Editing Eurovision Wiki:Village pump (policy) (section)

== Are paid editors required to have an account? ==

It seems to be implied but not explicitly stated that paid editors are required to have an actual user account rather than a TA (since the [[WP:PAID]] policy mentions that one must publicly link their userpage to any external account where they solicit paid editing services, for example.) My question is;

1. Is it commonly understood that this is a requirement for paid editors? If so, I'll go ahead and add some verbiage to that effect to WP:PAID.

2. If it is not already assumed to be the case, would there be support for amending the policy to add this requirement? It is obviously harder to track a paid editor's contributions across temporary accounts which may change, so for the sake of convenience and disclosure I think this would be a sensible requirement to institute. [[User:Athanelar|Athanelar]] ([[User talk:Athanelar|talk]]) 12:55, 13 March 2026 (UTC)
*I had assumed it to be true. [[WP:PAID]] doesn't seem to actually insist on it, but it would be difficult to comply with without an account. [[User:Phil Bridger|Phil Bridger]] ([[User talk:Phil Bridger|talk]]) 13:19, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

:PAID pre-dated temp accounts - primarily considering that "main user page"'s were for users - not for IP pages -- so I would think it would follow. The main question is would you have let an "ip user" disclose previously -- probably not. — [[User:Xaosflux|<span style="color:#FF9933; font-weight:bold; font-family:monotype;">xaosflux</span>]] <sup>[[User talk:Xaosflux|<span style="color:#009933;">Talk</span>]]</sup> 16:25, 13 March 2026 (UTC)
:I have gone ahead and boldly added the line {{tq|In order to ensure that this disclosure can be tracked across an editor's contributions, paid editors must have a registered user account, and must not engage in paid editing on a temporary account}} to the 'how to disclose' section; anyone who objects please do feel free to remove it. [[User:Athanelar|Athanelar]] ([[User talk:Athanelar|talk]]) 16:56, 13 March 2026 (UTC)
::Yup, given dynamic IP, the current non-visibility of all IP addresses to most contributors, and given the temporary nature of TAs, any 'disclosure' is liable to become rapidly unverifiable. This is clearly incompatible with the objectives of WP:COI disclosure policy. [[User:AndyTheGrump|AndyTheGrump]] ([[User talk:AndyTheGrump|talk]]) 17:01, 13 March 2026 (UTC)
:::You'd have to re-re-re-re-disclose under those circumstances.   [[User:WhatamIdoing|WhatamIdoing]] ([[User talk:WhatamIdoing|talk]]) 20:48, 13 March 2026 (UTC)
::::I’m not sure if an account needs to be ''required''.  An editor who is paid to make one single edit can simply disclose when they make that one edit. No need for an account.
::::Of course, if they wanted to make multiple edits without an account, they would have to re-disclose for ''every'' edit. Now, I suspect this would quickly become tiresome… and thus there is an incentive for them to create an account (so they can make a blanket disclosure and save time). But ultimately that would be their choice. [[User:Blueboar|Blueboar]] ([[User talk:Blueboar|talk]]) 21:08, 13 March 2026 (UTC)
:::::I agree.  I'd change the "paid editors must" to "paid editors will find it easier to". [[User:WhatamIdoing|WhatamIdoing]] ([[User talk:WhatamIdoing|talk]]) 22:16, 13 March 2026 (UTC)
:::::Counterpoint; if you've got an editor who's an editor on a freelance basis rather than working for one particular company, we wouldn't want them cropping up on different TAs every now and then making the odd paid edit here and there without us knowing it's the same person, right? WP:PAID already mandates that these sorts of editors need to publicly link any of their offwiki freelancing accounts to their wiki account so we can know who's who; I suppose you could argue they could separately disclose that on every TA (since TAs technically can have user/talk pages), but that would leave us having to follow the trail of breadcrumbs to connect the accounts, when they could just have a registered account so we can clearly see their entire paid contribution history in one place. We have to consider that it's not just about what's convenient for the paid editor but also what's convenient for anybody who wants to audit them. The whole reason we have paid editing disclosure requirements in the first place is for this kind of transparency, so why make it possible for these editors to obfuscate things to even the slightest degree? [[User:Athanelar|Athanelar]] ([[User talk:Athanelar|talk]]) 22:28, 13 March 2026 (UTC)
::::::Agreed. Anyone with a CoI who wishes to edit should be obliged to make it transparent. If they aren't prepared to do that, they shouldn't be editing at all. [[User:AndyTheGrump|AndyTheGrump]] ([[User talk:AndyTheGrump|talk]]) 22:48, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

{{od}}
This discussion seems ongoing. I would have expected a done deal. WP:PAID have already been {{diff2|1343613290|changed}} to make it a requirement. But only in a single non-prominent place. And initially without any talk discussion or edit summary to link to this consensus - I am here because I reverted the change, asking for context and background.

I don't really have an opinion either way - just an open question: is this discussion over and has the site-wide community reached a consensus, and discussed where and how to advertise this change? (If so, great!) [[User:CapnZapp|CapnZapp]] ([[User talk:CapnZapp|talk]]) 11:04, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

:It is indeed ongoing, but given that nobody has really raised any substantial critique of the concept (or my implementation thereof except for WAID's minor wording tweak suggestion) and the initial responses were to the effect of "I assumed that was always the case," I thought it prudent to add.
:If you think it shouldn't be done at all (or if you think it should be done more prominently with its own section on WP:PAID or something) please do say so. [[User:Athanelar|Athanelar]] ([[User talk:Athanelar|talk]]) 11:11, 15 March 2026 (UTC)
:: I do believe your edit is a '''change'''. Previously, three ways were offered, including disclosing on edit summaries, which did not require you to have an account back when IP editing was a thing (I checked PAID from before TAs were added). I have zero objections if this change is an intentional and deliberate decision made by the community at large; however, if this is just a bunch of random editors thinking they are only clarifying how it has always worked, I strongly suggest you first get your ducks in a row. And with that I am leaving this matter. [[User:CapnZapp|CapnZapp]] ([[User talk:CapnZapp|talk]]) 12:10, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

:I think editors here agree that paid editors need to ''either'' (a) have a registered account, or (b) disclose consistently every time they make a paid edit. As I think about it, it occurs to me that there can be a potential problem with (b). If an individual who is being paid pops up from time to time with different temp accounts, there is the opportunity to make edits that don't quite measure up to being paid edits, but which reflect the COI that comes with paid editing, and those might not be disclosed, even though they would draw scrutiny if it were a registered account that had disclosed previously. That could be an unwanted loophole. --[[User:Tryptofish|Tryptofish]] ([[User talk:Tryptofish|talk]]) 21:20, 16 March 2026 (UTC)