Internet Law
Wikipedia Bans Scientologists from Editing Articles About Own Religion
Posted May 29, 2009, 06:42 pm CST
By Martha Neil
In what is believed to be the largest group enforcement effort ever made by Wikipedia, administrators of the free online encyclopedia has banned anyone using a computer associated with the Church of Scientology from editing posts concerning the religious group and its critics.
Put together by volunteers throughout the world, the encyclopedia is in a constant state of change as entries are rewritten and rewritten. However, after a lengthy internal review by a Wikipedia arbitration committee made up of volunteer editors, the website decided that the ban was an appropriate response to the "edit wars" concerning Scientology encyclopedia entries, reports the St. Petersburg Times.
“Up to a dozen longtime Wikipedians concluded that not much good has come from this range of computers,” Jay Walsh, a Wikipedia spokesman, tells the newspaper, referring to computers that have an IP address associated with Scientology.
The ban on tinkering with Scientology-related topics also includes "array of editors believed to have taken sides in a Scientology public-image war at Wikipedia," reports Agence France-Press.
Church of Scientology spokeswoman Karin Pouw downplayed the importance of the ban, the French news agency recounts. While Scientologists of course care what has been posted on Wikipedia, some of which has been "very hateful and erroneous," Pouw said she hopes website's review of the situation will result in more accurate articles about Scientology.
In the past, Wikipedia has temporarily blocked IP addresses for some U.S. government offices that it determined to have been abusing privileges on the website, the Times notes.
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