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CIA, FBI computers used to edit Wikipedia


A computer program has tracked Wikipedia edits to CIA and FBI computers. But it is unclear whether official representatives made the changes or if they were made by someone with access to the organisations' computers (Image: iStockphoto)

People using CIA and FBI computers have edited entries in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia on topics including the Iraq war and the Guantanamo Bay prison, according to a new tracing program.

The changes may violate Wikipedia's conflict-of-interest guidelines, says a spokesperson for the site.

The program, WikiScanner, was developed by Virgil Griffith of the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico and posted this month on a website that was quickly overwhelmed with searches.

The program allows users to track the source of computers used to make changes to the popular internet encyclopedia where anyone can submit and edit entries.

WikiScanner revealed that CIA computers were used to edit an entry on the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.



Aerial and satellite images of the US prison for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba were removed using a computer traced to the FBI, WikiScanner showed.

A CIA spokesperson says he cannot confirm whether CIA computers were used in the changes, adding that "the agency always expects its computer systems to be used responsibly".

The FBI did not have an immediate response.

Griffith says he developed WikiScanner "to create minor public relations disasters for companies and organisations I dislike [and] to see what 'interesting organisations' [which I am neutral towards] are up to."

It is not known whether changes were made by an official representative of an agency or company, Griffith says, but it is certain the change was made by someone with access to the organisation's network.

It violates Wikipedia's neutrality guidelines for a person with close ties to an issue to contribute to an entry about it, says a spokesperson for the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia's parent organisation.

"[But] Wikipedia is self-correcting," the spokesperson says, meaning misleading entries can be quickly revised by another editor.

The spokesperson adds that Wikimedia welcomes WikiScanner.
