CQ: Hill Computers Used for Thousands of Wikipedia Edits

[babylonsister]

Hill Computers Used for Thousands of Wikipedia Edits
By Drew Armstrong, CQ Staff

Political spats, petty vandalism, cleft chins and Rep. Rahm Emanuel’s (fictional) death by shark attack — Wikipedia users on House computers clearly have a lot of time on their hands.

A new online tool has made it possible to see a full archive of edits to the popular online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, organized by the computer network from which they originated. The list of categories includes major corporations, media outlets, and, of course, Congress.

There are thousands of individual edits originating from computer users on the House of Representatives network. While most of the changes are nothing more than regular Wikipedia interactions on non-government topics, a hefty number include edits to lawmakers’ entries — and some House Wikipedians might not be entirely pleased to see their handiwork exposed.

Political motives are evident in some cases. For example, in the Wikipedia entry on GOP presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a House computer user added the line that Romney “appears to be extremely homophobic.”

A moderator quickly deleted that change, and most of the other, more scurrilous, edits have been written over or deleted — especially in cases of vandalism or obvious bias.

Other attacks are broader, if more subtle than the charges of bigotry. An entry on “liberalism” put quotation marks around the phrase “social progress,” in what appears to be an attempt to call the ideology into question. That change was also deleted.

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http://public.cq.com/docs/cqt/news110-000002574059.html

[MatrixEscape]

1. The Ministry of Information is ....

hard at work, shaping our reality for a better future, dear citizens!

The Great Purification is in progress and our children are fortunate enough to be given the great benefits of simple and easy thoughts to help them to be a part of this great, collective cause that will create the perfect society. Why should the burden of the past be laid upon their impressonable shoulders when we can stamp-out the errors and obscurity of the complex?

Our wonderful media is gallantly marching forward as we speak, holding high the banner of language economy and forging the road that we all will walk someday in a World where everyone will know the joy and bliss of the simplest thoughts. Gone forever will be the scourge of intellectualism, (except where required by Party Members as a sacrifice for the greater good) and that most destructive of all mental aberrations: critical thought.

Now, the time has come to cleanse the contamination from the Internet and wash away the subversive droppings of those vermin we know as thought criminals before they infect the new society with more trouble, travail, and unfounded dissent.

Do your part to support the Ministry of Truth, Brothers and Sisters! Our path to ignorance is the highway to the future's prosperity and bliss! Your thoughts about ways to obey will bring a glorious new day.

[bobthedrummer]

2. .