[StBernard] Jindal Aides "Clean Up" Wikipedia Entry

[Westley Annis]

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.

‘Professional Courtesy’
And of course, there is the falsified report of an oceanside tragedy. In
December 2006, a House computer user edited the entry for Rahm Emanuel,
D-Ill., to note that “He recently died in a shark attack.” 

Emanuel, the notoriously hard-charging chairman of the House Democratic
Caucus, is alive and well, his office confirmed. “A shark would never eat
Rahm,” said a spokeswoman. “Professional courtesy,” she added.

Several other edits seem meant to defend against attacks by non-finned
adversaries. A recent edit by a House computer user to the entry about Rep.
Alan B. Mollohan, D-W.Va., contains a lengthy rebuttal of charges levelled
against Mollohan during his 2006 re-election campaign

Asked about the changes, Mollohan spokesman Gerry Griffith said that he had
added the text. Griffith said he “sought to balance out erroneous
information that was in the profile, but there were no edits of existing
information” and he did not delete anything from Mollohan’s Wikipedia entry.

The information Griffith added has not since been deleted by Wikipedia
moderators or other users. It has, however, been modified slightly to remove
what one other user called “editorial” language.

Airbrushing Is Popular 
Whitewashing negative information from lawmakers’ Wikipedia entries seems
popular, as well.

In one recent edit, a user on the House network deleted negative information
from the profile of Rep. Bobby Jindal, R-La., regarding the poor performance
of the state’s health care system while Jindal was secretary of the
Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.

Jindal’s office did not respond to a request for comment. The congressman is
running for governor; the election is Oct. 20.

The House edits cross chambers, as well. A House computer was used to remove
information in Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s profile about a press
conference she held in 1985 concerning the hunt for serial killer Richard
Ramírez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker. The relevant passage — which
has since been restored — said she revealed details about the hunt for
Ramírez, angering detectives and subverting their investigation. “Ramírez
left the San Francisco area to commit another murder before he was finally
captured in the Los Angeles area,” the restored entry says.

It’s impossible to tell which computers are being used by those in House
offices altering Wikipedia entries. While each edit to the online
encyclopedia is tied to a unique Internet Protocol address, or IP address,
House computer servers use a “dynamic IP” that changes the address for a
computer each time it signs on. Some older networks use a “static IP” system
that ties a computer permanently to one IP number, much like a traditional
street address. But for dynamic IP systems, it’s more like getting a new
street address for every trip to the mailbox.

Other edits are just changes to remove vandalism and misinformation. A
presidential endorsement of Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, was deleted from the
Wikipedia entry for Rep. John J. “Jimmy” Duncan Jr., R-Tenn. 

Duncan’s spokeswoman, Amy Westmoreland, said that the office had recently
received a phone call asking if Duncan had endorsed Paul, but she did not
know if the two incidents were related. 

“He has not endorsed Ron Paul,” Westmoreland said, adding that Duncan
supports former home-state Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn. (1994-2003).
Westmoreland did not know if the correction to Duncan’s profile had been
made by someone in her office.

Paul’s supporters have been known to flood Internet message boards and
online polls with messages and “vote for Paul.”

Some edits are just strange — or at least suggest that Wikipedia users in
the House have too much time on their hands. House computer users have made
122 edits to Wikipedia’s entry on “cleft chins,” adding real and fictional
persons to a long list of the strong-jawed. On the list are 22 current U.S.
lawmakers, some with more prominently cleft chins than others, according to
their Wikipedia photos.

Source: CQ Today 
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