Wikipedia:Global rights policy
 | This page documents aprocedural policyof Wikipedia. It documents various processes by which the English Wikipedia operates. |
 | This page in a nutshell:Users with global rights should not use them on the English Wikipedia except as detailed below. The use of global rights which are prohibited by this policy may result in blocking and requested rights removal. |
| New users |
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| Administrators and bureaucrats |
| Other flags giving access to specialized functions |
| Other flagged accounts |
| Global user groups |
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For all user permissions seethis table. For other global user groups seeWikipedia:Global rights policyandmeta:User groups. |
The implementation ofglobaluser rightson Wikimedia projects extends to the English Wikipedia. This policy defines their use on this wiki.
Use of rights
[edit]Staff
[edit]Members of this group are paid employees of theWikimedia Foundation.Similar toombuds,they hold globalCheckUseras well as global adminship and global oversight rights. They will performoffice actionswhen needed, such as complaints related todefamation,privacy violationsorcopyright infringement.Not all Foundation staff are granted access to this group; it is based upon need for access. Staff rights are not limited by decision-making processes that involve global or local communities.
- List of users withstaff rights
Stewards
[edit]
Stewards may use theirglobal rollbackpermission on the English Wikipedia, and may useSpecial:Undeleteto view deleted revisions in the course of their duties as stewards. They are also permitted to usethe oversight toolto suppress abusive usernames. According tom:Stewards,stewards will not use their technical access when there are local users who can use that access, except in emergencies
.In emergency situations where local users are unable or unavailable to act (example), stewards are asked to use their global rights to protect the best interests of Wikipedia.
Stewards, along with staff and sysadmins, are able to delete pages with more than 5,000 revisions.
In their global role, stewards grant CheckUser andOversightpermissions to all projects (perArbitration CommitteeorBoard of Trusteesdecision), and can remove all permissions (in an emergency situation, in response to a user's self-request, per Arbitration Committee or Board decisions). These actions can affect the English Wikipedia, but are done atmeta:Steward requests/Permissionsand logged atmeta:Special:Log/rights.
- List of users withsteward rights
Sysadmins
[edit]Wikimediasystem administratorsare people who dosystems administration workon the Wikimedia servers. They can change a Wikimedia site's live copy ofMediaWiki,read server logs, etc. Those with server access can also carry out various non-development tasks.
TheWikimedia Foundationlegally controls the servers, so theWikimedia Board of Trusteesare ultimately responsible for determining who has sysadmin access. However, they generally delegate this responsibility. On a day-to-day basis, various sysadmins with root access manage the server accounts.
System administrators may use their global rights in whatever manner they deem necessary to manage the Wikimedia Foundation's assets.
- List of users withsysadmin rights
Ombuds
[edit]Theombuds commissionis tasked with investigating complaints about violations of theprivacy policy(in particular concerning the use ofCheckUserandoversighttools) on any Wikimedia project, for the Board in an official manner. The users who make up the ombuds commission are given the ability to run checks, view the CheckUser log, view suppressed content, and view the suppression log on every project. To file a complaint, please contact the commission privately.
The ombuds may use their global rights for investigating complaints about violations of theprivacy policy.Their use of the global rights is at the discretion and restriction of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees.
- List of users withOmbuds rights
VRT-permissions
[edit]Users in this group are a subset ofVolunteer Response Teamagents. These particular users have access to thepermissionsqueues within VRTS and assist with copyright verifications. All users with permissions access will be in the global group.
Users are in this group for identification purposes and there are no special rights associated with it. Users who add or modify VRTS permissions templates without thevrt-permissionsflag have their edits disallowed viaedit filter 642.
- List of users assigned toglobal VRT permissions agent
Global bots
[edit]The English Wikipedia only allows the use of global bots approved byMeta policyto update interwiki links without the need to request permission from theBot Approvals Group(original discussion).While active, a global bot's user page should indicate that it has global approval -{{bot|bot operator name|globalbot=yes|status=active}}may be used for this. Use of global bots for any other purpose is currently not permitted - a localbot request for approvalmust be filed for tasks other than interwiki linking.
- List of bots withglobal bot rights
Global deleters
[edit]Global deletersmay use their rights only to help users transition toglobal user pagesor otherwise manage their user space via theSynchbot service.
- List of users withglobal deleter rights
Global rollbackers
[edit]Global rollbackers may use their rights subject to the provisions below, provided they have not previously had rollback removed involuntarily, other than procedurally for inactivity. If removal has previously occurred, they must request and begranted rollback locallyby anEnglish Wikipedia administrator.
Global rollbackers may use therollback,suppressredirect,markbotedits,andnoratelimitfunctions on the English Wikipedia only in the context of counter-vandalism efforts (unless they hold such rights separately in a usergroup permitting local use for other reasons).
Newly-created articles that are autopatrolled only by virtue of their creator's global rollbacker statusshould be marked as unreviewed.
Any English Wikipedia administrator can ask a global rollbacker to stop using rollback if what they deem to be misuse occurs, and the global rollbacker must comply with such a request. Such a decision by an administrator can be appealed atWikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard.Failure to comply may result in a local block. In particular, admins who carry out a request for removal of local rollback permissions from an editor with possible recent and related inappropriate conduct may invoke this clause.
- List of users withGlobal rollback rights
Global sysops
[edit]The global sysop group is not activated on the English Wikipedia as community consensus to opt-in was not attained. By default, the proposal applies only to wikis with fewer than 10 sysops and/or fewer than 3 active sysops.
- List of users withGlobal sysops rights
Global interface editors
[edit]Global interface editors may use their rights by default, provided they have not previously had the administrator or interface administrator right removed involuntarily, other than procedurally for inactivity. If such a removal has previously occurred, they must request and be granted interface administrator and/or administrator access locally prior to using this access. Furthermore, any English Wikipedia bureaucrat can ask a global interface editor to stop using their global privilege if what they deem to be misuse occurs, and the global interface editor must comply with such a request. Such a decision by a bureaucrat can be appealed to thewider community.Failure to comply may result in a block. In particular, bureaucrats who carry out a request for removal of local interface administrator permissions from an editor with possible recent and related inappropriate conduct may invoke this clause. Interface editors are reminded that some interface pages, such as thewatchlist,requirediscussionprior to use. Interface editors must comply with local policies, such as theprotection policy.
- List of users withGlobal edit interface rights
Removal of rights
[edit]A user who abuses their global rights by knowingly or recklessly using their global rights on the English Wikipedia in contravention of this policy should be reported tometa:Stewards' noticeboardor#wikimedia-stewardson IRC immediately, where the stewards will determine whether an emergency removal of tools is required. An indefinite block may also be placed on the account locally during this period if necessary to prevent further abuse (see the above section).
Additional global groups
[edit]In addition to the above there are additional global groups not defined in this policy. They are:Abuse filter maintainers,API high limit requestors,Abuse filter helpers,CAPTCHA exemptions,Founder,Global Flow creators,New wikis importers(not enabled on the English Wikipedia),Two-factor authentication testers,Recursive export group,Global IP block exemptions,WMF ops monitoringandWMF Researcher.
Also, someMeta-Wikilocal groups have global effects. These areMeta Administrators,Meta Central notice administrators,Meta Interface Administrators,OAuth administrators,push subscription managers,Meta MassMessage senders,Meta Global renamers,WMF Office ITandWMF Support and Safety.