TruthOut10
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- Dec 3, 2012
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A British Petroleum representative re-wrote 44% of the oil giant's Wikipedia page, including the environmental sections. Some Wikipedia editors are crying foul.
Oil giant British Petroleum is well known for the Deepwater Oil Horizon disaster and its much-criticized handling of the cleanup's aftermath. But you might want to think twice before you read about the event, or the company's environmental record, on Wikipedia.
Angry Wikipedia editors estimate that BP has rewritten 44% of the Page about itself, especially about BP's environmental performance.
This comes to light just as a federal judge has scheduled a hearing for April 5th on BP's request to prevent payments of what the oil company calls "fictitious or inflated claims" in a class-action settlement reached with victims of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (Gulf of Mexico) oil spill.
BP says the claims could cost it billions of dollars. We've contacted the company for more explanation and will update the story when we hear back.
BP's emergency request for the hearing is in the civil trial currently underway in New Orleans, which according to the Economist "will apportion blame for the accident, determine how much oil gushed out and apply financial penalties."
Meanwhile, the company is working on cleaning up its environmental record on Wkipedia -- in a way that leaves the Wikipedia reader none the wiser.
BP is not directly editing its page, but instead has inserted a BP representative into the editing community who provides Wikipedia editors with text.
The text is then copied "as is" onto the page by Wikipedia editors, while readers are none the wiser that the sections pretending to be unbiased information are, in fact, vetted by higher-ups at BP before hitting the page.
BP accused of rewriting environmental record on Wikipedia | Internet & Media - CNET News
Oil giant British Petroleum is well known for the Deepwater Oil Horizon disaster and its much-criticized handling of the cleanup's aftermath. But you might want to think twice before you read about the event, or the company's environmental record, on Wikipedia.
Angry Wikipedia editors estimate that BP has rewritten 44% of the Page about itself, especially about BP's environmental performance.
This comes to light just as a federal judge has scheduled a hearing for April 5th on BP's request to prevent payments of what the oil company calls "fictitious or inflated claims" in a class-action settlement reached with victims of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (Gulf of Mexico) oil spill.
BP says the claims could cost it billions of dollars. We've contacted the company for more explanation and will update the story when we hear back.
BP's emergency request for the hearing is in the civil trial currently underway in New Orleans, which according to the Economist "will apportion blame for the accident, determine how much oil gushed out and apply financial penalties."
Meanwhile, the company is working on cleaning up its environmental record on Wkipedia -- in a way that leaves the Wikipedia reader none the wiser.
BP is not directly editing its page, but instead has inserted a BP representative into the editing community who provides Wikipedia editors with text.
The text is then copied "as is" onto the page by Wikipedia editors, while readers are none the wiser that the sections pretending to be unbiased information are, in fact, vetted by higher-ups at BP before hitting the page.
BP accused of rewriting environmental record on Wikipedia | Internet & Media - CNET News
