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- Re: Internetworking and Authenticity - Wikipedia and the US Congress
By: allan
Date: Jan 31, 2006 3:45 PM
Notification
« What's in a name, google edition | Main | Danish/ EU newspapers vs. the Islamic World - An Example of Network Failure? »
31 January 2006
Internetworking and Authenticity - Wikipedia and the US Congress
A current article in the German online newspaper SPIEGEL reports that wikipedia entries regarding US congress members have been manipulated (in German). As the related wiki entry notes "these edits had, among others, added libelous statements, removed content with malice, added childish insults, violated Wikipedia Policy."
This raises an interesting issue. We need to further our understanding how well such "open source" knowledge bases can be used to find reliable data. Building on recent discussions, such as Censorship and Google, we need to ask whether or not it is required to start thinking about the "rules and regulations of internetworking". The internet on the one hand allows for accessing a vast variety of information, but on the other hand raises serious concerns regarding the reliabilty of such "freely available information". However, one might also argue that there is no need to regulate, because the very nature of "open source" regulates the flow of information automatically (as the current example shows). What do you think?
See also:
Report in Sun Lowell on staffer edits on the bio of US Rep Marty Meehan. A discussion of Wikipedia Immunity by Anita Ramasastry. Further details on Wikipedia and US Congress.
Posted by Thomas Langenberg at January 31, 2006 1:28 PM
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Comments
Hmm. What's the counter-factual here? If I want to learn basic facts about my congressman, what are my other options? I have the official website, which has lots of info, but perhaps too much, and is certainly editorially favorable to my rep. There are plenty of advocacy groups who keep tabs on legislators, especially noteworthy ones, but these also have strong axes to grind, which I may not completely understand. The wikipedia entry is short, conveys some biographical and political highlights simply, and has a simple picture without eagles or flags.
There are many occasions to think about "rules and regulations of internetworking" but I think the series of brew-ha-has about Wikipedia are a little overblown. After all, the fact that we know about Meehan's attempted whitewashing is fairly good proof that the system works. The greater the incentive there is for one side to dilute well-intentioned OS content with bias, the greater the incentive (and population) to monitor this activity. Wikipedia is delightfully auditable, and it's pretty easy to point out ones' political opponents' chicanery.
Posted by: allan at January 31, 2006 3:45 PM