Wikipedia slurs traced to Hawaii state PCs
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By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer
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State computers have been used to make at least 2,800 edits to online encyclopedia Wikipedia, including dozens of instances where vulgar, sexist or racist entries were added. The edits included the addition of profanities to the profiles of Sen. Daniel Akaka of Hawai'i and pacifist Mahatma Gandhi.
The changes, most of which occurred during the past two years, were made by computers with Internet addresses registered to the state, including agencies such as the Department of Education and the University of Hawai'i, according to Web site Wikiscanner.
It's unclear if state employees were behind the edits. It's possible some edits were made by students at public schools or in the University of Hawai'i system, or others with access to state computers.
Wikiscanner, which simplifies the process of linking anonymous Wikipedia edits to computer addresses, has gained popularity in recent weeks as a tool to discover how various corporations, government agencies and nonprofits manipulate the encyclopedia's entries.
Most entries made from state computers appear to have been honest attempts to improve the accuracy of Wikipedia. However, state computers also provided an anonymous platform for pranks, personal attacks and vandalism. Such edits were later changed or removed by other users of the site, which anyone can edit.
Among the erroneous facts added to the encyclopedia that were traced to state computers:
LONG LIST OF ATTACKS
Overall, the volume of Wikipedia edits originating from state computers represented a relatively small amount of activity, given the large number of state workers and computers. UH alone has about 20,000 computers, which are used by 10,000 faculty members and 50,000 students.
However, the Wikipedia activity includes a long list of attacks and vulgarities posted from state computers against people such as former UH President Evan Dobelle, professional surfer Andy Irons, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh and the emperor of Japan.
Such activity also included attacks on professions such as teaching, and religions, including Catholicism and Buddhism. Other edits were racial in nature.
Many of the Internet postings appear to violate state policies governing the use of information technology resources such as computers. These policies only allow incidental or minimal use of state computers for personal use. In addition, state workers are supposed to refrain from using profanity or vulgarity and from causing harm or embarrassment to the state.
The activity included at least 1,662 Wikipedia edits made from computers corresponding to Internet addresses registered to various University of Hawai'i computers, according to Wikiscanner. Another 1,176 Wikipedia edits were traced to other state computers, including 766 edits made from Department of Education computers. Entries made from Department of Education computers included defacement of the profiles of Akaka and Gandhi.
It was unknown whether those computers were in Department of Education offices and classrooms or in public libraries or other areas accessed by the general public.
"What you've described, expressing vulgarity, probably that would be against our computer use policy," said DOE spokesman Greg Knudsen. "But it would also be pretty hard to enforce something that's done in that type of (information) exchange."
HARD TO FIND CULPRITS
Users of state computers are sometimes blocked from accessing online auctions, shopping sites, pornography and other Internet pages. However, state employees generally are given latitude to browse information resources such as Wikipedia.
On average, the activity works out to an average of less than four edits a day over a period of about two years.
While it's possible to trace a Wikipedia entry to a state Internet connection, pinning such edits to a particular computer or computer user is more difficult, if not impossible. That's because hundreds or even thousands of state computers could share an Internet address.
It's not clear whether UH could find its Wikipedia editors, said David Lassner, UH's chief information officer. However, such a search isn't worth the resources that might be required, particularly given the university's role in expanding knowledge.
Erroneous or vulgar changes to profiles of Limbaugh, Irons, Dobelle, Abercrombie and Rice were among the Wikipedia contributions made from UH computers. UH also has policies governing acceptable computer use that may have been violated.
Generally, contributions to Wikipedia would not be discouraged, if they didn't interfere with other duties or violate university policies, Lassner said.
"The university would never say to someone, 'You should never enhance human knowledge while working,'" he said.
Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com.
