User:DevilTown/Sandbox7
This article is about a significant event in Malusian archival history, but may be unbalanced towards certain viewpoints. |
Black Tuesday | |||
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March 7, 2023 – September 12, 2023 | |||
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Black Tuesday is the term used within Malus to describe the removal of Malusian content hosted on the MicroWiki and Micronations Fandom websites. The event greatly harmed the ability of Malus to conduct foreign relations, and caused several micronations to break ties with Malus. Over the course of several months, most of the 3,274 contributions made on the "Confederation of Malus" account were undone or deleted.
Etymology
The term Black Tuesday was coined by Luciferio Mickomik, who had named it after the events of Black February, Black March, and the Second Black March, which were all coined names of other controversies within the MicroWiki Sector. Due to this, the leader of Malus, Luciferio Mickomik, stated he believed the term is "fitting."
Purge
On March 7, 2023, an alternative administrative moderation account, "User:MiB", deleted the account of Luciferio Mickomik, and deleted all Malus-related pages and files.[1] MicroWiki administrators would also ban the Discord account of Connor Anderson, who was the president of the Republic of Malus at the time, due to him asking questions about the mass-deletion.[2] Other users would also ask the administration about what had happened, and this was met with silence or jokes, such as administrators posting the "If I speak - big trouble" meme.[3]
President Anderson would then bring Mickomik and Jonathan Austen, the owner of MicroWiki, into a group chat on Discord, where the two Malusians would lay out their grievances with the situation and hope to clarify any issues. Austen would respond by simply leaving the chat without reading the messages.[4]
Aftermath
Explanation
At 9:17 PM, a user going by "European" would send a message to the Discord server, trying to make sense of the deletion as to this point, the administration had only vaguely insinuated that Malus' previous association with controversial or problematic micronations was the reason. In response to their message, admin Strubber would state an official explanation would be given soon.
Between this time, in the MicroWiki server, messages regarding the conversation relating to Malus' articles were deleted by admins, and Connor Anderson was banned from the server.[5] The following day at 5:57 and 6:06 AM, Andrew, a MicroWiki admin, would make a long statement about the deletion. He claimed that the reason Austen used the MiB account was to avoid avoid harassment from "terminally online individuals", which they had allegedly experienced in the past. He then explained that Austen found content within articles relating to Malus that were deletion worthy. He also accused Mickomik of being a troll, claiming he was banned from the MicroWiki Discord due to intimidating behavior, and accused people of being Nazis and fascists. He also accused pages of defending a sexual predator, and then summarized everything by saying keeping Malusian content on their website was "much more trouble than it was worth."[6]
Zany Ayim, a former enemy of Malus engaged with the admins, asking for the specifics regarding allegations levied towards Malus and Mickomik, to which Andrew replied by saying "I don't plan on elaborating further on anything I've said in my response, it stands on its own." Ayim pushed again, and Andrew answered back with, "I can't get any more clearer than MicroWiki does not wish to associate with the micronation of Malus, which I'm aware you're associated with." Ayim was then banned from the server, and no supporting evidence for MicroWiki's claims was shown.
Jonathan then came into the conversation, saying that Andrew's explanation summarized everything well enough, and added that, Malus' articles were also deleted due to containing Wikipedia links to "very questionable articles that I don't feel appropriate to link on a wiki so frequently used by minors."[7]
Later on, Zed, a prolific MicroWiki editor and former administrator, would state that pages relating to Malus were purged due to Malus' "extremist ideology" and that Mickomik had pages mentioning "demonic rituals, sacrifices and blood-related activities.." This was stated after Ayim had said MicroWiki seemed to find no issue with fascist micronations, but take up issues with the fact Malus was Satanic.[8]
Allegations of Slander
On April 21, Mickomik wrote an open letter to the MicroWiki administration, expressing his displeasure regarding lies told by them regarding his pages and character.[9] He tweeted this letter out on the same day, tagging the MicroWiki Twitter.[10] He never received a reply to the letter.
