Hundreds of 'black hat' Wikipedia accounts shut down

Wikipedia’s editors have banned 381 English ‘black hat’ accounts that were engaging in “undisclosed paid advocacy”:  posting promotional articles to the user-editable online encyclopaedia without revealing that they were paid.

“Neutrality is key to ensuring Wikipedia’s quality. Although it does not happen often, undisclosed paid advocacy editing may represent a serious conflict of interest and could compromise the quality of content on Wikipedia. The practice is in conflict with a number of English Wikipedia’s policies, including neutrality and conflict of interest, and is a violation of the Wikimedia Foundation’s Terms of Use”, explained a Wikipedia blog post.

In addition to blocking the 381 “sockpuppet” accounts (multiple accounts used in misleading or deceptive ways) editors deleted 210 articles created by these accounts. Most of these articles, which were related to businesses, business people, or artists, were generally promotional in nature, and often included biased or skewed information, unattributed material, and potential copyright violations. “The edits made by the sockpuppets are similar enough that the community believes they were perpetrated by one coordinated group”, confirmed Wikipedia.