Snowden Wikipedia page edited to label him a "traitor" from Senate computer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:156.33.241.5

by _bfhp • 13 years ago

145 55 13 years ago

en.wikipedia.org

diff in question: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Snowden&diff=566904988&oldid=566903734

screenshot of both diff and above-linked user page as of now: http://i.imgur.com/I6HlpPX.png

_bfhp7• 13 years ago

diff in question: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Snowden&di...

screenshot of both diff and above-linked user page as of now: http://i.imgur.com/I6HlpPX.png

_bfhp7• 13 years ago

Personally my money is on the obvious explanation, i.e. that a bored/edgy staffer did this with full knowledge that people would notice. Prank or not, pretty great catch, which I can't credit myself for: https://twitter.com/TimKarr/status/363475470332854272

bendoernberg• 13 years ago

Looks like the first person noticed around 5pm: https://twitter.com/schuettebop/status/363403815166296064

rpgmaker• 13 years ago

My money is on a Dianne Feinstein staffer or DiFi herself.

singularity0• 13 years ago

Why is this newsworthy? Several senators have already issued public statements labeling him a traitor.

Eduard• 13 years ago

may you tell us your IP address?

rbanffy• 13 years ago

127.0.0.1

_bfhp7• 13 years ago

They didn't deface Wikipedia to claim it, though. I doubt it's Peter King having a (particularly) bad night, but we all can dream

snowwrestler• 13 years ago

Wikipedia is the encyclopedia that "anyone can edit." Although it might fly against the prevailing opinion online, I would not classify a one-word edit like this as a defacement. Whether Snowden is a dissident, traitor, or some other word (patriot?) is really a matter of opinion.

ihsw2• 13 years ago

Because it's astroturfing. It's a small step to go from monitoring communications in real-time to directly and automatically responding to certain communications events, for example giving the appearance of interest where there is none (or the opposite, giving the appearance of disinterest).

It needn't be bots posting spam but it could be trained professionals engaged in spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

9ac345a5509a• 13 years ago

There is no evidence that this is a Senator or anyone in a position of power. It is more likely that it is just a bored intern.

_bfhp7• 13 years ago

No one's claiming that it is a Senator, but then again, is this what my tax dollars are funding?

qq66• 13 years ago

Yes, your tax dollars are funding this, but they are funding much worse. In terms of the useless: a friend ordered a $25,000 computer with 192 GB of RAM because he had a research grant for computer hardware that he had to use up. In terms of the horrifying: Extrajudicial murder of civilians.

impendia• 13 years ago

Yes, in addition to all of the surveillance programs being discussed, as well as the salaries of the people who lied to Congress about it.

eli• 13 years ago

If it makes you feel any better, many (most?) Senate interns are unpaid.

peterg2• 13 years ago

Honestly, this is the most likely answer. I doubt it would be a Senator.

cheald• 13 years ago

If only because that would actually require the Senator to be able to actually understand the technology to a degree necessary to make a Wikipedia edit.

ww520• 13 years ago

May be NSA can figure out who did it.

FrankenPC• 13 years ago

How ironic! I'd label all the current politicians traitors as well!

WestCoastJustin• 13 years ago

Probably not a shocker, or news worthy, but amusing to get busted like this. Snowden has been publicly called a traitor by at least two senators, "I think Snowden is a traitor -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid [1], and Kerry characterized former NSA contractor as a "traitor to his country." -- US Secretary of State John Kerry [2], and there are lots of hits in Google News [3], so there are probably others.

[1] http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/senators-demand-repercussi...

[2] http://rt.com/usa/kerry-russia-china-snowden-152/

[3] https://news.google.com/?q=snowden+traitor+senator

rdtsc• 13 years ago

"traitor to his country."

Because for them country=government. He is a traitor to a corrupt and power hungry government. So that description is accurate.

saraid2166• 13 years ago

Because for them country=government.

