Well, it does but it doesn’t. I am taking advantage of a shocking headline to make a point.
A common thing I hear from people who want to correct information on Wikipedia is, “but it’s the truth.”
I completely understand and stand behind anyone saying this. But Wikipedia does not rely on what is true and what is not. It relies on what secondary reliable sources say about the subject.
Because of this, there is often a lot of misinformation on Wikipedia.
This article will show you some of the guidelines behind Wikipedia’s stance to allow information which is not the “truth” to remain on the site. I will also show you a few ways to correct that information using the same Wikipedia guidelines and policies.
Original Research on Wikipedia
The first thing to understand is that Wikipedia is not a publisher of original information. This means that they do not allow “original research.”
Wikipedia defines original research as any content that has no reliable publish source to support it. The site is more of an information aggregator. It uses information already published in reliable sources and summarizes that information for the reader.
Here is what I mean.
Let’s say that The Wall Street Journal publishes an article talking about how Wikipedia is the greatest website of all time. The Wall Street Journal would be the publisher of the original statement, and you could then say (on Wikipedia) that Wikipedia is referred to as the greatest website of all time. The article in the WSJ would then be used as the reliable source to support the information.
You cannot say it is the greatest website of all time unless that source existed.
Why does Wikipedia do this?
Well, there is no editorial oversight per se. Wikipedia is crowdsourced and facts need to be verified. As such, simply creating original information without a source could make the information potentially inaccurate.
Verifiability, Not Truth
I said that Wikipedia does not care about truth. In fact, there is an essay that explains the history of Wikipedia’s verifiability policy.
The policy used to read that “the threshold for inclusion is verifiability, not truth.”
Read literally, this would mean that Wikipedia could say that the sun is purple as long as the reliable secondary sources used to support that statement said just that.
The policy changed to now read, “content is determined by previously published information rather than the beliefs or experience of its editors. Even if you’re sure something is true, it must be verifiable before you can add it.”
Guess what?
Despite the wording change, editors interpret both statements as the same.
Information must be verified through reliable sources. If reliable sources support a statement, it can be added to Wikipedia, even if you are sure that it is not true.
I understand this is not what you wanted to hear, but unfortunately it is a policy that is enforced on Wikipedia.
Correcting Misinformation on Wikipedia
Above I discussed the need to have a reliable source to support content on Wikipedia. Using this policy, you can also correct the information on Wikipedia that you feel is inaccurate.
If there is information that is inaccurate, and there is no source to support that information, it can be challenged and removed. This should be the first step you take if you see something that is not correct.
Why was that information allowed in the first place?
Understand that Wikipedia is run by volunteers. There are not enough volunteers to police all edits that are made. Sometimes, information is added to Wikipedia that is original research and not removed in a timely manner.
This is why it is important to monitor your Wikipedia page.
Now let’s assume that the content on Wikipedia is supported by a reliable source. For instance, let’s say that the information is supported by an article in The New York Times.
If the information is not true, you need to contact The New York Times so they can update the article. Once the correction is made, you can then correct it on Wikipedia.
Another way you can remove libelous information from Wikipedia is to email them directly. It does take libel seriously and will investigate any claims received. Simply email the information to “info-en-q@wikipedia.org.”
Finally, if you see inaccurate information on a Wikipedia biography, there are other options you have to correct it.
Taking Legal Action for Inaccuracies
Let’s say you’ve exhausted every avenue to correct information. Now it’s time to sue Wikipedia.
Not so fast!!
You need to understand that Wikipedia, as with other websites, is protected by law if they publish defamatory information.
The protection comes from the Communications Decency Act of 1996, specifically Section 230. The Act states that “no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”
This basically means that if there is information on Wikipedia that is defamatory, the site itself would not be held liable. You would need to go after the editor who added the information.
This would be difficult as it is nearly impossible to know the identity of anyone who edits Wikipedia. Even if you sue the Wikimedia Foundation for the information, you will be in for a fight as they likely will not disclose that information.
To date there have only been two lawsuits that have been somewhat successful against the Wikimedia Foundation when it comes to defamation. Both were non-US cases, and one was stalled because the Foundation refused to honor the court order issued from a court in the United Kingdom.
Note – Nothing herein should be considered legal advice, only opinion based on my experience editing Wikipedia. It is always advisable that you contact an attorney should you decide to take legal action against Wikipedia.
Final Word:
To sum things up, Wikipedia is not a publisher of original information. The site relies on reliable sources for its content and will likely publish information (regardless of its truth) if there is a source to support it.
Wikipedia is also protected by law from any misinformation that may be published on the site. There are methods you can use to fix content on your Wikipedia page; and it is recommended that you monitor the page to ensure the accuracy of its content.