Hackopedia

Manila Standard Today, Lifestyle | January 11, 2012

If you’re a student doing a report on the impeachment case of chief justice Renato Corona and happened to be on Wikipedia on January 3 or 4 to do your research, you probably got your facts wrong. At different times throughout those two days, Corona’s bio page was maliciously edited, providing different false and speculative pieces of information about him. Here’s The Gist:

One edit says his title is “thief justice,” another claims that “the Filipino people is hoping for his impeachment” and yet another outs him as “gay.” Wikipedia editors are quick to spot these acts of vandalism and have restored the page to its “clean” status within hours, but not before locking it to prevent further edits from unregistered users.

This isn’t a new thing for Wikipedia as the “Vandalism on Wikipedia” page states that “frequent targets of vandalism include articles on hot and controversial topics and current events.” The chief justice definitely fits that profile.

Being a community-edited “encyclopedia,” the Web site attracts people with a variety of intentions. Many “editors” dedicate time and effort to write factual articles with citations while others use the site for promotion, pranks, smear campaigns and other personal motivations. Some of the most hilarious examples of vandalized Wikipedia articles are compiled by The Huffington Post in a story titled “The Funniest Acts Of Wikipedia Vandalism Ever.”

It only goes to show that Wikipedia isn’t exactly the most reliable source of straight facts. Sure, vigilant citizens may always be on the lookout for incorrect and baseless statements, but they can’t prevent them from happening, or at the very least, catch all suspicious edits before any kind of damage is done (meaning, before anyone gets to read them).

So if you happen to be that kid writing a school report, it’s best to verify from other sources if Corona is indeed rumored to be in an intimate relationship with Supreme Court spokesperson Midas Marquez, as suggested in the defaced entry. Better yet, don’t use Wikipedia as a research material.