On May 1, Mickomik took to Twitter to go through the allegations levied by the MicroWiki administration and attempt to debunk them. He took issue with several claims, such as his supposed "intimidating behavior." Both on Discord and over Twitter, he attempted to reach administrators and ask for clarification, and so did a few of his friends. Nobody received a reply back. Mickomik directly asked for proof or examples of that accusation, and received no reply. He also would go into a rant against the MicroWiki administrators, asking them to produce any proof that his pages defended a sexual predator and that he knew of their crimes, proof that his pages mentioned or promoted "demonic rituals or blood activities", and proof that Mickomik dragged the MicroWiki team into drama.[11][12][13][14] President Connor Anderson would engage with Jonathan, the latter of which requesting that the conversation regarding Malus be entirely dropped and forgotten. After Anderson continued to ask about the purge, Austen refused to reply.[15]
After MicroWiki promptly refused to address the situation further, Mickomik asked for "an apology, clarification, or retraction" from MicroWiki, due to these allegations hurting international relations Malus was attempting to forge.[16][17] This request was never met or addressed by MicroWiki. Mickomik alleges that the purge was malicious in intent, due to the ways the MicroWiki administration made passing jokes regarding the situation.
Continued purge
The purge would continue on-and-off into the following months. On the Fandom website for Micronations, which Jonathan Austen also owns, by April 13, Mickomik's account was blocked and his new pages about the State of Malus and Republic of Malus were deleted.[18][19] Well into May, Austen would continue purging MicroWiki of Mickomik's pages, and the pages created by others who merely mentioned Malus in passing.[20] On May 19, the MicroWiki page for the Veterans Park War was deleted, which angered micronationalists in the Long Island sector. Their grievances were ignored by the MicroWiki administration.
On May 23, Mickomik spoke to an admin of MicroWiki, who stated that Austen's actions were done without the consultation of the rest of the admin team, which angered the administration.[21] Mickomik deleted the tweet about this incident due to not having the consent of the person who told him this.
On June 7, prolific MicroWiki editor Zäbelle added a miscellaneous section to the MicroWiki page about users by edit count. In this section, it was revealed that MicroWiki administrators had deleted 81.67% of Mickomik's edits.[22]
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Patroller Sertor Valentinus making fun of the purge.
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Administrator Stefan disparages Malus
End
The purge continued sporadically for months after the initial beginning back in March. On September 12, after losing an election the previous day, Mickomik announced his intention to take a back seat to micronationalism in Malus, and more generally as well, instead focusing on building up the lore of the MWF. He posted a tweet stating that "there was no point in continuing" the issue of the purge, as he wouldn't be able to have a conversation regarding it with admins. [23]
Relocation
Following the purge, in an effort to preserve Malusian history, information regarding Malus was added to multiple wiki-like websites, as well as other places, such as DoveArchives, Micronationalss Wiki, MicroWiki Fandom, and The Micronational Directory.
References
- ↑ 1
- ↑ 2
- ↑ Republic of Malus, (Republic_Malus) “The pages that were purged did not break any of their rules of editing, either. So, what was this all about? Well, when people tried to ask on their Discord server, they were met with hostility and secrecy, with administrators either not knowing what happened or refusing to talk.” May 1, 2023, 12:17 PM. https://twitter.com/Republic_Malus/status/1653071060525367304?s=20 (Archived).
- ↑ Republic of Malus, (Republic_Malus) “When it was clear that the administrators refused to answer questions, the president (Xulf) and I attempted to reach out to Jonathan in a groupchat and give our side of the story. We got no response.” May 1, 2023, 12:17 PM. https://twitter.com/Republic_Malus/status/1653071062681149441?s=20 (Archived).
- ↑ Republic of Malus [@Republic_Malus]. “Now, if you've made it this far, I think that it should be noted that in the server, multiple things happened. Messages were deleted, people were banned, and an overall urgency to keep the conversation quiet was felt.” Twitter, May 1 2023, https://twitter.com/Republic_Malus/status/1653071071988396035 (Archived).
- ↑ Republic of Malus [@Republic_Malus]. “This was the first explanation given as to why our pages were purged.” Twitter, May 1 2023, https://twitter.com/Republic_Malus/status/1653071073997475841 (Archived).
- ↑ Republic of Malus [@Republic_Malus]. “Well, it's a good thing that we have some of those articles! The linked Wikipedia articles are nothing inappropriate unless you find someone's religious beliefs to be "inappropriate." Wikipedia has rules as well, so what possibly could've been inappropriate, @AustenasiaEmp?.” Twitter, May 1 2023, https://twitter.com/Republic_Malus/status/1653071086362189827/photo/1 (Archived).
- ↑ Republic of Malus [@Republic_Malus]. “ Furthermore, when MicroWiki lies about you, people tend to believe it. So, I'd love an apology, clarification, or retraction from you. @MicroWiki @AustenasiaEmp” Twitter, May 1 2023, https://twitter.com/Republic_Malus/status/1653071094419705858/photo/1 (Archived).
