BREAKING NEWS – Washington, D.C. – An online battle has erupted over the Wikipedia page for Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., with a significant uptick in edits that reflects a pattern that’s been seen ahead of past vice-presidential announcements and led Wikipedia to put the page under “discretionary sanctions.”
The trend was first reported last week by The Intercept. According to the revision history of the Harris article on Wikipedia, there have been 500 revisions to the page since May 9, most of which have been made by one highly prolific editor.
An editor also removed information that was critical of Harris, with some other editors on the “talk” page objecting to changes regarding Harris’ “relationship” with former California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, while he was married. Users also objected to changes related to Harris’ record as an aggressive prosecutor toward blacks.
The editors at Wikipedia responded to the criticism. “We at Wikipedia do not politicize our public information in any, way shape, or form, and we operate with zero bias. And as far as the accusation regarding Kamala Harris, our goal was to insure that all the information about her is 100% accurate, which is the reason why we authorized and allowed the California Senator to edit the page herself.”