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Wikipedia Bans Church of Scientology From Editing Entries

by Lee Bains on May 29, 2009 at 06:01 PM

Wikipedia, which characterizes itself as "the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit," might need to tack a slight addendum on to the end of that description: "unless that anyone happens to log in from a computer owned by the Church of Scientology."

According to the Register, the administrators of Wikipedia have decided to ban all editors who log on to the site from IP addresses owned by the Church of Scientology. Some of those administrators have claimed, according to the Register, that those spunky Scientologists have been "damaging Wikipedia's reputation for neutrality" by delving into biased self-promotion. Scientology, a 55-year-old religion founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, has gained both notoriety and criticism in recent years as celebrity members like Tom Cruise and John Travolta have become increasingly vocal.

This does not mark Wikipedia's first attempt to quelch zealots in the Scientology debate. In the past, site administrators have banned several determinedly anti-Scientology accounts from editing entries related to the religion. Due to the prohibitively time-consuming nature of identifying specific editors and banning them from specific pages, though, Wikipedia has elected to prohibit any and all editorial action taken via Church IPs.

While many Web philosophers are bound to woundedly cry "Free speech!" in response to such an issue as this, we must take a different stance. Whether or not Wikipedia was right in taking such broadly prohibitive measures, Wikipedia certainly has the right to do so. The more dependent on massive media companies we become, the more we need to accept that such companies -- at the end of the day -- are companies, after all, and are beholden to themselves, not the people. [From: The Register]

Banned Facebook Groups

    Facebook is a great venue for humiliating oneself with ranting and raving, but, like most things, people can take things too far. Give someone a soapbox (or in this case, a Facebook group) and there are sure to be others crazy enough to follow them. Here are some examples of Facebook groups that crossed the line and were banned from the site.

    Assasinate Evo Morales
    Here's a good way to get your group banned -- call for the assassination of a political leader. Titled 'Global Collection to Hire a Sharpshooter to Liquidate Evo Morales' was taken down by Facebook since it bans threatening violence. No surprises here.

    Getty Images

    Surrey, BC Terrorist Group
    A Facebook group supporting the International Sikh Youth Federation, a banned terrorist organization, was taken down by Canadian Police. Authorities were tipped off to the group because its page depicted a young person holding a prohibited gun, which was eventually traced back to 49-year old Bahadur Sandhur. Police seized it and two others when they investigated his home.

    Dead Babies Group
    Facebook took down a group called 'Dead Babies Make Me Laugh' after the UK Sun was flooded with outraged calls and emails. A running joke on campuses, the group included fake anecdotes about killing babies, but mothers weren't laughing even though the group was created and classified as being "just for fun."

    I Need Sex Group
    Laura Michaels of Bristol, England, created a Facebook group called 'I Need Sex.' According to the UK Sun, the group had more than 100 members after being up for only one hour. Michaels claims to have ended up sleeping with 50 of the group's members -- literally half of the group. Facebook opposes this type of personals-ad use, so the group was taken down.

    KKK group
    Facebook recently shut down a group called the 'Isle of Man KKK.' The group called for the elimination of newcomers from the UK island and featured a picture of a hooded Ku Klux Klan member. Thankfully, Facebook's terms of service prohibits content that is hateful or threatening.

Tags: banned, bans, scientology, top, wikipedia

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