Spanish Wikipedia’s 2002 Split: Enciclopedia Libre

Wikipedia has faced controversy since its launch in 2001, with disputes ranging from hoaxes and defamation to conflicts of interest, government editing, and paid advocacy. One of the earliest organized splits occurred in February 2002, when the Spanish Wikipedia community decided to break away from Wikipedia to protest rumored plans by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger to introduce advertising. Edgar Enyedy led the creation of Enciclopedia Libre Universal en Español, hosted at the University of Seville. Most Spanish Wikipedia editors followed Enyedy, and within a year Enciclopedia Libre had produced over 10,000 articles. As a consequence, the Spanish Wikipedia was nearly dormant until mid-2003, and advertising has remained a sensitive topic within Wikipedia ever since.

In October 2002, Derek Ramsey created a bot called Rambot, which generated 33,832 stub articles, adding about 40% more entries to Wikipedia in less than a week. These articles were based on United States Census data and filled in every missing county, city, or town in the U.S. Andrew Lih called this “the most controversial move in Wikipedia history,” as it dramatically changed the scale of the project and raised questions about quality versus quantity.

May 2005 brought the Seigenthaler incident. An anonymous user posted a hoax biography of John Seigenthaler, a prominent American journalist, falsely linking him to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy and claiming he lived in the Soviet Union for years. The hoax was intended as a prank, but it remained on Wikipedia for months and spread to other sites like Answers.com and Reference.com. Wikipedia critic Daniel Brandt and journalists at The New York Times identified the poster, and Seigenthaler described his experience as “Internet character assassination.” This led to intense media criticism of Wikipedia’s reliability and prompted Daniel Brandt to launch the now-defunct watchdog site wikipedia-watch.org.

During the same year, the IP address for the United States House of Representatives was blocked from editing Wikipedia following repeated attempts to alter politicians’ articles in a favorable way. For example, edits to Marty Meehan’s biography aimed to improve his public image. A former director of the United States Office of Government Ethics commented that such actions should be subject to disciplinary review. Similar incidents emerged in early 2006, with staff of at least five politicians, including Marty Meehan, Norm Coleman, Conrad Burns, Joe Biden, and Gil Gutknecht, accused of whitewashing their employers’ Wikipedia entries. Morton Brilliant, campaign manager for Cathy Cox, resigned after being caught adding negative material to opponents’ articles.

December 2005 exposed Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales editing his own biography and the entry for his former company, Bomis. On at least seven occasions, Wales changed information regarding Larry Sanger’s role as co-founder and altered descriptions of Bomis Babes from “soft-core pornography” to “adult content section.” Wales insisted he was correcting errors, not rewriting history, but the revelations raised questions about conflict of interest and Wikipedia’s self-policing.

The Henryk Batuta hoax came to light in February 2006, after an article claiming to describe a Polish Communist revolutionary was debunked. The article had persisted on Polish Wikipedia for 15 months and was referenced in 17 other articles. The hoaxers, a group calling themselves the “Batuta Army,” said their intent was to highlight the controversial practice of naming Polish streets after Soviet officials.

In March 2006, Daniel Brandt identified 142 instances of plagiarism on Wikipedia, demonstrating another persistent problem with quality control. Later that year, Gregory Kohs and his sister founded MyWikiBiz to provide paid editing services. Kohs’ Wikipedia account was blocked shortly after a press release in August 2006, and Wikipedia’s policies were quickly updated to prohibit this type of activity. Jimmy Wales acknowledged that while paid editing happened “surreptitiously,” the platform would not tolerate its open commercialization.

In 2007, a significant incident involved Essjay, a prominent Wikipedia administrator and editor who had claimed to be a tenured professor with a Ph.D. in theology. In reality, he was 24-year-old Ryan Jordan, who held no advanced degrees. The New Yorker had published an article based on Essjay’s false credentials, leading to a public correction and debate over trust, pseudonymity, and authority on Wikipedia. Larry Sanger challenged Jimmy Wales’ handling of the situation, arguing it amounted to identity fraud. Ultimately, Jordan relinquished his Wikipedia responsibilities and quit his job at Wikia.

