The Politics of a Wikipedia Eraser

The all-new method of political assault: sabotage your enemy's Wikipedia page.

According to the BBC, a new tool called a wikiscanner is able to compile lists of who edited what on Wikipedia pages. Interesting histories have emerged. The CIA reportedly had its way with the page of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Adding "Wahhhhhh!" to his entry.) Meddlesome manipulation isn't just the work of covert government operations, though. Apparently someone on a computer owned by the Democratic party edited the page about radio host Rush Limbaugh, labeling him "idiotic," a "racist," and a "bigot."

The Vatican has struck content from the page of Gerry Adams, Irish republican party Sinn Fein leader.

Technology manufacturer Diebold amended the page about its chief executive, Walden O'Dell, eliminating the fact that he was a fund-raiser for George II.

This all adds a new element to the phenomenon of Wikipedia: information excised is as important as information added.

Comments

[danielW]

Winkipedia is the reason people know so much that isn' so. It is garbage in, garbage out. Anyone who is foolish enough to reference information from there should have their head and hard disk examined.