Drawing a distinction between the government and a non-government is pretty much the antithesis of democracy.

waffle_ss• 13 years ago

Don't forget Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee: "I don’t look at this as being a whistleblower. I think it's an act of treason" [1]

[1] http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/policy-and-strategy/304...

brentsota• 13 years ago

"In response to vandalism from this IP address, anonymous editing may be disabled. If you are an unregistered user operating from this address, note that it may be possible for your agency or facility's administration to determine who was making contributions from this address at any given time and abuse reports may be sent to its network administrator for further investigation."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:156.33.241.5

sologoub2• 13 years ago

Feinstein (D-Calif.)? http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/policy-and-strategy/304...

ihsw2• 13 years ago

Have you seen her direct the NSA-related congressional hearings? She's definitely a dusty old battle-axe, but I'd wager that her computer skills (or lack thereof) impede her ability to edit Wikipedia articles.

superconductor• 13 years ago

She probably wouldn't go near Wikipedia - a haven for radical idealists to spread their propaganda. It'd be flat-out unpatriotic.

sologoub2• 13 years ago

Sorry, this was meant in jest.

bbx• 13 years ago

The latest revision reads as "American fugitive intelligence analyst".

On a side note, the user is registered to WikiPedia, and his contributions page [1] hints at his awareness of the public availability of these contributions (and of their IP address). Maybe he didn't want to hide the origin of this edit, or maybe it was a clumsy mistake. There isn't much more to tell.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/156.33.2...

_bfhp7• 13 years ago

Now all we have to do is pinpoint the one US Senator interested in revolvers, Islamic historical sites, people straddling the exec boards of multiple large corporations, and tiki bars in San Francisco.

_bfhp7• 13 years ago

Actually, a McCain wedding was at that tiki bar: http://sfist.com/2013/06/03/a_very_sf_mccain_wedding.php

kennywinker• 13 years ago

Probably not an actual senator, but someone on a senator's staff.

Buge• 13 years ago

What do you mean the user is registered? If the user was registered, it would show the username instead of the IP address.

nisdec• 13 years ago

http://youtu.be/4Sg4AtcW0LU?t=5m3s

ToothlessJake• 13 years ago

The United States government is serving as a cash funnel/legal immunity shield to corporations sometimes made by the government itself[1].

Anyone who defects from or defies them is labeled a traitor or prosecuted in full[2]. Those who attempt to collate information on these entities and persons are tracked by the sitting government at the behest of these immune corporations[3].

All the while tax payer resources are used to forcibly alter public opinion on a subject involving government conflict of interests. Great.

[1] (Project PM) http://wiki.echelon2.org/wiki/Endgame_Systems

[2] (Started Project PM) http://www.thenation.com/article/174851/strange-case-barrett...

[3] (DoJ Seeking Info on Project PM) http://leaksource.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/doj-issues-subpoe...

jaekwon• 13 years ago

^^^ This. This is what we're up against. A steaming pile of moral hazard.

Aloha• 13 years ago

While calling him a traitor is a valid point of view, its not NPOV, the foundation wiki is built on.

FWIW, I think is a hero - and I suspect he will come to be regarded as such by most Americans.

Qantourisc• 13 years ago

This is probably not a great comment, but this one of the lamest edits I have seen.

INTPenis• 13 years ago

Kind of childish if you ask me. Are they really that eager to judge?

Of course they are, they're only people. Which is why we shouldn't give them any power over us that isn't 100% transparent.

bjourne• 13 years ago

Laughs at the US senate aside, it really sucks that Wikipedia hasn't implemented a simple ip anonymizing system yet. They could simply hash the ip of anonymous contributions so then you could still see the persons edit history but not run a whois query and figure out what that persons likely employer is.

A system like that has been proposed may times but always shot down with "if people are concerned with privacy they can always log in!" Which doesn't help at all because people are clueless about technology and doesn't know how much some Wikipedia edits and and ip address exposes about them.

Snowden Wikipedia page edited to label him a "traitor" from Senate computer

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