Agencies caught editing Wikipedia

PR agencies are flouting Wikipedia rules demanding they do not edit the site.

At least six of the PRWeek top ten UK agencies have edited the site in the past year, according to WikiScanner, a new programme that tracks the IP addresses of computers editing the online encyclopaedia.

FD is the biggest offender, filing 25 edits, primarily concerning clients Russ DeLeon and Ruth Parasol – founders of the online gambling company PartyGaming.

Freud Communications made edits on behalf of Pizza Hut and the Carphone Warehouse. Weber Shandwick altered entries concerning Scottish Council Elections.

Hill & Knowlton went further, editing the page concerning ‘internal communications’ by adding a link to a blog by H&K MD of change and internal comms David Ferrabee.

Someone working at city agency Finsbury changed a Wikipedia entry about former daytime TV presenter and Celebrity Big Brother contestant Anne Diamond.

Earlier this year Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales threatened to ban agencies if they edit the encyclopaedia, which is the world’s ninth most popular website.

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