Wiki-PR Wikipedia editing scandal explained

Wiki-PR
Type:Consulting firm
Foundation:2010[1]
Location Country:United States

Wiki-PR was a consulting firm that marketed the ability to edit Wikipedia by "directly edit[ing] your page using our network of established Wikipedia editors and admins".[2]

It received media attention in 2013 after a sockpuppet investigation resulted in more than 250 Wikipedia user accounts being blocked or banned.[3] The Wikimedia Foundation changed its terms of use in the wake of the investigation, requiring anyone paid to edit Wikipedia to openly disclose their affiliations. Despite the ban, Status Labs, a firm started in 2012 by Wiki-PR founders Fisher and French, continued to edit clients' Wikipedia articles according to former employees.[4] Wiki-PR has been inactive since 2013.

Company

Wiki-PR was created in 2010 by Darius Fisher, its chief operating officer as of 2014, and Jordan French, its chief executive officer as of 2014. Confirmed clients include Priceline and Emad Rahim, and suspected clients include Viacom, among many others.[5] The firm claimed to have Wikipedia administrator access[5] enabling it to manage the Wikipedia presence of more than [6] Wiki-PR has been reported to use "aggressive email marketing" to acquire new customers.

Investigation and company reaction

An investigation of sockpuppet accounts on Wikipedia that began in 2012 implicated hundreds of accounts. Wiki-PR's involvement was confirmed after four customers of Wiki-PR spoke anonymously to The Daily Dot journalist Simon Owens, and two others, Priceline.com and Emad Rahim, spoke to Vice journalist Martin Robbins.[7] [8] In addition to violating rules against sockpuppeting, Wiki-PR violated Wikipedia rules by citing articles that were planted on business content farms and various other websites that accept contributions from any Internet user as sources for Wikipedia entries, creating a false impression of credibility. The same websites were used repeatedly, and their presence in various Wikipedia articles aided investigators in identifying articles the company had worked on.

The investigation led to the Wikipedia community blocking hundreds of paid Wikipedia editing accounts believed to be connected to Wiki-PR that had edited contrary to Wikipedia's rules.[9]

In 2014 The New York Times described Wiki-PR's methods:[10]

In The Wall Street Journal, French was quoted as saying that Wiki-PR is a research and writing firm, counseling clients on "how to adhere to Wikipedia's rules". French said that its paid work is part of the "fabric" of Wikipedia, complementing the work of unpaid volunteers. French acknowledged that Wiki-PR had sometimes made "bad calls" on the notability of articles. He also said that "We do pay hundreds of other editors for their work—they're real people and not sockpuppets."[11] Instead, as was reported by the International Business Times, Wiki-PR had been involved in "meatpuppetry"—a practice in which editors illegitimately encourage other individuals to edit in support of their position—in addition to planting articles online to try to garner better potential notability for its clients.[12]

Wikipedia and Wikimedia's reaction

, Wiki-PR, including all of its employees, contractors, and owners, were banned from editing Wikipedia. Sue Gardner, executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation, stated that the Foundation was "exploring our options".[13] On November 19, 2013, Wikimedia's law firm, Cooley LLP, emailed a cease-and-desist letter to Wiki-PR.[14] [15] French told The Guardian that Wiki-PR "is working with the Wikimedia Foundation and its counsel to sort this out", and hoped to have further information in a week's time.[16] The Wikimedia Foundation acknowledged communicating with Wiki-PR, but the Foundation rejected any implication that they were negotiating with Wiki-PR, saying that if Wiki-PR wanted to continue editing, Wiki-PR must turn to Wikipedia's community.[17]

