Wikipedia blocks House staffers from anonymous editing

Wikipedia blocks House staffers from anonymous editing

The block only applies to anonymous editing.

After a series of “disruptive” edits, Wikipedia administrators have blocked anonymous edits from a congressional IP address.

The edits were brought to light by the twitter handle @Congressedits, which automatically tweets out anonymous changes to Wikipedia pages made from IP addresses within the U.S. Congress.

According to Mediaite, one particular House staffer (or someone using their IP) has edited Wikipedia entries to accuse Cuban spies of spreading the Moon Landing Conspiracy Hoax and coordinating the assassination of JFK, among numerous other things. Pando Daily has the full, highly amusing rundown of edits. Adding fuel to the file, after the Mediaite article came out, that same staffer then edited Mediaite’s Wikipedia page to accuse it of being a “sexist,” “transphobic” publication.

At this point, a Wikipedia administrator stepped in, instituting the 10-day block.

“[The] temporary, 10-day block on the IP address associated with the U.S. Congress [was] due to disruptive editing originating from that address,” a Wikipedia spokesperson told the Washington Post.

The block only applies to anonymous editing. House staffers with Wikipedia accounts may still edit pages. Nevertheless, not everyone is happy about the ban.

“Out of over 9000 staffers in the House, should we really be banning this whole IP range based on the actions of two or three,” said one Wikipedia editor.

Be social, please share!

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *