Wikipedia, the so-called people’s encyclopedia that strives for even-handedness, “often” is edited with an agenda and retaliates against editors who see problems with entries by blocking their IP address, according to a new investigative report.
This Sunday’s “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson” includes two “Wikipedia insiders” who detail the retaliation, information control and conflicts of interest by the website, one of the most important on the web.
On the show with Attkisson, one of the insiders claims that Wiki blocks up to 1,000 IP addresses a day.
A second editor claims his life was upset when the site came after him.
Wikipedia has long complained about others, like China, that censor it and pledges to let its editors alone.
Below are the excerpts provided to Secrets:
It’s billed as “the encyclopedia that anyone can edit.” But for many it’s just the opposite. Sharyl Attkisson talks with two men who have been left battle-scarred after troubling personal encounters with Wikipedia. Greg Kohs was banned from Wikipedia for challenging the website’s policies.
ATTKISSON: “SO WIKIPEDIA DOES CENSOR USERS?”
KOHS: “ABSOLUTELY. IN A GIVEN DAY, WIKIPEDIA ADMINISTRATORS TYPICALLY ARE BLOCKING ABOUT 1,000 DIFFERENT IP ADDRESSES.”
ATTKISSON: “1,000 A DAY?”
KOHS: “1,000 A DAY. YES.”
Attkisson also interviews Mike Wood, another paid Wikipedia editor who says his confrontation with the website cost him his job and changed his life.
MIKE WOOD: “THERE IS NO PRIVACY. IF THEY WANT TO KNOW WHO YOU ARE, WHERE YOU ARE EDITING FROM, THEY HAVE THAT, AND THEY CAN CHECK IT AND THEY WILL. DO NOT STEP IN FRONT OF THAT TRAIN, BECAUSE THEY WILL RUN YOU OVER.”
The show hosted by the five-time Emmy Award winner airs Sundays nationally on the stations of the Sinclair Broadcast Group and also streams live on all Sinclair websites on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. ET. http://fullmeasure.news/
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
