> I opened https://github.com/python/cpython/pull/11591 to remove _valid_mask_octets, _is_valid_netmask and _is_hostmask from ipaddress, the patch proposed in issue27860 has a larger scope so it's probably better to remove those unused methods in this issue.

Thanks, the subject of the issue is misleading and I would propose changing the issue subject or closing this in favor of the other issue and opening a PR against issue27860 stating that this only removes the unused functions and not the complete patch attached. This would require a review from the module maintainer I hope though it's an internal function that is never used.

> Does someone know how to set the skip news label on GitHub?

It needs to be added by a core dev