Universal Code of Conduct/Coordinating Committee/Cases/2026/Systemic failure to enforce UCoC on Wikidata - tool abuse and concealed COI
| Parties | Notifications |
|---|---|
| Johnnytelles (talk) 00:09, 23 July 2026 (UTC) | Filer (no diff required) |
| Bovlb (Wikidata administrator) (talk • contribs • xwiki-contribs • xwiki-date (alt) • CA • ST) | |
U4C member alert: @U4C: Barkeep49, Borschts, BRPever, Civvì, Denis Barthel, EggRoll97, EPIC, Ferien, Ghilt, Luke081515, PBradley-WMF, Superzerocool, Toadspike, ToprakM, Torque, 기나ㅏㄴ. Johnnytelles (talk) 00:09, 23 July 2026 (UTC)
Description of the problem - (Johnnytelles)
This case was referred to the U4C by WMF Trust & Safety (ticket #154174, Kevin Peterson, 2026-07-22), who indicated this committee as the appropriate channel for UCoC violations where local administrators are unable or unwilling to act. It is not a re-filing of a previously resolved matter.
Scope of this case
This case does not concern the editorial merits of individual deletion decisions. It concerns structural capture: the sole operator of the only public verification tool for Wikidata deletions has operated that tool without community approval for 4 years, blocked the only proposed oversight mechanism, and concealed a documented conflict of interest. The deletion decisions referenced below are cited only as context for the scale of activity conducted under these conditions.
2a — Conflict of interest declared and concealed
On 2015-12-16, Bovlb added a section to his Wikidata user page titled "Paid editing and conflict of interest":
"My employer is a consumer of Wikidata, and I am therefore keen to see Wikidata be useful, comprehensive, and accurate. I am making this disclosure because I understand that this borders on paid editing."
On 2023-06-20, Bovlb concealed the entire section via HTML comment with edit summary «hide COI para». diff=1919949684 (between oldid=1910366836 and oldid=1919949684)
During January–July 2026, with the COI active but invisible: 30,340 deletions — second largest human deletor on Wikidata.
2b — Professional conflict of interest with data control
Bovlb works on the Cyc Project (Cycorp) — a knowledge base whose employer is a direct consumer of Wikidata data.
Bovlb operates wd-deleted.toolforge.org — the only public search tool for deleted Wikidata items, accessible only to administrators. Any editor attempting to verify whether an item was improperly deleted depends on the tool operated by the person who deleted it.
The documented combination:
- Employer consumes Wikidata data oldid=283961886
- Bovlb controls what enters and exits via unapproved tools
- Bovlb is the sole operator of the only verification mechanism for deletions
- The COI was declared, then concealed with edit summary "hide COI para" diff=1919949684
2c — Unapproved private tool ecosystem (4 years)
- wd-deleted.toolforge.org — indexes all deleted Wikidata items including oversighted content, server outside WMF infrastructure, access restricted to admins. Operational since September 2022 oldid=1733924641. Retroactive infrastructure approval requested in June 2025, 3 years later PHAB T398254.
- contribTriage.js — bulk processing (MAX_DELETE=5000). Expanded with selectAllEmpty() on 2026-07-19 — 12 hours after public exposure of the ecosystem diff=2519740958.
2d — Blocking the only proposed oversight mechanism
BulkPatrolBot 1 — read-only, public code, no admin access — blocked by Bovlb without code review diff=2518642189, while Bovlb operated a private equivalent with admin access, private server outside WMF, and partially unpublished code.
2e — Suppression of appeal channels
- RFU #1: closed in 26 minutes without evaluating presented identifiers [Section 166, Archive/2026/07]
- RFU #2: closed after Yamato Shiya — the deleting admin — had already applied {{declined}} [Section 190, Archive/2026/07]
- Unfulfilled promise: "Replaced with undeletion discussion below" diff=2517805501 — discussion never created
- Edit summary "rm promises" diff=2519740958 — 12 hours after public exposure of the unfulfilled promise
Logical structure of the evidence
On the BulkPatrolBot closure: If the closure of BulkPatrolBot 1 were based on technical grounds, the closure text would address the bot's code, architecture, or safety. It does not — it addresses the proposer's conduct ("thinly-veiled rehash of complaints"). Therefore it was not a technical evaluation. A closure that addresses the person rather than the proposal, by an administrator whose activity the proposal would have monitored, is not independent evaluation.
