Changes

Jump to navigation Jump to search

CAMERA

1,663 bytes added, 04:02, 30 December 2008
SW: →‎Wikipedia campaign: added comments by Ini
==Wikipedia campaign==
In April 2008, the website [[Electronic Intifada]] published emails sent to a group of CAMERA members organized to impact the online encyclopedia [[Wikipedia]]'s coverage of Israel and [[Palestine]] issues. In Electronic Intifada claimed that in the emails, CAMERA Senior Research Analyst [[Gilead Ini]] stressed that the effort should be secret, and counseled members to avoid "picking a user name that marks you as pro-Israel, or that lets people know your real name." Wikipedia, too, tells users: "You should strongly consider choosing a username that is not connected to you." He also instructed members to "always log in" under their user names, so that Wikipedia would not "record your computer's IP address." <ref name="login">[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&type=signup&returnto=Main_Page Wikipedia login page]</ref> While directing CAMERA members to certain articles on Israel and Palestine, Ini cautioned that new Wikipedia users should "avoid editing Israel-related articles for a short period of time," so as not to develop reputations as "one-topic editors." <ref name="Wikipedia">"[http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9474.shtml EI exclusive: a pro-Israel group's plan to rewrite history on Wikipedia]," Electronic Intifada, April 21, 2008.</ref>
Ini has also publicly called on people to edit Wikipedia, suggesting that "is that if more fair-minded people participate in the Wikipedia experiment, the problems can be minimized."<ref>"[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=118&x_article=1485 How and Why to Edit Wikipedia," Gilead Ini, camera.org, 5/3/08].</ref> Ini asserted in the Jewish Exponent that the initiative was meant to "offset" problems with Wikipedia's articles. "Convinced that directing more well-intentioned individuals to participate in the Wikipedia experiment could help offset the site’s problems," he wrote, "we sent a notice to our members calling for volunteers to learn about and edit Wikipedia’s often-skewed entries about the Middle East."<ref>"[http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/16372 Wikipedia: World Wide Web's Wild, Wild West of Inaccuracy," Gilead Ini, Jewish Exponent, June 12, 2008].</ref> He charged Electronic Intifada with "disingenuously spinning [an online discussion forum] as a nefarious plot" in a letter to Harper's Magazine, and added that "CAMERA repeatedly urged all who read the forum to follow Wikipedia's guidelines, and continues to urge all who visit our website to work toward improving the flawed Wikipedia experiment."<ref>"[http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=5&x_outlet=196&x_article=1525 CAMERA Letter in Harper's Magazine About Wikipedia Issues," 8/14/2008.]</ref> A long-time Wikipedia editor, "Zeq," advised CAMERA on its Wikipedia plan. Zeq joined the group and suggested that some CAMERA members "stay away from any Israel realted [''sic''] articles," until building up enough support to become nominated as administrators, who help resolve controversies. "We will go to war after we have build [''sic''] our army," Zeq wrote. After the emails were published, Zeq was banned from editing Wikipedia for one year, for -- in [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents/Wikilobby_campaign&oldid=207414931#No.2C_no the words of one Wikipedian] -- "recruit[ing] meatpuppets from off-wiki to push POV," a point of view. CAMERA responded by "temporarily or permanently" ending its Wikipedia email group, "in hopes that members' personal contact information will not be made public." <ref name="Wikipedia"/>
==Membership==
1

edit

Navigation menu