- ↑ Dear MicroWiki Administrators, Luciferio Mickomik
- ↑ Republic of Malus [@Republic_Malus]. “@MicroWiki I'd love to have an actual, adult conversation about this. #micronationalism #micronations Your failure to do so as well as conflicting claims raises serious questions about the website's honesty and administrator's integrity.” Twitter, May 1 2023, https://twitter.com/Republic_Malus/status/1652064571161554946 (Archived).
- ↑ Republic of Malus [@Republic_Malus]. “ To avoid making this even longer, I will respond to each claim here. -It looks conspiratorial because it IS -Neither I (Luciferio) or anybody in Malus has a history of fighting or harassing users. -I am not a "blatant troll", I've been doing this for five years -(con't) ” Twitter, May 1 2023, https://twitter.com/Republic_Malus/status/1653071076111294470 (Archived).
- ↑ Republic of Malus [@Republic_Malus]. “-Banned for what intimidating behavior exactly? I have asked them this, MULTIPLE times, and never ever got an answer. The only answer that I was given about a ban from MW@D is that I support Irish independence. Funny, that." Twitter, May 1 2023, https://twitter.com/Republic_Malus/status/1653071077629652998 (Archived).
- ↑ Republic of Malus [@Republic_Malus]. “-Your use of the word "apparently" shows me that you yourself have no idea what you're talking about, and the fact none of you have shown proof says as much. -The last claim bothers me the most. It is OUTRIGHT slander, and they have never shown proof of it, to this day." Twitter, May 1 2023, https://twitter.com/Republic_Malus/status/1653071080788049926(Archived).
- ↑ Republic of Malus [@Republic_Malus]. “Well, it's a good thing that we have some of those articles! The linked Wikipedia articles are nothing inappropriate unless you find someone's religious beliefs to be "inappropriate." Wikipedia has rules as well, so what possibly could've been inappropriate, @AustenasiaEmp?" Twitter, May 1 2023, https://twitter.com/Republic_Malus/status/1653071086362189827(Archived).
- ↑ Republic of Malus [@Republic_Malus]. “Here's Jonathan refusing to elaborate or apologize for slandering us, insisting that our pages are linked to inappropriate Wikipedia pages, which is a lie, and referring back to their general disclaimer page, not against the rules." Twitter, May 1 2023, https://twitter.com/Republic_Malus/status/1653071086362189827(Archived).
- ↑ Republic of Malus [@Republic_Malus]. “Furthermore, when MicroWiki lies about you, people tend to believe it. So, I'd love an apology, clarification, or retraction from you. @MicroWiki @AustenasiaEmp" Twitter, May 1 2023, https://twitter.com/Republic_Malus/status/1653071094419705858(Archived).
- ↑ Republic of Malus [@Republic_Malus]. “It’s common knowledge that Microwiki’s false lies about Malus have negatively impacted our foreign relations. Not only this, but these lies are parroted by people who trust MW as an unbiased source and don’t question their claims" Twitter, May 1 2023, https://twitter.com/Republic_Malus/status/1657946005847912450
- ↑ Republic of Malus [@Republic_Malus]. “Annnnnd they're STILL purging on other sites. Sites that nobody even uses and have a garbage layout, but god forbid we exist anywhere! #micronations #micronationalism" Twitter, May 1 2023, https://twitter.com/Republic_Malus/status/1653380647900020736(Archived).
- ↑ Republic of Malus [@Republic_Malus]. “Literally a vendetta" Twitter, May 1 2023, https://twitter.com/Republic_Malus/status/1653380954906320896(Archived).
- ↑ Republic of Malus [@Republic_Malus]. “'Guys we don't have a vendetta against Malus'" Twitter, May 1 2023, https://twitter.com/Republic_Malus/status/1660772597137588226(Archived).
- ↑ Republic of Malus [@Republic_Malus]. “#micronation #micronationalism twitter.com/Republic_Malus/status/1660796709293703168"Twitter, May 1 2023, https://twitter.com/Republic_Malus/status/1660796848397856769(Archived).
- ↑ MicroWiki:list of users by edit count (2019) MicroWiki:List of users by edit count - MicroWiki. Available at: https://micronations.wiki/wiki/MicroWiki:List_of_users_by_edit_count#Miscellaneous (Accessed: 01 July 2023).
- ↑ SocialistMalus on X