On the concealment of the COI disclosure: If the concealment of the paid editing disclosure in June 2023 reflected a genuine change in employment status, the edit summary would state that. The edit summary states "hide COI para" — hide conflict of interest. Therefore the intent was concealment, not update.
Previous attempts at a solution - (Johnnytelles)
Appeal channels were closed by Bovlb himself. WMF Trust & Safety (ticket #154174) indicated the U4C as the appropriate channel.
Applicable precedents:
- Turkish Wikipedia (2025): the U4C accepted a case of "dispute over admin and CU abuse" — use of administrative tools beyond what policy authorizes, including access to restricted data. Cases/2025/Dispute_over_admin_and_CU_abuse_on_Turkish_Wikipedia
- Hebrew Wikipedia (2025): the U4C recognized that closing appeal channels by admins with a direct interest in the outcome constitutes a UCoC violation. Cases/Systemic_failure_in_enforcing_the_code_of_conduct_in_Hebrew_Wikipedia
Suggested solutions - (Johnnytelles)
Investigation of Bovlb for violation of UCoC §3.2 across the five categories documented above.
Diffs and links:
- oldid=283961886 — original paid editing disclosure (2015)
- oldid=1910366836 — last visible version before concealment
- diff=1919949684 — concealment "hide COI para" (2023)
- oldid=1733924641 — wd-deleted operational since 2022
- PHAB T398254 — retroactive VPS request (2025)
- diff=2518642189 — BulkPatrolBot 1 closure without code review
- diff=2517805501 — unfulfilled promise
- diff=2519740958 — "rm promises"
— Johnnytelles (talk) 00:09, 23 July 2026 (UTC)
Previous attempts at a solution - Bovlb
This covers many topics, and I’m not entirely sure what is being alleged. I’ll therefore address the factual matters that I can.
I no longer work for the Cyc Project and do not currently work for a company that uses Wikidata. My edit summary “hide COI para” accurately describes the edit, which also included the explanatory comment “Not currently true”.
If the Wikimedia Foundation wishes to take over operation of wd-deleted, they are welcome to do so.
It has long been standard practice across Wikimedia projects that the contents of deleted pages are not made generally available. For that reason, some features of the wd-deleted tool are restricted to administrators. I am happy to implement whatever access policy the community decides upon.
The closure of BulkPatrolBot has already been addressed. Bovlb (talk) 03:38, 23 July 2026 (UTC)
- To the best of my knowledge, the issues raised on this page were not brought to my attention prior to this U4C filing. Bovlb (talk) 03:42, 23 July 2026 (UTC)
Suggested solutions - Bovlb
Other feedback
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Discussion between the involved parties and the U4C members
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U4C decision
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U4C member discussion
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Decline votes
- The accusations made are entirely spurious. For instance, "discussion never created" is false, the discussion appears to have taken place here. There is a public deletion log on Wikidata, so the tool listed is far from the only oversight mechanism for deletions on Wikidata. And the "promise" removed was (supposedly) made by the filer themselves [1], not by Bovlb. This filing appears to have been heavily impaired by the use of AI, which makes much of the evidence incoherent. I would much prefer to see filings written by a human, even in a language other than English, to maintain the integrity of the user's message and the evidence provided. Toadspike [Talk] 01:58, 23 July 2026 (UTC)
- As Toadspike said above. I do not see UCoC violations here, and your filing here is competing to be more spurious than the other three. EggRoll97 (talk) 05:09, 23 July 2026 (UTC)
- I don't see a UCoC violation here. And you need to get your facts straight. --Ghilt (talk) 06:39, 23 July 2026 (UTC)
- EPIC (talk) 06:40, 23 July 2026 (UTC)
- Per all above. Borschts Talk 07:26, 23 July 2026 (UTC)
- I have read all four requests. I do not think the accusations here are supported by the evidence. Four separate requests with some overlap becomes disruptive. Barkeep49 (talk) 09:07, 23 July 2026 (UTC)
- Per all above. --Civvì (talk) 11:00, 25 July 2026 (UTC)
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Updates
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- The U4C has received this request. On behalf of the U4C, Toadspike [Talk] 01:58, 23 July 2026 (UTC)
- With 7 members voting to decline the case and 2 inactive members, the case is declined. EPIC (talk) 15:57, 25 July 2026 (UTC)