A piece of software which monitors who is editing pages on Wikipedia has revealed that many big organisations have been maliciously editing pages in the wiki encyclopaedia. The tool monitors the IP addresses of Wiki page-editors. It has shown that organisations such as the CIA, the US Democrat party and games publisher EA have been changing pages.
It seems that multinational organisations see Wikipedia as an ideal tool to weave their propaganda. The CIA, for instance, changed the page dedicated to the President of Iran. And it has been claimed that the Vatican edited entries on controversial Catholic Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams.
A CIA spokesperson would not confirm nor deny the reports, saying: "I cannot confirm that the traffic you cite came from agency computers.
"I'd like in any case to underscore a far larger and more significant point that no one should doubt or forget: The CIA has a vital mission in protecting the United States, and the focus of this agency is there, on that decisive work."
Wikipedia propaganda
Meanwhile the US Democratic Party apparently made changes to the site of right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh. Wikipedia welcomed the reports, saying the tool promotes fairness and transparency, and prevents conflicts of interest. "We really value transparency and the scanner really takes this to another level," they said.
"Wikipedia Scanner may prevent an organisation or individuals from editing articles that they're really not supposed to."
Games publisher Electronic Arts (EA) apparently removed negative parts in its own entry.
