Wiki-PR Wikipedia editing scandal

Wiki-PR
Company typeConsulting firm
IndustryPublic relations, Consulting
Founded2010[1]
Founder
Headquarters
Austin, Texas
,
United States
Key people
Websitewiki-pr.com (archived)

Wiki-PR was a consulting firm that marketed the ability to edit Wikipedia by "directly edit[ing] your page using our network of established Wikipedia editors and admins".[4]

It received media attention in 2013 after a sockpuppet investigation resulted in more than 250 Wikipedia user accounts being blocked or banned.[5] The Wikimedia Foundation changed its terms of use in the wake of the investigation, requiring anyone paid to edit Wikipedia to openly disclose their affiliations.[6][7] Despite the ban, Status Labs, a firm started in 2012 by Wiki-PR founders Fisher and French, continued to edit clients' Wikipedia articles according to former employees.[8] Wiki-PR has been inactive since 2013.[9]

  1. ^ "Wiki-PR: Wikipedia Writers For Hire". Wiki-PR.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  2. ^ "Wikipedia probe into paid-for 'sockpuppet' entries". BBC News. October 21, 2013. Archived from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d "Leadership". Wiki-PR website. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  4. ^ Robbins, Martin (October 18, 2013). "Is the PR Industry Buying Influence Over Wikipedia?". Vice. Archived from the original on December 18, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  5. ^ Mullin, Joe (October 22, 2013). "Wikipedia editors, locked in battle with PR firm, delete 250 accounts". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on June 9, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference wsj2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference WMFblog was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Levy, Rachael (December 13, 2019). "How the 1% Scrubs Its Image Online". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on December 15, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  9. ^ Neither the Wiki-PR website nor its social media pages have been updated since 2013, and there are no signs of the organisation having been active since.