Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee opened a probe into alleged organized efforts to inject bias into Wikipedia entries and the organization’s responses.
Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), chair of the panel’s subcommittee on cybersecurity, information technology, and government innovation, on Wednesday sent an information request on the matter to Maryana Iskander, chief executive officer of the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that hosts Wikipedia.
The request, the lawmakers said in the letter, is part of an investigation into “foreign operations and individuals at academic institutions subsidized by U.S. taxpayer dollars to influence U.S. public opinion.”
The panel is seeking documents and communications about Wikipedia volunteer editors who violated the platform’s policies, as well as the Wikimedia Foundation’s efforts to “thwart intentional, organized efforts to inject bias into important and sensitive topics.”
“Multiple studies and reports have highlighted efforts to manipulate information on the Wikipedia platform for propaganda aimed at Western audiences,” Comer and Mace wrote in the letter…..
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“[The Wikimedia] foundation, which hosts the Wikipedia platform, has acknowledged taking actions responding to misconduct by volunteer editors who effectively create Wikipedia’s encyclopedic articles. The Committee recognizes that virtually all web-based information platforms must contend with bad actors and their efforts to manipulate. Our inquiry seeks information to help our examination of how Wikipedia responds to such threats and how frequently it creates accountability when intentional, egregious, or highly suspicious patterns of conduct on topics of sensitive public interest are brought to attention,” Comer and Mace wrote….
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In a statement, a Wikimedia Foundation spokesperson said the organization had received the request and are reviewing it.
“We welcome the opportunity to respond to the Committee’s questions and to discuss the importance of safeguarding the integrity of information on our platform,” the spokesperson said….
Comer is a clown,always “ investigating “ something or someone.Never has proven anything and is simply a hard Right Wing goofball .
Mace believes in nothing and changes positions on issues to suit whatever audience she is in front of.Shes running for Governor of S.C .and for pure amusement sake I sort of hope she wins.Watching her tangle with the Republicans in the State Legislature will be high or should I say low comedy.