Wikipedia's New Rules: Editors Must Disclose If They Are Paid

Wikipedia has changed its terms of service in a move that now requires editors to disclose whether or not they are getting paid — a change meant to prevent contributions from non-objective sources.

The new terms of service requires that any editor specifically paid to write or edit a Wikipedia entry disclose his affiliation on his edit summary and user page. Volunteer editors, or people who might make "good faith" edits as part of their jobs, are not affected

"We believe that undisclosed paid advocacy editing is a black hat practice that can threaten the trust of Wikimedia’s volunteers and readers." wrote Geoff Brigham, general counsel for Wikimedia, in a blog post outlining the changes. "We have serious concerns about the way that such editing affects the neutrality and reliability of Wikipedia." Read more...