Wikipedia scrubbing

"Wikipedia reminds me of that old joke about the encyclopedias in the Soviet Union with the loose leaf pages." – an internet user writing in a Times newspaper forum.

The phenomenal success of Wikipedia, the world's most popular online reference work, is due to the genius of its compilation. Any internet user can edit facts and statistics published on its pages. But this democratisation of knowledge may yet prove the website's Achilles heel.

Corporations and large organisations intent on preserving a squeaky clean image have taken to amending articles about themselves, often excising the less salubrious parts of their own histories. This is in clear violation of Wikipedia's editorial guidelines that disqualify people or organisations from editing articles that concern them directly. More seriously, the practice may lead to accusations of censorship, defamation and libel.

A new scanning programme, WikiScanner, blows the whistle on Wikipedia edits that seem to be in-house spin jobs by tracing computers IP addresses back to their source. It invites other users to name and shame the worst offenders and keep a list of the most self-conscious organisations.  Most of the cases involve the removal or alteration of truthful but pejorative information and in some instances, the addition of negative entries about competing firms.

Intelligence agencies: It has revealed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had edited Wikipedia entries on topics ranging from the Iraq war to Guantanamo.

Multinational companies: Microsoft apparently tried to cover up its Xbox 360 failure rate. Apple edited Microsoft entries, and threw in a few negative comments about its rival. Dell deleted negative comments on customer services and scrubbed a passage describing how the company outsources work to third world countries. The Times nespaper reported that the world's largest grocer Wal-Mart and drugs giant AstraZeneca had also bowdlerised their entries. In one example, a computer linked to an IP address registered to the Dow Chemical company allegedly deleted a passage on the Bhopal chemical disaster of 1984, which occurred at a plant operated by Union Carbide, now a wholly-owned Dow subsidiary.

Religious organisations: Individuals using computers registered to the Vatican have amended entries on Roman Catholic saints and Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein. A computer linked to the Church of Scientology's network was also used to delete references to links between it and a group named the Cult Awareness Network. 

Politicians: Last year, Wikipedia became the battleground for smear campaigns and dirty tricks in the United States, with politicians' aides accused of vandalising entries on opposition figures. The UK's Labour Party has also spruced up its Wikipedia entry.

Nevertheless, there is little to be gained from polishing up one's entry on the Wikipedia palimpsest. All rotten edits are ephemeral as the online encyclopaedia is self-correcting. The anonymous flacking and chicanery are actually public relations at its most counterintuitive, as the perpetrators will eventually come under greater scrutiny for whitewashing dark periods of their history. As blogger Chris Kohler writes, "See, this is why I don't edit my own Wikipedia entry. Somebody would find out."