Universities, government agencies, corporates, big organisations, politicians even media companies -- in short, people and institutions in power have abused it at some point. Not always are there reliable measures in place to keep checks and balances on the misuse of power, particularly when it comes to the spread of false information in a deliberate attempt to hide the truth and dupe the public.
One Wikipedia fan has however come up with an ingenious method to name and shame the worst of the offenders. Try the WikiScanner and delve into the dark secrets of the online misinformation campaigners. Just type the name of the organisation you wish to find out about, or alternatively the Wikipedia entry you are interested in. Lo and behold, there appears a list of IP addresses. A click or two away is the list of entries where anonymous edits were made by the online offenders.
PR is good for companies and necessary for the dissemination of information through the right channels. But using spin to hide uncomfortable truths from the public sphere is unconscionable. The tool devised by Virgil Griffith will go a long way in restoring the faith in Wikipedia and the Internet, while damaging the reputations of the individuals and institutions that hoped to gain favourable publicity through underhand means.
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