WikiScanner, developed by Caltech graduate student Virgil Griffith in August 2007, provided a public database linking anonymous Wikipedia edits to organizations and companies based on IP addresses. Notable edits were traced to entities including the Vatican, the Central Intelligence Agency, the FBI, the United Nations, ExxonMobil, Walmart, and political parties such as Britain’s Labour and Conservative Parties. WikiScanner made it possible to identify attempts at self-promotion or information suppression by tracking the source of changes. For example, edits traced to congressional offices in the U.S., the Canadian government, and the Australian Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet revealed systematic attempts to polish or sanitize official biographies and entries.

In February 2007, Fuzzy Zoeller, a professional golfer, sued Josef Silny & Associates for defamatory edits added to his Wikipedia article from a computer at their firm. That same month, literary agent Barbara Bauer sued the Wikimedia Foundation, claiming that negative information on Wikipedia harmed her business. The Electronic Frontier Foundation defended Wikipedia, and the case was dismissed in July 2008.

Taner Akçam, a Turkish academic who acknowledged the Armenian genocide, was detained at Montreal airport in February 2007 after Canadian authorities cited a vandalized Wikipedia article that labeled him a terrorist. This demonstrated how Wikipedia’s content could have real-world legal and personal consequences for individuals.

In 2008, a group of Muslims launched an online petition demanding the removal of images of the Prophet Muhammad from Wikipedia, gathering around 100,000 signatures by early February. Wikipedia administrators protected the article from editing by non-registered users, but the Wikimedia Foundation maintained that non-censorship was a core principle.

The Church of Scientology’s conflict with Wikipedia reached a peak in May 2008, with the site’s arbitration committee voting to block all edits from IP addresses associated with the church. The church had been accused of systematically editing articles in its favor, while critics had also been accused of bias. Several parties were banned as a result.

In June 2008, Michael Geist, a professor at the University of Ottawa, discovered anonymous edits to Jim Prentice’s Wikipedia article from an IP owned by Industry Canada. The edits deleted criticism of Prentice’s copyright policies and replaced them with generic praise. This case, revealed on Geist’s blog, highlighted how government offices could be involved in reputation management on Wikipedia.

David Rohde, a reporter for The New York Times, was kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2008. Although The Times instituted a news blackout to protect his safety, statements about his abduction appeared on Wikipedia. Times representatives contacted Jimmy Wales, who arranged to have the information deleted by an administrator. The incident triggered debate over whether Wikipedia should suppress information, even temporarily, when lives might be at risk.

In December 2008, most British residents were blocked from editing Wikipedia after the Internet Watch Foundation blacklisted the article for the album “Virgin Killer” by the Scorpions. The blacklist, enforced by 95% of British internet service providers, was prompted by the site’s inclusion of an image of a naked prepubescent girl, which the IWF deemed potentially illegal under the Protection of Children Act 1978. The Wikimedia Foundation protested, and the IWF eventually removed the block.

A college history class project called “Lying About the Past” in 2008 resulted in the Edward Owens hoax. Students created a false Wikipedia biography of a pirate oyster fisherman, which was cited as fact by media outlets before being exposed.

March 2009 saw a false quote ascribed to French composer Maurice Jarre added to his Wikipedia article just hours after his death. The quote, entirely fabricated, later appeared in obituaries worldwide, revealing how easily misinformation could spread from Wikipedia into mainstream media.

In May 2009, David Boothroyd, a Labour Party member in the UK, was discovered using multiple sockpuppet accounts to edit Wikipedia, including “Dbiv,” “Fys,” and “Sam Blacketer.” These accounts were used to gain administrative privileges and edit articles related to British politics, including the biography of Conservative leader David Cameron. Boothroyd ultimately resigned from his roles as administrator and arbitrator.

In June 2009, James Heilman, a Canadian doctor, uploaded all ten Rorschach test inkblots to Wikipedia, arguing their copyright had expired. Psychologists protested, fearing that patients would be able to manipulate the test, and two filed complaints with the Saskatchewan medical licensing board, alleging Heilman’s actions were unprofessional.

