User:Pandakekok9/russavia's comment at HJ Mitchell's de-adminship request (deleted page, 2016-03-14)

(Originally published on March 14, 2016, at 10:23 to Wikimedia Commons)

At the RfA for {{u|The Photographer}}, HJ Mitchell [https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?diff=188919168 stated]:

{{quote|the candidate was heavily involved in the leaking of material from the OTRS wiki about a year ago. In fact, if memory serves, he was the source of the leak, or at least one of the sources; his OTRS account was removed as a result. The OTRS wiki is a private workspace that contains a great deal of private information and is covered by the Foundation's Access to Nonpublic Information policy and the new confidentiality agreement; leaking information from it is a gross breach of trust—a level of trust that should be implicit for an admin. Leaking the contents of private wikis should automatically disqualify somebody from ever being an admin or holding any position of rust or responsibility.}}

HJ Mitchell has made these comments from the United Kingdom, which has well known laws as it relates to libel. HJ Mitchell's comments do not only meet the definition of libel in the UK, but they also violate the [https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Terms_of_Use WMF's own Terms of Use] which prohibits:

{{quote|'''Engaging in False Statements, Impersonation, or Fraud'''<br>
Intentionally or knowingly posting content that constitutes libel or defamation;<br>
With the intent to deceive, posting content that is false or inaccurate;<br>
}}

For those who do not understand what this means, we need to break it down:

* "the candidate was heavily involved in the leaking of material from the OTRS wiki about a year ago." -- there is absolutely zero evidence of this.
* "In fact, if memory serves, he was the source of the leak, or at least one of the sources" -- the use of "in fact", followed by "if memory serves" means that HJ Mitchell wouldn't have a clue, but hell, he'll present this as fact anyway.
* "his OTRS account was removed as a result." -- no it was not, it was removed because he was friendly to myself on IRC
* "leaking information from it is a gross breach of trust—a level of trust that should be implicit for an admin." -- again, presenting unproven accusations as fact, and introducing the first explicit statement that The Photographer should not be trusted
* "Leaking the contents of private wikis should automatically disqualify somebody from ever being an admin or holding any position of rust or responsibility." - and here we have it! The Photographer leaked information and should not '''any position''' of trust or responsibility.

Unfortunately, there is a tendency on these projects that people will make libelous accusations against others, and it is done with impunity because it's only the wiki and there are no consequences! False! This goes to you too WMF!

The Photographer's IRL name is linked (although now somewhat deleted) to the T.P. account. This means that accusations made against TP are also being levelled at the IRL persona. By extension, his IRL persona has leaked private information and should not be trusted. This constitutes libel.

Even without the IRL connection, HJ Mitchell's libelous statements can still have IRL implications for TP. If he were to use his "credentials" on Commons in searching for work, and an employer finds the RfA what they will be met with HJ Mitchell's, a Commons admin, libelous statement. Anyone reading that is now being told that under no circumstances should TP be entrusted with private or sensitive information. These assertions by HJ are not based upon any actual evidence, but are clearly intended to make one think less of TP.

Given that HJ Mitchell has ignored the COM:AN/U discussion, and has not retracted his libelous accusations, not only should HJ Mitchell be de-adminned, but he should be indefinitely blocked on Commons and globally banned by the WMF for gross violations of the Terms of Use.

I can only urge TP to lodge an official complaint with the WMF to start the ball rolling on a global ban against HJ, and I remind him of his rights to take action in the UK courts against HJ if his libel ever becomes a problem.

I am pinging the following voters/commentators: {{u|Odder}}, {{u|Pokéfan95}}, {{u|Jcb}}, {{u|Begoon}}, {{u|Rschen7754}}, {{u|Geagea}}, {{u|Natuur12}}, {{u|Beyond My Ken}}, {{u|Davey2010}}, {{u|Reguyla}}, {{u|The Photographer}}, {{u|Ankry}}, {{u|Yann}}, {{u|Christian Ferrer}}, {{u|DrKay}}, {{u|Colin}}, {{u|Steinsplitter}}, {{u|Zhuyifei1999}}, {{u|Stemoc}}, {{u|A.Savin}}, {{u|Amitie 10g}}, {{u|Josve05a}}.

I am also pinging the Commons oversight team in order to have HJ Mitchell's libel oversighted. {{u|Avraham}}, {{u|Odder}}, {{u|PierreSelim}}, {{u|Rama}}, {{u|Raymond}}

I am also pinging {{u|Jalexander-WMF}} so that he can enforce the WMF's Terms of Use.

It is high time that editors and the WMF wake the hell up and recognise that what is said on these projects can and do have real world consequences for those who have libel and mistruths levelled against them.

Also, for the record, it is reasonably well known that information from OTRS Wiki was leaked to myself as per [http://pastebin.com/4m2hJRya the actual leaked logs]. I will confirm that this information was leaked to myself by no less than 6 individuals, none of which were The Photographer (or previous incarnations). The identities of these individuals will not be disclosed by myself, although there is one individual that this may change in the future if I continue to see worrying actions emanating from them. Where Odder was getting his information is not known to me, nor is it my concern. [[Special:Contributions/49.196.12.133|49.196.12.133]] 00:21, 14 March 2016 (UTC)