WikiScanner (also known as Wikipedia Scanner) was a publicly searchable database that linked anonymous edits on Wikipedia to the organizations where those edits apparently originated. It did this by cross-referencing the edits with data on the owners of the associated block of IP addresses, though it did not investigate edits made under a username. It was created by Virgil Griffith and released on August 13, 2007.
WikiScanner only worked on anonymous edits, which at the time revealed the user's IP address, not edits by anyone logged in under a username. It could not distinguish between edits made by authorized users of an organization, unauthorized intruders, or users of public-access computers that may have been using an organization's network.
WikiScanner found that some editorial contributions to Wikipedia had originated from computers operated by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the Vatican.
The Associated Press reported on August 15, 2007, that computers owned by the Church of Scientology had been used to remove criticism from articles about Scientology on Wikipedia, including edits to the article Cult Awareness Network. The Associated Press admitted that edits to Wikipedia had been made anonymously from its own computers, though the news organization did not describe the content of the edits.
Edits by other large organizations, including Amnesty International, Apple Inc., ChevronTexaco, Coca-Cola, the British Conservative Party, Dell, ExxonMobil, the FBI, The Guardian, Microsoft, MySpace, the National Rifle Association of America, Nestlé, News of the World, the New York Times, the Royal Dutch Shell, Government of Portugal, the US Republican Party, Reuters, Sony, the United Nations, Pepsi, and Walmart.
Reuters reported that CIA computers were used to edit an article regarding the 2003 United States invasion of Iraq, including editing a chart showing casualties. CIA computers also edited the article for former CIA chief William Colby. Reuters reported that an FBI computer edited an article on the United States prison at Guantanamo Bay.
This happened 19 years ago. Even though WikiScanner is no longer around and technology has changed, companies, organizations, and even individuals tried to pull a fast one by knowingly editing content that they believed could be done anonymously. By doing so, they were able to post edits that favored their points of view or their"truth". They were also able to alter information against rivals, enemies, or those they wanted to embarrass, etc. Given the same opportunity now, I can see this continuing to happen...
"The more things change, the more they stay the same." --- Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr.
This aphorism was coined by the French critic, journalist, and novelist Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr who originally wrote the phrase in French as "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" in the January 1849 issue of his satirical journal, Les Guêpes (The Wasps).