That July, London’s National Portrait Gallery issued a cease and desist letter against a Wikipedia editor who uploaded more than 3,000 high-resolution images from the gallery’s website to Wikimedia Commons. The gallery alleged copyright infringement; Wikimedia Foundation lawyer Mike Godwin responded on behalf of Wikipedia.

November 2009 brought legal action from convicted German murderers Wolfgang Werlé and Manfred Lauber, who sued the Wikimedia Foundation to have their names removed from the English Wikipedia article on their victim, Walter Sedlmayr. German laws forced the German-language Wikipedia to comply with the request, but the English Wikipedia retained the names. The Wikimedia Foundation stated it would only edit content if compelled by a court order.

Late 2009 saw actor Ron Livingston file a lawsuit in Los Angeles against a John Doe who repeatedly edited his Wikipedia article to claim he was gay and in a relationship with a man named Lee Dennison. Livingston also alleged fake Facebook profiles were created for him and his supposed partner. The incident attracted further attention, with Livingston becoming a target for accusations of homophobia.

In April 2010, Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger reported to the FBI that Wikimedia Commons hosted a large amount of child pornography. Jimmy Wales responded that the Wikimedia Foundation would address the issue, and Wales personally deleted several images, leading to community backlash. As a result, Wales voluntarily relinquished some of his user privileges.

July 2010 saw the South African government's website mistakenly refer to FIFA president Sepp Blatter as “Joseph Sepp Bellend Blatter,” copying a vandalized entry from his Wikipedia article. “Bellend” is British slang for the tip of the penis. This incident demonstrated the unintended consequences of relying on Wikipedia for official information.

After the Federal Bureau of Investigation asked Wikipedia to remove its high-resolution image of the FBI seal in August 2010, Wikimedia Foundation lawyer Mike Godwin refused, arguing the FBI had misinterpreted the law.

A September 2010 episode involved Rush Limbaugh discussing a judge’s supposed bear-hunting trophies, based on a fictitious story inserted into the judge’s Wikipedia article days before the broadcast. The fake story was sourced to a non-existent news article, highlighting how quickly hoaxes can jump from Wikipedia into the media.

In September 2011, British writer Johann Hari admitted to using Wikipedia under a pseudonym to attack opponents by inserting fabrications and flattering himself. Hari targeted individuals such as Francis Wheen, Nick Cohen, Niall Ferguson, and Cristina Odone, even falsely claiming Odone had been fired from The Catholic Herald.

In January 2012, British MP Tom Watson discovered that Portland Communications had edited Wikipedia to remove the nickname “Wife Beater” from the article about Stella Artois beer, a client of theirs. Portland also changed entries for other clients, including Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank and its former head Mukhtar Ablyazov.

Historian Timothy Messer-Kruse, an expert on the Haymarket affair, unsuccessfully attempted over three years to have his research included in Wikipedia’s article on the event. Editors repeatedly rejected his changes, initially because he used primary sources, then because his view was deemed a “minority view.” Messer-Kruse later used his experience to question whether Wikipedia’s policies favored conventional views over new evidence.

In March 2012, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism found that UK Members of Parliament or their staff had made nearly 10,000 Wikipedia edits, with about one in six MPs having their articles edited from inside Parliament. Many changes involved removing negative information during the 2009 expenses scandal. Politicians including Joan Ryan and Clare Short admitted to having staff alter or correct their Wikipedia entries.

The 2012 Gibraltar scandal saw Wikimedia UK board member Roger Bamkin accused of paid consultancy while allegedly influencing content related to Gibraltar. This raised concerns about conflicts of interest and highlighted Wikipedia’s vulnerability to manipulation by insiders.

An investigation in 2013 uncovered that the Wiki-PR company had edited Wikipedia on behalf of paying clients using an “army” of sockpuppet accounts, including 45 editors and administrators. This prompted Wikipedia to ban the company and its associates from editing.

In 2015, the Orangemoody investigation revealed that hundreds of businesses and minor celebrities had been blackmailed over their Wikipedia articles by a coordinated group of editors. These perpetrators used hundreds of sockpuppets to demand payment for favorable coverage or for avoiding negative content.

