Wikipedia Bans Church of Scientology From Editing Entries
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.
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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.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
agreddon said 6:44PM on 5-29-2009
If Wikipedia wants to ban members of the church of scientology from editing, they can. Of course, they will pretty much be powerless from banning members from doing edits from their own ISP addresses. And if the CoS wants to set up their own wiki all they need to do is download a copy of mediawiki and put out their own message.
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Ethan said 9:21PM on 5-29-2009
Back when I was at school our IP was banned from editing. I'd say it's pretty comparable.
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toughhill said 11:32PM on 5-29-2009
Ban them? They should be banned from the world, but Wikipedia is a good start.
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toughhill said 11:34PM on 5-29-2009
don't click on Walt's wiki link. It appears dangerous. It removed my comment.
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Davidicus Lyndium said 10:41AM on 5-30-2009
Walt's link is fine...good shit.
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Chris said 9:55AM on 6-01-2009
Is Scientology really a certified religion now??? I thought that it was just another popular cult.
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argusshadefoot said 6:26AM on 6-07-2009
agreddon is quite correct,nothing is preventing them from doing any editing from home.
when are people going to wake up and stop following the schlock writings of this hack, alleged writer.
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Kay_Sieverding said 10:01PM on 6-25-2009
wikipedia also restricts pro se litigants from commenting on their article about pro se litigation
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