Archive for the ‘Wikipedia’ Category

Barry’s Wikipedia page ‘vandalised’ to state that everyone in the town ‘hates immigrants’ – WalesOnline

Online encyclopedia Wikipedia has confirmed that its site was "vandalised" after an information page Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan said the town "hated immigrants".

Custodians of the website said the page for the Welsh town, that was recently voted one of the most desirable places to live, would be removed it immediately.

The page said: According to the 2011 census, the population of Barry was 51,502, making it the fifth largest town in Wales."

"The population is set to increase with loads of immagrants (sic) coming into Wales diluting the population of Welsh this has and effect for the language mainly in South Wales (while north and west keep their Welsh speaking communities) don't come to Barry we hate immigrants and so do the whole of wales (sic)."

A reader who spotted it said: "Barry's wikipedia entry seems a little racist dont you think? Is this how the world can expect to recieve the town of Barry?!"

A spokesman for Wikimedia UK said: "The page has been vandalised and this post will be deleted immediately. It has come from an unsourced area and has not been picked up."

Wikipedia is a free-content encyclopedia supported by the Wikimedia Foundation and based on a model that allowed people to edit content once they have logged on to the site.

It is written collaboratively by largely anonymous volunteers who write without pay.

Anyone with Internet access can write and make changes to Wikipedia articles, except in limited cases where editing is restricted to prevent disruption or vandalism.

False facts have been known to be included in the past, including the fact that David Beckham was a Chinese goalkeeper in the 18th Century, that the Duchess of Cornwall's first name was Cow-miller, and that television gardener Alan Titchmarsh had published a new version of the Kama Sutra.

More here:
Barry's Wikipedia page 'vandalised' to state that everyone in the town 'hates immigrants' - WalesOnline

UN rapporteur’s Wikipedia page defaced upon visit to PH – ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- Netizens warred with fact-checkers on the Wikipedia page of a United Nations (UN) rapporteur critical of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, with changes coming mere minutes apart, early Friday morning.

Hours after the arrival of Agnes Callamard in the Philippines, a paragraph accusing her of being "a highly paid consultant of the Liberal Party of the Philippines dedicated into overthrowing one of the best President (Duterte) the country has ever had" (sic) appeared on her Wikipedia page.

The paragraph first added at 2:08 a.m. was removed, only to be put back minutes later.

The exchange continued several times, coming minutes apart, until the defacers finally gave up at 3:25 a.m.

Callamard is the UN special rapporteur for extrajudicial killings. She arrived in the Philippines this week, and attended the anniversary of the Commission on Human Rights in Quezon City on Thursday night. While President Rodrigo Duterte said she was in the country to investigate drug-related killings, she said she was here for an academic purpose.

She spoke during a forum at the University of the Philippines on Friday, and will attend sessions on Saturday.

During her talk, she condemned the Duterte administrations bloody war on drugs.

Wikipedia is a community-maintained encyclopedia covering a wide range of topics, with local versions in some countries. It urges its users to input fact-checked information, and to cite sources in articles.

Read the rest here:
UN rapporteur's Wikipedia page defaced upon visit to PH - ABS-CBN News

Turkish authorities block Wikipedia without giving reason – BBC News


BBC News
Turkish authorities block Wikipedia without giving reason
BBC News
However, the Hurriyet daily newspaper said Wikipedia had been asked to remove content by certain writers whom the authorities accuse of "supporting terror" and of linking Turkey to terror groups. The site had not responded to the demands, Hurriyet said ...
Why Turkey Blocked Access to WikipediaThe Atlantic
Wikipedia blocked in Turkey - Turkey BlocksTurkey Blocks
IANSLIVE (@IANSLIVE) | TwitterTwitter
Reuters -Facebook
all 247 news articles »

Read more from the original source:
Turkish authorities block Wikipedia without giving reason - BBC News

Impossible to Access Wikipedia in Turkey Without Judicial Order – Asbarez Armenian News

mer Fatih Sayan, head of Turkeys Information and Communication Technologies Authority (Source: Hurriyet Daily News)

ANKARA, Turkey (Hurriyet Daily News)It is impossible to grant access to the worlds largest encyclopedia, Wikipedia, unless Turkeys judicial decisions are implemented, the head of the countrys telecommunications watchdog has said.

There are judicial processes that had been completed regarding some Wikipedia pages but, unfortunately, Wikipedia has not removed those pages. Turkey obeys the rule of law and what will be said on the issue has already been said by the courts. It is impossible for Wikipedia to be opened without the implementation of those decisions, Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) head mer Fatih Sayan said at the opening ceremony of the Turkey Informatics Summit on May 3.

Sayan said the country is a civilization of knowledge, while expressing his sadness over the access ban.

He also said authorities were open to any kind of cooperation on condition that the website administration abide by the law to implement judicial decisions so as to permit access.

We can discuss it Freedom is not one-sided. Turkey has the rule of law. Everyone should [act] within the law. No one has the right to say, I do not recognize the Turkish courts. I also want to express that we are ready to provide all kinds of support to re-open Wikipedia, Sayan said.

Sayan, meanwhile, urged the online encyclopedia to confirm the information it provides.

My call is that Wikipedia should solve problems that led to its closure and the system should be rehabilitated at this point if required. We care about the latest developments in the fight against fake news on the internet We find WikiTribune initiative by Wikipedia officials positive. Fighting against fake news is beneficial for all of us, Sayan said.

The telecommunications watchdog stated on April 29 that it had blocked access to Wikipedia, citing a law allowing it to ban access to websites deemed obscene or a threat to national security.

The Ankara 1st Criminal Court of Peace later ordered the ban after the Wikipedia administration reportedly refused to remove two English-language pages claiming that Ankara channeled support to jihadists in Syria.

In response, the Wikimedia Foundation appealed the court ruling that came after the administrative measure against the website.

Go here to see the original:
Impossible to Access Wikipedia in Turkey Without Judicial Order - Asbarez Armenian News

China to launch Wikipedia rival in 2018 – BBC News


BBC News
China to launch Wikipedia rival in 2018
BBC News
China is to launch an online version of its national encyclopaedia next year, to compete with Wikipedia. Officials said more than 20,000 people had been hired to work on the project, which will feature 300,000 entries at about 1,000 words each.
Tired of Just Blocking Wikipedia, China's Government Wants to Create Its Own Online EncyclopediaSlate Magazine (blog)
China is recruiting 20000 people to create its own WikipediaEngadget
China is making an official version of Wikipedia QuartzQuartz
Ars Technica -Wired.co.uk -CNET -South China Morning Post
all 25 news articles »

Continued here:
China to launch Wikipedia rival in 2018 - BBC News