Swindlers add to Wikipedia's credibility woes

Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia created, edited and maintained by volunteers, has taken another hit to its credibility.

An internal investigation has resulted in the shutdown of 210 articles and the blocking of 381 user accounts for "black hat editing" -- "rogue editors" demanding money from small businesses and minor celebrities to "protect" their pages from defamatory content, reported the London Daily Mail.

Wikipedia forbids payment for editing its pages in most instances.

The two-month investigation, dubbed Orangemoody, uncovered promotional articles written mostly for businesses and celebrities, with unattributted material, skewed information and possible copyright violations.

The company said both users of the site and the businesses who responded to the scammers were victims.

In some cases, the demands for payment amounted to blackmail, Wikipedia said, calling the scam an "abuse of trust" by a "coordinated group."

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"Neutrality is key to ensuring Wikipedia's quality. Although it does not happen often, undisclosed paid advocacy editing may represent a serious conflict of interest and could compromise the quality of content on Wikipedia," said a spokesman for Wikipedia.

"We are dismayed to learn about how well-intentioned people have been misled. This runs counter to the values to which we aspire and celebrate.

"The Wikimedia Foundation supports independence, transparency, and integrity, and aspires to advance those values in the world.

"People who abuse the trust and goodwill of others are committing a terrible act. We will continue to work to support our editors and administrators in serving as a vigilant defence against such incidents and in hopes that they can prevent future incidents like this from occurring."

The now-banned users will no longer be permitted to edit pages -- reportedly the "highest form of disciplinary action administered by Wikipedia."

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Wikipedia has a long history of challenges to the accuracy of information on its site.

A 2012 study found the five-million-page site littered with inaccuracies, with 60 percent of pages containing factual errors.

WND has reported extensively on Wikipedia editors' recklessness and politically motivated attacks on individuals.

In 2009 and 2010, Wikipedia actively suppressed information questioning Barak Obama's constitutional eligibility to be president, with users' postings deleted almost immediately and the posters banned from re-posting any material on the website for three days.

WND reported Wikipedia had scrubbed an entry on the court-martial of Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin, the Army officer who has refused orders because he questioned the eligibility of the commander in chief.

Those searching for Lakin's name were redirected to an entry entitled "Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories."

The creator of the entry called the move "a clear attempt by the Wikipedia community to label inquiries into Barack Obama’s eligibility to be president as a 'conspiracy theory.'"

In 2010 WND founder Joseph Farah took issue with Wikipedia's vicious, defamatory, ad hominem attacks against him, demading an apology for characterizations such as "Zionist Twit and Jew-Loving Pig," "homophobic," a "conspiracy theorist," "white supremacist," a "proud member of the Ku Klux Klan," a "religious nutcase" and "a pioneer in the political uses of psychedelics."