List of Misplaced Pages controversies: Difference between revisions

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	==2009==		==2009==
	*'''February, 2009''' – In February 2009, ] and collaborator ] created ''Misplaced Pages Art'',<ref name="Misplaced Pages Art">{{cite web \| title=Misplaced Pages Art \| first= \| last= \| url=http://wikipediaart.org/ \| publisher=Misplaced Pages Art \|year=2011 \| accessdate=3 March 2011}}</ref> a ] piece as a live article on Misplaced Pages. Site editors quickly concluded that the project violated Misplaced Pages's rules and opted to delete it 15 hours after it was initially posted. A month later, Kildall and Stern received a letter from a law firm representing the ], claiming the domain name, wikipediaart.org, infringed on their trademark.<ref name="Law firm">{{cite web \| title=Giga Law Firm Letter \| first= \| last= \| url=http://wikipediaart.org/legal/032309-Isenberg.pdf \| publisher=Misplaced Pages Art \| year=2011 \| accessdate=3 March 2011}}</ref> The ensuing controversy was reported in the national press.<ref name="Wall Street Journal">{{cite news \| title=The Internet as Art \| first=Goran \| last=Mijuk \| url=http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970204619004574318373312061230-lMyQjAxMDA5MDIwOTEyNDkyWj.html \| newspaper=Wall Street Journal \| date=2009, July 29 \| accessdate=3 March 2011}}</ref> ''Misplaced Pages Art'' has since been included in the ] of the ] for 2009.<ref name="Wired">{{cite news \| title=The Internet Pavilion at the Venice Biennale \| first=Sterling \| last=Bruce \| url=http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2009/05/the-internet-pavilion-at-the-venice-biennale/ \| publisher=Wired \| date=2009, May 30 \| accessdate=3 March 2011}}</ref> It also appeared in a revised form at the ] festival in Berlin in 2011.<ref name="Transmediale">{{cite web \| title=Transmediale: Open Web Award 2011 Nominees Announced! \| first= \| last= \| url=http://www.transmediale.de/en/awards2011 \| work=Transmediale \| year=2011 \| accessdate=3 March 2011}}</ref>		*'''February, 2009''' – In February 2009, ] and collaborator ] created ''Misplaced Pages Art'',<ref name="Misplaced Pages Art">{{cite web \| title=Misplaced Pages Art \| first= \| last= \| url=http://wikipediaart.org/ \| publisher=Misplaced Pages Art \|year=2011 \| accessdate=3 March 2011}}</ref> a ] piece as a live article on Misplaced Pages. Site editors quickly concluded that the project violated Misplaced Pages's rules and opted to delete it 15 hours after it was initially posted. A month later, Kildall and Stern received a letter from a law firm representing the ], claiming the domain name, wikipediaart.org, infringed on their trademark.<ref name="Law firm">{{cite web \| title=Giga Law Firm Letter \| first= \| last= \| url=http://wikipediaart.org/legal/032309-Isenberg.pdf \| publisher=Misplaced Pages Art \| year=2011 \| accessdate=3 March 2011}}</ref> The ensuing controversy was reported in the national press.<ref name="Wall Street Journal">{{cite news \| title=The Internet as Art \| first=Goran \| last=Mijuk \| url=http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970204619004574318373312061230-lMyQjAxMDA5MDIwOTEyNDkyWj.html \| newspaper=Wall Street Journal \| date=2009, July 29 \| accessdate=3 March 2011}}</ref> ''Misplaced Pages Art'' has since been included in the ] of the ] for 2009.<ref name="Wired">{{cite news \| title=The Internet Pavilion at the Venice Biennale \| first=Sterling \| last=Bruce \| url=http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2009/05/the-internet-pavilion-at-the-venice-biennale/ \| publisher=Wired \| date=2009, May 30 \| accessdate=3 March 2011}}</ref> It also appeared in a revised form at the ] festival in Berlin in 2011.<ref name="Transmediale">{{cite web \| title=Transmediale: Open Web Award 2011 Nominees Announced! \| first= \| last= \| url=http://www.transmediale.de/en/awards2011 \| work=Transmediale \| year=2011 \| accessdate=3 March 2011}}</ref>

			==2010==
			*'''April, 2010''' - In April, 2010, Misplaced Pages's co-founder, Larry Sanger, informed the FBI of the copious amounts of kiddy porn available on ].<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2010/04/27/wikipedia-child-porn-larry-sanger-fbi/</ref> Co-founder ] responded by claiming that a strong statement from the ] would be forthcoming.<ref>http://news.slashdot.org/submission/1231968/Jimmy-Wales-the-porn-on-Commons-must-go</ref>

	==2012==		==2012==

Revision as of 15:48, 16 April 2013

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Ever since its launch in January 2001, Misplaced Pages's open nature has led to various concerns, such as the quality of writing, the amount of vandalism, and the accuracy of information. The media have been drawn to cover various controversial events related to Misplaced Pages, owing to either articles containing false or inconsistent information, or some of the personalities associated with Misplaced Pages becoming embroiled in contentious behavior.

