Wikipedia new P.E.I. election battleground
Last Updated: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 | 8:37 AM ET
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With an election coming on Prince Edward Island, Wikipedia appears to be emerging as a new front in the campaign, specifically, the page on Premier Pat Binns.
The page on the collaborative online encyclopedia has been changed hundreds of times in the last couple of months. On Monday alone, the page was edited 17 times.
The page has been tagged with a warning regarding the article's impartiality, and another regarding its lack of citations.
The page has had warnings added to it about its neutrality, and about its lack of sources.
(CBC)
Anyone can add, remove or change information on most Wikipedia pages. It is unclear who started the editing war. Political activist Stephen Pate is the only editor who has identified himself, trying to add information promoting his cause, funding for people with disabilities.
"When I'm on the Wiki page and things are going nuts, some days I find it funny, some days I don't find it funny," said Pate.
"If you write and it's posted on the web and someone can rip it off, and you say hey, I put that up there. To just delete it is very unprofessional."
Wikipedia administrators say none of the writers are following the rules. Opinion is not allowed, and everything placed on Wikipedia must be sourced.
The page was changed 17 times on Monday.
(CBC)
"What it seems to me is that people have been using it as an op-ed," said Sandra Ordonez, communications manager for the Wikimedia Foundation.
"Instead of trying to write an encyclopedic article, people have been using it as op-ed."
Ordonez said Wikipedia could ultimately lock the page if the editing war continues.
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