Wikipedia is ramping up its fight against paid editing, a practice that goes against the online encyclopedia's policies and ethics, with a letter directed at Wiki-PR, a company accused of getting paid to edit articles on Wikipedia.
The cease and desist letter, sent by the Wikimedia Foundation on Tuesday, accused Wiki-PR and its army of 300 accounts of being a covert PR firm that creates and edits articles for money, a practice called "sockpuppetry" or "meatpuppetry."
See also: Where Do Wikipedia Donations Go? Outgoing Chief Warns of Potential Corruption
"Agent(s) of your company have engaged in sockpuppetry or meatpuppetry to, among other things, make it appear as if certain articles are written by unbiased sources when in fact those articles are authored by Wiki-PR for money," the letter reads.
For that reason, the Wikimedia Foundation, which own Wikipedia, is asking Wiki-PR to stop its practices immediately or else they might go to court. In the letter, Wikimedia's lawyers hint that Wiki-PR's actions could be considered fraud or unfair business practice. Wikipedia's founder Jimmy Wales called it "a warning to unethical paid advocacy editors."
But Wiki-PR denies the accusations.
"We do paid editing and not paid advocacy. We’re as boring as any other research firm," Wiki-PR's CEO Jordan French said in an email to Mashable, after saying that they're working with Wikimedia "to sort this out."
In Wiki-PR's website "services" page, the company says it respects "Wikipedia and its rules against promoting and advertising." And French added that they follow those rules, and "counsel" their clients to adhere to those rules. Vice previously revealed that Viacom and Priceline are among those clients.
Wikimedia condemned the practice of paid editing and advocacy in late October, following stories that revealed an investigation by Wikipedia editors that uncovered a large sockpuppet ring of 250 accounts. For Wikipedia, this is a dangerous practice that risks undermining its credibility, which has always been built on being an unbiased source of information.
"When outside publicity firms and their agents conceal or misrepresent their identity by creating or allowing false, unauthorized, or misleading user accounts, Wikipedia reputation is harmed," the letter read.
Previously, Wikipedia had sent two letters concerning the use of Wikipedia's trademark on Wiki-PR's website, according to the letter. On Oct. 25, Wiki-PR had been already banned by the Wikipedia community from doing edits on the encyclopedia, but, the letter argued, the company is circumventing the ban.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Image: Mashable composite. iStockphoto, alashi, Wikipedia