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IP addresses linked to the New York Police Department's computer network have been used to sanitize Wikipedia entries about cases of police brutality.
This wouldn't be the first time we've seen nefarious alterations to Wikipedia entries, and it won't be the last. But the disclosure of NYPD's entries by Capital New York come as the Justice Department announced a national initiative for "building community trust and justice" with the nation's policing agencies.
As many as 85 IP addresses connected to 1 Police Plaza altered entries for some of the most high-profile police abuse cases, including those for victims Eric Garner, Sean Bell, and Amadou Diallo, Capital New York said. Edits have also been made to other entries covering NYPD scandals, its stop-and-frisk program, and the department leadership.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by hoeferbe on Monday March 16 2015, @11:54PM
Let me first say that I am worried about the militarization of the police, the emphasis on law enforcement instead of peace keeping, the lack a real concern for civil liberties by those in power, as well as the move to keep secrets from and exercise control over the general populace. (I'm looking at you, Washington D.C..) I want justice for those who have been victimized.
However, looking at the examples of the edits, I have to say they were not as damning as what the headline made me assume they were. The only edit I thought was of significant sanitizing was the "raised both his arms in the air" to "flailed his arms about as he spoke" edit. Some of the others edits seemed to change the article for more accuracy, not white-washing. (I encourage you to read the fine article to get to the links to Wikipedia's revision pages to see & judge for yourself.)
Yes, the members of the NYPD need to be held responsible. This should be investigated to determine how badly their edits violated both Wikipedia policies on neutrality & non-original sources as well as departmental policies. But I don't think sensationalist headlines advance the cause of justice.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2015, @12:11AM
If nothing else, the good taxpayers in NYC are paying the cops. Is this a good use of tax money?
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2015, @12:57AM
I think there should be disclosure over who is behind any edits if those edits pose a potential conflict of interest. Not doing so is automatically suspect. The conflict of interest article, as linked to by someone else here, is an interesting read.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Conflict_of_interest [wikipedia.org]