Monday, January 30, 2006

Congress banned from Wikipedia for abuses

Wikipedia has banned the IP blocks of U.S. Congress from the ability to make changes, due to repeated abuses by Congressional staffers who
repeatedly engage in revert wars, blank content, engage in libelous behavior or violate WP:NPOV, WP:CIV [Wikipedia's standards for neutral point of view and civility]. The editors from these IP ranges are rude and abrasive, immature, and show no understanding of Wikipedia policy. The editors also frequently try to whitewash the actions of certain politicians. They treat Wikipedia articles about politicians as though they own the articles, replacing community articles with their own sanctioned biographies and engaging in revert wars when other users dispute this sudden change. They also violate Wikipedia:Verifiability, by deleting verified reports, while adding flattering things about members of Congress that are unverified.
A newspaper article has been written on this subject in the Lowell Sun by Evan Lehmann.

A list of further details is in the Wikipedia entry on Congressional Staffer Edits.

Kudos to Wikipedia for treating Congress the way it deserves to be treated.

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