Would it be worth Wikimedia UK's while to put out a blog post talking about
quality control processes (ad-hoc as they are) on Wikipedia? Not so much as
a direct reply - both because these articles look like they're just
filling empty column inches, and because we obviously can't prove a
negative (that "Russian trolls" *aren't* running amok on political
articles). Rather as a timely reminder of what Wikipedia is about and how
the 'wisdom of the crowd' makes it quite difficult to grossly distort its
content. I could say something about what admins do, though there I'm sure
there are people who spend more time on politicians' biographies than I do.
Harry Mitchell
+44 (0) 7507 536 971
Skype: harry_j_mitchell
On Mon, Jan 15, 2018 at 10:53 AM, Lucy Crompton-Reid <
lucy.crompton-reid(a)wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:
Hi Fae
No, I don't think you misunderstood the coverage!
Wikimedia UK hasn't actually responded at all to this and we didn't
receive any enquiries - the Mail and the Sun got in touch directly with the
Foundation who provided the statement.
Cheers
Lucy
On 15 January 2018 at 10:50, Fæ <faewik(a)gmail.com> wrote:
As far as I could see this story lacked any
facts, not even one tangible
example of attempted manipulation. I'd appreciate a link if I misunderstood
the press coverage.
It might be a good use of resources to just keep saying "please provide
an example" before responding to what is probably itself fake news.
Otherwise one keeps on focusing on flying teapots rather than stuff that
matters for open knowledge.
Thanks,
Fae
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/LGBT+
http://telegram.me/wmlgbt
On 12 Jan 2018 21:48, "Lucy Crompton-Reid" <lucy.crompton-reid@wikimedia.
org.uk> wrote:
Dear all
I just wanted to give the Wikimedia UK community a heads up that
Wikipedia may be in the spotlight in the coming days, as the Daily Mail and
the Sun are planning to run a story tomorrow about how MPs have
(apparently) been given briefings about concerns Russian trolls are
planting ‘fake news’ on Wikipedia to corroborate the false information they
spread on Twitter. The stories are likely to say that not enough checks are
being done by Wikipedia to make sure the content on the site is not fake.
I'm not personally aware of any such briefings to MPs regarding
Wikipedia, although the most recent oral evidence to the DCMS Fake News
inquiry does refer to known Russian sources on WikiLeaks (with particular
reference to the US election). Obviously I'm assuming that the UK press
will know the difference between Wikipedia and WikiLeaks, but the claims
are apparently linked to the inquiry and this is all I've been able to
uncover this evening.
The Wikimedia Foundation press team has sent a short response to these
claims, as follows:
Wikipedia’s open, transparent model is uniquely resistant to
misinformation. Anyone can edit Wikipedia, to fix mistakes or expand
articles, provided their contributions are neutral and based in reliable
sources. Thousands of people do just this on Wikipedia every day. Nearly
every edit ever made to Wikipedia is available to the public, so anyone can
see how an article has changed over time. Wikipedia is always improving,
and this open model creates accountability and means that bias tends to be
rooted out quickly, leading to a more balance version of the facts over
time.
Best wishes
Lucy
--
Lucy Crompton-Reid
Chief Executive
Wikimedia UK
+44 (0) 203 372 0762
Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and
Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered
Office Ground Floor, Europoint, 5 - 11 Lavington Street, London SE1 0NZ.
Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The
Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate
Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
*Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control
over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.*
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--
Lucy Crompton-Reid
Chief Executive
Wikimedia UK
+44 (0) 203 372 0762
Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and
Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered
Office Ground Floor, Europoint, 5 - 11 Lavington Street, London SE1 0NZ.
Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The
Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate
Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
*Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control
over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.*
_______________________________________________
Wikimedia UK mailing list
wikimediauk-l(a)wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l
WMUK:
https://wikimedia.org.uk