2005

September 2005 – The Seigenthaler incident, was a series of events that began in May 2005 with the anonymous posting of a hoax article in the online encyclopedia Misplaced Pages about John Seigenthaler, a well-known American journalist. The article falsely stated that Seigenthaler had been a suspect in the assassinations of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Then 78-year-old Seigenthaler, who had been a friend and aide to Robert Kennedy, characterized the Misplaced Pages entry about him as "Internet character assassination". The hoax was removed from Misplaced Pages in early October 2005 (although the false information stayed on Answers.com and Reference.com for another three weeks), after which Seigenthaler wrote about his experience in USA Today.

2006

February 1, 2006 – The Henryk Batuta hoax was uncovered by editors on the Polish Misplaced Pages. Batuta was claimed to be a Polish Communist revolutionary who was an associate of Ernest Hemingway. It was referenced in seventeen other articles before the hoax was uncovered.

2007

March 2, 2007 – The Essjay controversy was an incident concerning a prominent Misplaced Pages participant and salaried Wikia employee, known by the username Essjay, who later identified himself as Ryan Jordan. Jordan held trusted volunteer positions within Misplaced Pages known as "administrator", "bureaucrat", "arbitrator", and "mediator". On July 24, 2006, a thread titled "Who is Essjay?" (later retitled "Who is Essjay?, Probably he's Ryan Jordan" after Jordan's self-disclosure) was started on forum site Misplaced Pages Review, the ensuing discussion bringing to light the contradictions, yet five days later The New Yorker published an interview with the "professor".

2008

December, 2008 – In early December the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) added the Misplaced Pages page about the album Virgin Killer to its blacklist of websites containing material potentially illegal in the United Kingdom because it contains an image of a naked prepubescent girl. The IWF's blacklist is voluntarily enforced by 95% of British Internet Service Providers and their action left most British residents unable to edit any page on Misplaced Pages. The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) protested the blacklisting of the page even though, as the IWF stated at the time, "the image in question is potentially in breach of the Protection of Children Act 1978," and, in an "unprecedented" move, the IWF agreed to remove the page from its blacklist.Further information: Internet Watch Foundation and Misplaced Pages
December, 2008 – Professor T. Mills Kelly conducts a class project on "Lying About the Past", which results in the Edward Owens hoax. A biography was created about "Edward Owens" who was claimed to be an oyster fisherman that became a pirate during the period of the Long Depression, targeting ships in the Chesapeake Bay. It was revealed when media outlets began reporting the story as fact.

2009

February, 2009 – In February 2009, Scott Kildall and collaborator Nathaniel Stern created Misplaced Pages Art, a performance art piece as a live article on Misplaced Pages. Site editors quickly concluded that the project violated Misplaced Pages's rules and opted to delete it 15 hours after it was initially posted. A month later, Kildall and Stern received a letter from a law firm representing the Wikimedia Foundation, claiming the domain name, wikipediaart.org, infringed on their trademark. The ensuing controversy was reported in the national press. Misplaced Pages Art has since been included in the Internet Pavilion of the Venice Biennale for 2009. It also appeared in a revised form at the Transmediale festival in Berlin in 2011.

2010

April, 2010 - In April, 2010, Misplaced Pages's co-founder, Larry Sanger, informed the FBI of the copious amounts of kiddy porn available on Wikimedia Commons. Co-founder Jimmy Wales responded by claiming that a strong statement from the Wikimedia Foundation would be forthcoming.

2012

April, 2012 – After Wikipedian in Residence Sarah Stierch hosted an "edit-a-thon" at The Smithsonian to improve Misplaced Pages's coverage of female scientists, several of the new articles that were created from this venture were nominated for deletion by Misplaced Pages's community.

July, 2012 – In July, 2012, Wikimedia UK chairperson and Misplaced Pages sysop Ashley van Haeften was banned from the English Misplaced Pages. He was only the ninth Misplaced Pages sysop to be banned. In August 2012, van Haeften resigned as chairperson of Wikimedia UK.

September, 2012 – In September, 2012, author Philip Roth published an open letter to Misplaced Pages, describing his difficulty in removing false information about the inspiration for his book The Human Stain. Roth, in trying to remove the inaccuracies, ran up against Misplaced Pages's community. Misplaced Pages administrator and community liaison Oliver Keyes wrote a blog post ridiculing Roth for his approach, but supplied no viable alternative.

September, 2012 – Gibraltarpedia, a project inspired by Monmouthpedia, was set up where editors created articles about Gibraltar that would then be linked from QR code plaques at spots around the island. The project came under scrutiny due to concerns about a Wikimedia UK board member who was head of the project, Roger Bamkin, having a professional relationship with the government of Gibraltar in connection with Gibraltarpedia. Of primary concern was that the site's main page "Did You Know" section was allegedly being used for the promotional purposes of Bamkin's clients. Bamkin, under pressure, eventually resigned as a Board Trustee

2013

January, 2013 – The discovery of a hoax article on the "Bicholim conflict" caused widespread press coverage. The article, a meticulously crafted but completely made-up description of a fictitious war in Indian Goa, had been listed as a "Good Article" on Misplaced Pages for more than five years – a quality award given to fewer than 1 percent of all articles on the English Misplaced Pages.