Wikipedia:Spam blacklist/Rewrite

MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist is a localized version of m:Spam blacklist. Additions to the spam blacklist here will only affect the English Wikipedia, not other projects.

Use[edit]

The main use of the spam blacklist is as a last resort against spammers.

Requests for listing[edit]

Administrators

Proposed additions - Use this section to request additions.

Compelling evidence of a problem should be given when requesting a page to be listed (preferably by giving diffs).

Exceptions 1[edit]

There are some occasions where use of the local spam blacklist, or the m:Spam blacklist, is appropriate, even while there is no inappropriate use of the links in question. In these cases :

Redirect sites. Sites like tinyurl.com enable users to circumvent the blacklisting of other links. These sites should be blacklisted on the m:Spam blacklist. Where possible, the link should not be removed, but preferably be replaced with the link the user is redirected to.
Malware sites. Sites that contain .. which may harm the computer of a user that follows the link should be blacklisted. The blacklisting of these sites is generally short term, until the issue is resolved. These sites should be blacklisted on the m:Spam blacklist.
Grouped sites. Sites belonging to a common owner, where at least some of the sites have been abused, may result in all sites of the owner being blacklisted to avoid further disruption (needs rewrite).
Spam incentive sites - certain free hosting sites offer money to users who traffic users to the documents they created on the site.
Hijacked sites
Sites which are being added as a replacement for a site which is already blacklisted.
Sites where the very large majority of the documents contain copyright violations.

Exceptions 2[edit]

The following situations generally require discussion, though short term addition can be used to stop current abuse:

Sites which are, besides being used appropriately by many users, hopelessly abused by others. Consider here to blacklist the site to stop the current abuse, and to open a discussion on MediaWiki talk:Spam-blacklist to explain the situation. These sites can be removed when the active threat has stopped.
Totally unreliable sites ...
The grey area of generally unreliable sites which are quite often abused, but which can be used appropriately as well.

If the blacklisting is meant to stop some current abuse, please note that in the request, so that the link can be removed without question if the listing admin is not around.

Considerations[edit]

You should consider the following before requesting that a URL be blacklisted.

Can protection solve the problem? If so, please make a request at Wikipedia:Requests for page protection.
Will blocking a single user solve the problem? If you have given appropriate warnings to a spammer, you should report them on Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism, where they can be blocked by an administrator. Open proxies used to spam should be reported to Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism or Wikipedia:WikiProject on open proxies so that they can be blocked.
Will blocking a small amount of users for a short time to allow conversation help?
Can the problem be controlled by other means such as User:XLinkBot?
Would the abuse filter work better?

Content[edit]

The Spam-blacklist is not intended to be used to enforce content policies.

Requests for delisting and for whitelisting[edit]

When requesting that a URL be delisted, you should give compelling evidence as to why it should be delisted.

In case of whitelisting consider if the whole domain needs to be whitelisted (if the whole domain is locally blacklisted, delisting should be requested). Otherwise request the whitelisting for specific links, or specific parts of the site.

Try to explain where and how you would like to use the link(s) in question.

For both delisting and whitelisting requests, it helps if the use of the link was first discussed on another forum, and that there are multiple editors who agree that the link may be of use there. Examples of such fori include the talkpage of a page where the link may be of use, or an appropriate Wikipedia:WikiProject. Consider in the request the reasons why the link was originally blacklisted (if you can't find the reasons, omit this, you can request without this, but be prepared to answer to questions which may follow).

Proposed removals should be listed in MediaWiki talk:Spam-blacklist#Proposed removals. Whitelisting can be requested on MediaWiki talk:Spam-whitelist#Proposed additions.