The Wikimedia Foundation launched an investigation last month that found a Texas-based public relations firm creating hundreds of fake Wikipedia entries on behalf of its clients.
The Wikimedia Foundation this week accused a Texas-based public relations firm of creating hundreds of fake Wikipedia entries on behalf of its clients, as part of a widespread scam that was uncovered last month. The firm, Wiki-PR, is believed to have created more than 300 fake accounts used to edit Wikipedia pages — a practice known as “sockpuppeting” — thereby threatening the principles of objectivity and neutrality that the encyclopedia was founded upon. The Wikimedia Foundation and its lawyers, Cooley LLP, sent a cease-and-desist letter to the company on Tuesday, requesting that Wiki-PR refrain from further editing WIkipedia pages until it complies with the site’s terms of service.
