United States congressional staff edits to Wikipedia

Some edits to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia by staff of the United States Congress have created controversy, notably in early to mid-2006. Several such instances, such as those involving Marty Meehan, Norm Coleman, Conrad Burns,^[1] and Joe Biden, received significant media attention.^[2] Others, such as those involving Gil Gutknecht, were reported but received less widespread coverage.

Biographical information on various politicians was edited by their own staff to remove undesirable information (including pejorative statements quoted, or broken campaign promises), add favorable information or "glowing" tributes, add negative information to opponents' biographies, or replace the article in part or whole by staff-authored biographies.^[2]

^ Williams, Walt (January 1, 2007). "Burns' office may have tampered with Wikipedia entry". Bozeman Daily Chronicle. Retrieved February 13, 2007.
^ ^a ^b
Anderson, Nate (January 30, 2006). "Congressional staffers edit boss's bio on Wikipedia". Ars Technica. Retrieved April 28, 2008. The activities documented included:
- rewriting Norm Coleman's article to be more favorable, said to be "correcting errors";
- removing from Conrad Burns' article quoted pejorative statements he had made, and replacing them with "glowing tributes" such as "the voice of the farmer"; and
- removal of unfavorable information from Joe Biden's article.

[1] Williams, Walt (January 1, 2007). "Burns' office may have tampered with Wikipedia entry". Bozeman Daily Chronicle. Retrieved February 13, 2007.

[Ars-2] Anderson, Nate (January 30, 2006). "Congressional staffers edit boss's bio on Wikipedia". Ars Technica. Retrieved April 28, 2008. The activities documented included:
rewriting Norm Coleman's article to be more favorable, said to be "correcting errors";

removing from Conrad Burns' article quoted pejorative statements he had made, and replacing them with "glowing tributes" such as "the voice of the farmer"; and

removal of unfavorable information from Joe Biden's article.

[3] rewriting Norm Coleman's article to be more favorable, said to be "correcting errors";

[4] removing from Conrad Burns' article quoted pejorative statements he had made, and replacing them with "glowing tributes" such as "the voice of the farmer"; and

[5] removal of unfavorable information from Joe Biden's article.

[1]

[2]