 | This is aninformation page. It is neither anencyclopedia article nor one ofWikipedia's policies or guidelines; rather, its purpose is to explain certain aspects of Wikipedia's norms, customs, technicalities, or practices. It may reflect differing levels ofconsensus andvetting. |
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Functionaries are users who perform specialized roles and haveprivileged technical access on the Wikimedia projects. Examples include users withCheckUser orOversight access, as well as current and past members of theArbitration Committee. These users have been highly and thoroughly vetted, examined, analyzed, and reviewed by the Wikipedia community, and have been determined to hold the level of knowledge, confidence, decorum, trust, respect, and level of judgment that's expected and required.
Functionary access must be authorized by the Arbitration Committee or the Wikimedia Foundation, and requires that the user sign theconfidentiality agreement for nonpublic information before being granted any of these permissions. This is in contrast to users who areadministrators,bureaucrats, or members of theBot Approvals Group, for example, as these roles do not deal with private information.
Functionaries whose permissions and responsibilities are confined to the English Wikipedia are under the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Committee. These users include:
Sitting arbitrators and current holders of checkuser or oversight permissions are subscribed to thefunctionaries-en mailing list as a matter of course. Editors who voluntarily resign these permissions, and arbitrators whose term has ended, may remain subscribed provided they remain in good standing. In situations where these permissions are revoked from a user for cause, list membership is usually also revoked as well. In addition to being subscribed to thefunctionaries-en mailing list, checkusers are also subscribed to the global checkuser mailing list, and oversighters to the local oversight mailing list. These lists are private, and membership is granted only to current holders of those permissions.
Functionaries are held to asignificantly higher standard of behavior and conduct than non-functionariesat all times – especially when it involves issues related to their area of responsibility. Users who demonstrate a lack of judgment in an area related to their functionary-level responsibilities or access to private information may have their status as functionaries revoked, whether or not an explicit abuse involving their level of access has occurred.
Functionaries have a very high profile within the project and are usually the face of Wikipedia both to its editors and to the wider world. Their decisions and actions can easily become the focus of high levels of scrutiny by the community, the public, single-issue advocates and groups, news and media outlets and journalists, and even world governments and legal entities – especially when they involve articles or topics that becomeextremely contentious to a significant number of people, such as major current events. Because of this, functionaries are expected to hold a high level of decorum and trust by the community and maintain a neutral and level-headed position when controversies (inside or outside the project) arise. It is extremely damaging to the integrity of the encyclopedia and the project as a whole if a functionary is repeatedly found to be the subject of administrative noticeboard discussions involving their conduct, or repeatedly observed to be embroiled in controversy by the community. Functionaries may be removed from their position by the Arbitration Committee.
Thefunctionaries-en mailing list is a venue for general discussion among current Arbitration Committee members, former arbitrators, advanced permission holders, and other editors with official Wikimedia Foundation affiliation or status. The mailing list is private and can only be used by its members; any emails that are sent to it from non-members are automatically rejected and not delivered.
Although current Arbitration Committee members are subscribed toarbcom-en, the scope of this list is broader. Its use allows for more effective collaboration among editors involved with sensitive and privacy-related areas within the community, and the handling of related issues—primarily on the English Wikipedia. The list also has a role in supporting the Arbitration Committee, being available to assist with various matters, and acting as a forum for discussion, input, and collective memory as needed.
As this list is private, it isnot a place forunblock requests or other general queries. The appropriatevolunteer response team queue is better suited for such issues.
As of 19 November 2025, the 95 subscribers are: