Coming across an article on BBC News: Technology entitled Congress 'made Wikipedia changes' made me think of the old saying of "history is written by the victors" and "who controls the past controls the future" by George Orwell in 1984. I should explain why these sayings came to mind.
In the linked article it is alleged that US Congress Staff have been accused of making partisan changes to a number of political biographies on Wikipedia.
In the linked article it is alleged that US Congress Staff have been accused of making partisan changes to a number of political biographies on Wikipedia.
For instance, changing the words "liberal" for "activist" when describing a senator during college days.
Whilst a representative of the senator mentioned in the article made the changes to "correct inaccuracies and delete information that was not reflective of the politician", Wikipedia says the controversy raises questions about whether it is ethical for those with a vested interest in the subject to edit entries about it. What is more, Wikipedia said the Congressional computer network has been blocked from editing for brief periods on a number of occasions in the last six months due to the inappropriate contributions.
Wikipedia is only one resource by which average people can source factual information, however, it is not immune to acts that manipulate the past to influence events in the future. Moreover, it may be case that in future, our current histories will be written by those who dominate the Internet.
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