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Wikipedia Vandalism Study (view source)
Revision as of 16:06, 17 December 2008
, 16:06, 17 December 2008Adding examples
This is not an issue of “damaged” versus “acceptable” rates. Rather, it is an issue that the [[Directory:Wikimedia Foundation|Wikimedia Foundation]] allows anonymous editors to append the article about [[Directory:Hillary Clinton|Hillary Clinton]] with “'''hillary needs to die and chop of her penis'''”; or to modify the article about Bob Menendez to say “'''Menendez and Jacobsen have since divorced because he was cheating on her'''”; all without any meaningful effort to change the parameters of editing to disallow this kind of drive-by hatred and libel.
This is not an issue of “damaged” versus “acceptable” rates. Rather, it is an issue that the [[Directory:Wikimedia Foundation|Wikimedia Foundation]] allows anonymous editors to append the article about [[Directory:Hillary Clinton|Hillary Clinton]] with “'''hillary needs to die and chop of her penis'''”; or to modify the article about Bob Menendez to say “'''Menendez and Jacobsen have since divorced because he was cheating on her'''”; all without any meaningful effort to change the parameters of editing to disallow this kind of drive-by hatred and libel.
== Other examples ==
== Notorious examples ==
* For over 72 hours, the Wikipedia article about Senator John McCain of [[Directory:Arizona|Arizona]] said that he was "[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_McCain&diff=166589769&oldid=166526374 born in Florida in the then American-controlled Panama Canal Zone]". The page was viewed about 93,758 times in this condition before it was corrected.
* For nearly 11 hours, the Wikipedia article about McCain said that he "[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_McCain&diff=169808394&oldid=169720853 is also know to have sucked a few cocks in his life as well]". The page was viewed about 14,115 times in this condition before it was corrected.
* For more than 75 days, the Wikipedia article about Senator Gordon Smith of [[Directory:Oregon|Oregon]] said that "[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gordon_Smith&diff=next&oldid=132039036 political pandering <nowiki>[has]</nowiki> been cited as possible reasons for his unusual positions]". The page was viewed about 10,029 times in this condition before it was corrected.
* For more than 46 days, the Wikipedia article about Senator Maria Cantwell of [[Directory:Washington|Washington]] said that she "[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maria_Cantwell&diff=prev&oldid=160400298 was voted most attractive United States Senator, among current and former members]". The page was viewed about 7,806 times in this condition before it was corrected.
* For over 135 hours, the Wikipedia article about Senator Ted Stevens of [[Directory:Alaska|Alaska]] said that he "[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ted_Stevens&diff=169950977&oldid=168486242 attended Redondo Union High School, participating in kinky sex adventures.]". The page was viewed about 3,132 times in this condition before it was corrected.
* For over 70 hours, the Wikipedia article about Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of [[Directory:Texas|Texas]] said that she "[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kay_Bailey_Hutchison&diff=next&oldid=160334020 is the only member of the <nowiki>[[Texas Super Justice League]]</nowiki> capable of feeling human emotions.]". The page was viewed about 677 times in this condition before it was corrected.
* For over 56 hours, the Wikipedia article about Senator Harry Reid of [[Directory:Nevada|Nevada]] said that he was "[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Harry_Reid&diff=next&oldid=171572544 married to his right hand]". The page was viewed about 1,383 times in this condition before it was corrected.
* For nearly 11 hours, the Wikipedia article about Senator Joe Lieberman of [[Directory:Connecticut|Connecticut]] described him as "[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joe_Lieberman&diff=next&oldid=169107698 a hideous, coffee-drinking Jew]". The page was viewed about 446 times in this condition before it was corrected.
== Other cases of vandalism ==
* The article on British journalist Tom Utley was vandalised by an edit (since [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tom_Utley&diff=143953179&oldid=143597498 deleted entirely] from the Wiki database) claiming "He is the proud father of 4 sons. One of them is propa belta at smokin tac. The other is currently havin an affair with Mylene "Sideboob" funbags Klass. Raker. One other is MDMAzin. and the other i dont have any scoop on but there are rumours he was caught fornicating with a dead brown bear that was actually black<ref>'tac' is British underclass slang for cannabis, 'belta' is a term of approval meaning great, terrific, brilliant</ref>. " made on 11 July 2007 and which was not spotted until 23 July 2007. Utley [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-558786/Abortion-boy-fiddled-Wikipedia-entry-Ive-feared-sinister-power-internet.html wrote about this] commenting "I notice that Wikipedia's article on itself is marked with a padlock, meaning it's protected from interference by you or me - which doesn't say much for its managers' faith in the emergence of truth through absolute freedom".
* The article on British journalist Tom Utley was vandalised by an edit (since [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tom_Utley&diff=143953179&oldid=143597498 deleted entirely] from the Wiki database) claiming "He is the proud father of 4 sons. One of them is propa belta at smokin tac. The other is currently havin an affair with Mylene "Sideboob" funbags Klass. Raker. One other is MDMAzin. and the other i dont have any scoop on but there are rumours he was caught fornicating with a dead brown bear that was actually black<ref>'tac' is British underclass slang for cannabis, 'belta' is a term of approval meaning great, terrific, brilliant</ref>. " made on 11 July 2007 and which was not spotted until 23 July 2007. Utley [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-558786/Abortion-boy-fiddled-Wikipedia-entry-Ive-feared-sinister-power-internet.html wrote about this] commenting "I notice that Wikipedia's article on itself is marked with a padlock, meaning it's protected from interference by you or me - which doesn't say much for its managers' faith in the emergence of truth through absolute freedom".