitrators on the Committee to move forward with the candidate's appointment. This is current ArbCom internal process, rather than a community policy.

[1] This process requires a minimum support ratio of 70% from arbitrators on the Committee to move forward with the candidate's appointment. This is current ArbCom internal process, rather than a community policy.

[1]