Wikipedia’s vulnerabilities to hoaxes, manipulation, and paid advocacy have been the subject of several scholarly papers, including analyses by Howard Rheingold and other researchers. Sociologists have observed that Wikipedia controversies reveal evolving social mechanisms within the community, and academic institutions have used Wikipedia controversies as discussion points for ethics and bias in information.

The IP address assigned to the entire country of Qatar was briefly blocked in January 2007, after Wikipedia administrators noticed a surge in vandalism. Many users were caught up in the ban because at the time, most internet traffic in Qatar was routed through a single address provided by the company Qtel.

In 2008, the Wikimedia Foundation hired Carolyn Doran as chief operating officer without a background check. Doran had criminal records in three states, including theft and drunken driving. She left her position after another arrest, and Foundation lawyer Mike Godwin stated there was no documentation of her criminal record in Wikimedia’s files.

Microsoft was found to have paid programmer Rick Jelliffe in 2007 to edit Wikipedia articles about Microsoft products, including Office Open XML. Microsoft believed these articles had been unfairly edited by competitors and wanted an “independent” editor to add their perspective, raising concerns about paid conflicts of interest.

The 2005 Jar’Edo Wens hoax—an article claiming the existence of an Aboriginal Australian god—remained on Wikipedia undetected for nearly a decade before deletion in March 2015. This made it the longest-lasting hoax article in Wikipedia’s history at the time.

A performance art piece called Wikipedia Art was created in 2009 as a live article, only to be deleted after fifteen hours for violating Wikipedia rules. The Wikimedia Foundation subsequently claimed that the domain wikipediaart.org infringed on its trademark.

A 2009 complaint was filed by the National Portrait Gallery in London after a Wikipedia editor uploaded thousands of high-resolution images from the gallery’s website to Wikimedia Commons, sparking a clash over copyright and open access to public domain images.

One thousand IP addresses in Utah were blocked in September 2007 to prevent further editing by a user who had been banned from Wikipedia but continued to edit using multiple accounts.

A 2008 campaign by CAMERA, a pro-Israel media watchdog group, attempted to coordinate Wikipedia edits to present Israel in a more favorable light. Wikipedia’s administrators sanctioned five editors involved in the campaign, including blocking at least one account indefinitely.

In November 2009, German murderers Wolfgang Werlé and Manfred Lauber succeeded in forcing the German Wikipedia to remove their names from an article but failed to have them removed from the English version, demonstrating the impact of differing privacy laws.

An online petition in 2008 demanding the removal of images of the Prophet Muhammad from Wikipedia garnered roughly 100,000 signatures, but the Wikimedia Foundation declined to censor the article, citing the encyclopedia’s non-censorship principle.

Maurice Jarre’s fabricated quote appearing in obituaries worldwide after being added to Wikipedia hours after his death in 2009 is a case where a Wikipedia hoax migrated into traditional journalism, illustrating the site’s influence on public knowledge.

In 2010, following the football World Cup, the South African government’s official website referred to Sepp Blatter with a vulgar nickname, copying the vandalism directly from Wikipedia, illustrating the hazards of relying on user-edited sources for official purposes.

In March 2007, Microsoft paid Rick Jelliffe to edit Wikipedia articles about Office Open XML, which Microsoft thought had been biased by editors linked to its competitor, IBM. Microsoft’s spokesman stated the goal was to have someone independent make the changes, but the revelation fueled new debates on paid editing and neutrality.

In July 2009, the National Portrait Gallery of London issued a cease and desist letter against a Wikipedia editor who uploaded over 3,000 high-resolution images from the gallery to Wikimedia Commons, alleging copyright infringement.

In April 2008, The Electronic Intifada reported that CAMERA, a pro-Israel group, created a Google group to coordinate edits to Israel-related Wikipedia articles. Five editors were sanctioned, and one account, believed to belong to CAMERA’s Gilead Ini, was blocked indefinitely for surreptitious coordination.

The Wikipedia article on the album "Virgin Killer" by the Scorpions was blacklisted by the UK’s Internet Watch Foundation in December 2008, leading to a block that prevented most British residents from editing any Wikipedia page. The Wikimedia Foundation protested, and the IWF eventually removed the page from the blacklist.