Editing Eurovision Wiki:Help desk (section)

== Concerns about a user's contributions ==

I have had a growing suspicion that a portion of a Wikipedia user's contributions are original content (bluntly, fictitious) rather than content based on those from verifiable secondary sources. A chunk of their edits ''are'' genuine, but there are also contributions that are eyebrow-raising. I'm not sure what would be the first steps to address this, who/where to bring this to light, or whether it would be ideal to discuss with the user first and go from there, as well as next steps after that. Any advice would be helpful, thank you for your time! [[User:Ornithoptera|Ornithoptera]] ([[User talk:Ornithoptera|talk]]) 02:09, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

:A portion of this question concerns Commons uploads, a portion of work has been published without any apparent secondary sources verifying its legitimacy. When I try to search for any independent usage of those purported images, I come up empty handed. Some of those images have now been used on a variety of Wikipedia articles. A secondary question would be whether that is allowed? Can originally fabricated content be put up on Commons without a marker that identifies it as the original creation of the Wikipedia user and not something that has been established? I'm sure that Commons would like to promote original work, but passing original designs off as something that it is not is a bit eyebrow-raising to me. [[User:Ornithoptera|Ornithoptera]] ([[User talk:Ornithoptera|talk]]) 04:25, 13 March 2026 (UTC)
::Commons has an 'own work' tag which is supposed to be used specifically to flag anything which is the creation of the uploading user. [[User:Athanelar|Athanelar]] ([[User talk:Athanelar|talk]]) 11:47, 13 March 2026 (UTC)
:::Hi {{ping|Athanelar}}, thank you for your insight. My concern lies within the factuality of the upload. As an (not this but, for the purposes of keeping the user anonymous) example, someone uploaded a drawing of a fish but had labelled, categorized, and referred to it as a car. This drawing is clearly a fish, and somehow or another, this drawing had wound up in a foreign-language wiki article for cars without evidence other than the fact that the drawing is referred to as that. Would that be allowed? [[User:Ornithoptera|Ornithoptera]] ([[User talk:Ornithoptera|talk]]) 03:47, 14 March 2026 (UTC)
::::Assuming that your hypothetical somewhat reflects the real situation; if the image is being used on a foreign-language wiki, then the question of whether its use is allowed is one that can only be answered on the wiki in question; the different language Wikipedias are entirely independent projects with their own standards and rules, what is allowed here may not be allowed there and vice versa.
::::I'm not sure what PAG to point to, but I can guarantee that that would not be allowed on the English-language wiki (i.e., an unrelated image of a fish being on an article about a car merely because the fish image is labelled as car.jpg), but I can't confidently tell you that the same goes on whatever foreign-language wiki you're referring to; you'd have to ask there. [[User:Athanelar|Athanelar]] ([[User talk:Athanelar|talk]]) 03:50, 14 March 2026 (UTC)
:::::At the end of the day, it is solely a concern and those concerns can be confirmed/denied when I have a conversation with the user in question as suggested earlier. There are some usages of the images in question on the English Wikipedia as well, those articles are just not paid attention to enough to rectify, and there are so many of them I'm not sure where to start if it actually turns out to be the case. [[User:Ornithoptera|Ornithoptera]] ([[User talk:Ornithoptera|talk]]) 04:49, 14 March 2026 (UTC)
:Hello, @[[User:Ornithoptera|Ornithoptera]]. 
:In almost all circumstances, the first step is to engage with the editor involved. [[WP:Assume good faith|Assume good faith]], and ask why they think their edits are appropriate, and try to explain to them why you think they are not. [[User:ColinFine|ColinFine]] ([[User talk:ColinFine|talk]]) 11:25, 13 March 2026 (UTC)
::Thank you for your insight {{ping|ColinFine}} I'll see what I can do. I wanted to follow up and inquire about potential next steps in the situation that the user is uncooperative or if there is no resolution reached through discussion. [[User:Ornithoptera|Ornithoptera]] ([[User talk:Ornithoptera|talk]]) 03:49, 14 March 2026 (UTC)
:::Then you would proceed to [[WP:dispute resolution]]. We make a distinction between a disagreement about content and one that involves the conduct of the editors who are involved (e.g. failure to [[WP:communicate]]). [[User:Michael D. Turnbull|Mike Turnbull]] ([[User talk:Michael D. Turnbull|talk]]) 11:49, 14 March 2026 (UTC)