In June 2014, the Wikimedia Foundation updated its terms of use, forbidding undisclosed paid editing and requiring any paid editors to disclose their affiliation. The blog post announcing the change stated that "Undisclosed paid advocacy editing is a black hat practice that can threaten the trust of Wikimedia's volunteers and readers. We have serious concerns about the way that such editing affects the neutrality and reliability of Wikipedia."[18] [19] Later in 2014, a number of large PR firms pledged to follow Wikipedia's new and existing guidelines.[20]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Wiki-PR: Wikipedia Writers For Hire. Wiki-PR.com. 2013-10-22. June 10, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210610092441/https://wiki-pr.com/. live.
  2. Web site: Martin. Robbins. 2019-12-15. Is the PR Industry Buying Influence Over Wikipedia?. October 18, 2013. Vice. December 18, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191218222119/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/kwpqmn/is-the-pr-industry-buying-influence-over-wikipedia. live.
  3. Web site: Wikipedia editors, locked in battle with PR firm, delete 250 accounts. Ars Technica. Mullin. Joe. October 22, 2013. June 15, 2017. June 9, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170609082149/https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/10/wikipedia-editors-locked-in-battle-with-pr-firm-delete-250-accounts/. live.
  4. Web site: Rachael. Levy. 2019-12-15. How the 1% Scrubs Its Image Online. The Wall Street Journal. December 13, 2019. December 15, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191215014323/https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-1-scrubs-its-image-online-11576233000. live.
  5. Web site: Is Wikipedia for Sale? . Robbins. Martin. October 20, 2013. 2013-10-20. motherboard.vice.com. We'll both directly edit your page using our network of established Wikipedia editors and admins. https://web.archive.org/web/20131026151816/https://motherboard.vice.com/blog/is-wikipedia-for-sale. 2013-10-26.
  6. Web site: Wiki-PR . https://web.archive.org/web/20131020050256/https://www.wiki-pr.com/ . 2013-10-20 . Wiki-PR. 2013-11-14. archived November 14, 2013
  7. News: Owens . Simon . The battle to destroy Wikipedia's biggest sockpuppet army . 2013-10-20 . . October 8, 2013 . May 25, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160525133631/http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/wikipedia-sockpuppet-investigation-largest-network-history-wiki-pr/ . live .
  8. News: Robbins. Martin. Is the PR Industry Buying Influence Over Wikipedia?. October 19, 2013. Vice. October 19, 2013. March 1, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140301023358/http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/is-the-pr-industry-buying-influence-over-wikipedia. live.
  9. Wikipedia Bans 250 Users for Posting Paid, Promotional Entries . Stampler . Laura . . October 21, 2013 . November 11, 2013 . November 8, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131108121120/http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/10/21/wikipedia-bans-250-users-for-posting-paid-promotional-entries/ . live .
  10. News: Newman . Judith . Wikipedia-Mania: Wikipedia, What Does Judith Newman Have to Do to Get a Page? . November 1, 2014 . . January 8, 2014 . January 23, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140123054326/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/09/fashion/Wikipedia-Judith-Newman.html?_r=0 . live .
  11. Web site: Fowler . Geoffrey . Wikipedia Probes Suspicious Promotional Articles . . November 17, 2013 . October 21, 2013 . November 24, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131124062440/http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/10/21/wikipedia-probes-suspicious-promotional-articles/ . live .
  12. News: Wikipedia and Paid Edits: Companies Pay Top Dollar to Firms Willing to 'Fix' Their Entries . Thomas . Halleck . November 8, 2013 . February 17, 2022 . January 31, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160131123131/https://www.ibtimes.com/wikipedia-paid-edits-companies-pay-top-dollar-firms-willing-fix-their-entries-1449172 . live .
  13. News: Wikipedia: We have blocked 250 'sock puppets' for biased editing of our pages. Burrell. Ian. The Independent. October 21, 2013. 2013-11-19. September 21, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170921023825/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/wikipedia-we-have-blocked-250-sock-puppets-for-biased-editing-of-our-pages-8895112.html. live.
  14. News: Wikimedia Steps Up "Sockpuppet" Fight. Fowler. Geoffrey. The Wall Street Journal. November 19, 2013. 2013-11-19. November 7, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107033428/https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/11/19/wikimedia-steps-up-sockpuppet-fight/. live.
  15. Web site: Wikipedia Sends Paid Editors Cease-And-Desist: Sockpuppet Account Morning277, Not Wiki-PR . . November 22, 2013 . 2014-01-27 . Halleck . Thomas . April 22, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210422222634/https://www.ibtimes.com/wikipedia-sends-paid-editors-cease-desist-sockpuppet-account-morning277-not-wiki-pr-1482738 . live .
  16. News: Arthur. Charles. Wikipedia sends cease-and-desist letter to PR firm offering paid edits to site. 2013-11-22. The Guardian. November 21, 2013. September 10, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160910184634/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/21/wikipedia-cease-and-desist-pr-firm-offering-paid-edits. live.
  17. News: Burrell. Ian. Wikipedia names Texas PR firm over false manipulation of site entries. 2014-02-08. The Independent. November 20, 2013. November 7, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107011133/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/online/wikipedia-names-texas-pr-firm-over-false-manipulation-of-site-entries-8952624.html. live.
  18. News: Elder. Jeff. Wikipedia Strengthens Rules Against Undisclosed Editing. 2015-12-04. The Wall Street Journal. June 16, 2014. June 18, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140618200711/http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/06/16/wikipedia-strengthens-rules-against-undisclosed-editing/. live.
  19. News: Brigham. Geoff. Making a change to our Terms of Use: Requirements for disclosure. 2015-09-14. Wikimedia Foundation. June 14, 2014. September 10, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150910025355/http://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/06/16/change-terms-of-use-requirements-for-disclosure/. live.
  20. News: Group Of Major PR Firms Pledge To Play Nice On Wikipedia. Geigner. Timothy. 2014-08-16. Tech Dirt. June 14, 2013. August 19, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140819085508/https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140611/12092827548/group-major-pr-firms-pledge-to-play-nice-wikipedia.shtml. live.

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