. . . is an A̶m̶e̶r̶i̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶j̶o̶u̶r̶n̶a̶l̶i̶s̶t̶ Russian propagandist
July 15, 2014 6:58 AM Subscribe
congress-edits (@congressedits) is a Twitterbot broadcasting anonymous Wikipedia edits made from Congressional IP addresses.
Launched on July 10th, it was inspired by Parliament WikiEdits, but has quickly grown much more visible, with over 15,000 followers and coverage in the New York Times and Daily Beast. Edits made range from in jokes, to image burnishing, to disinformation, slander and propaganda. Creator Ed Summers noted:
Watching the followers rise, and the flood of tweets from them brought home something that I believed intellectually, but hadn’t felt quite so viscerally before. There is an incredible yearning in this country and around the world for using technology to provide more transparency about our democracies.
Sure, there were tweets and media stories that belittled the few edits that have been found so far. But by and large people on Twitter have been encouraging, supportive and above all interested in what their elected representatives are doing. Despite historically low approval ratings for Congress, people still care deeply about our democracies, our principles and dreams of a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
In the past week, congress-edits has inspired the creation of similar bots for the legislatures of Canada, Finland, France, Sweden, Germany, and South Africa, and for the North Carolina General Assembly. Summers has posted the code on Github.
Launched on July 10th, it was inspired by Parliament WikiEdits, but has quickly grown much more visible, with over 15,000 followers and coverage in the New York Times and Daily Beast. Edits made range from in jokes, to image burnishing, to disinformation, slander and propaganda. Creator Ed Summers noted:
Watching the followers rise, and the flood of tweets from them brought home something that I believed intellectually, but hadn’t felt quite so viscerally before. There is an incredible yearning in this country and around the world for using technology to provide more transparency about our democracies.
Sure, there were tweets and media stories that belittled the few edits that have been found so far. But by and large people on Twitter have been encouraging, supportive and above all interested in what their elected representatives are doing. Despite historically low approval ratings for Congress, people still care deeply about our democracies, our principles and dreams of a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
In the past week, congress-edits has inspired the creation of similar bots for the legislatures of Canada, Finland, France, Sweden, Germany, and South Africa, and for the North Carolina General Assembly. Summers has posted the code on Github.
This is interesting but unfortunately it has already created problems on Wikipedia by well meaning hoards of Congress-haters who delete anything and everything on site that comes from Congress regardless of the legitimacy of the content and sources.
posted by stbalbach at 7:13 AM on July 15, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by stbalbach at 7:13 AM on July 15, 2014 [3 favorites]
Abby Martin really is kind of a Russian propagandist. RT is Russian state media.
posted by chrchr at 7:14 AM on July 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by chrchr at 7:14 AM on July 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
Hmmm...someone could log in with a Congressional IP and make their opponent look bad by making bad edits, such as removing criticism from a candidate's entry.
posted by goethean at 7:25 AM on July 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by goethean at 7:25 AM on July 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
Calling RT "correspondents" what they are is slander and pointing out that the Russian annexation of Crimea was illegal is propaganda? M'kay then.
posted by Behemoth at 7:29 AM on July 15, 2014
posted by Behemoth at 7:29 AM on July 15, 2014
I can't decide which I think is funnier: the pathetic Tim Huelskamp style "edit to make my Wikipedia entry sound like a campaign ad" stuff or the banal reordering of categories to make them alphabetical stuff.
posted by dismas at 7:32 AM on July 15, 2014
posted by dismas at 7:32 AM on July 15, 2014
I'm impressed that most of these are totally legitimate edits, adding articles to appropriate categories, fixing typos and the like.
Also:
posted by nangar at 7:41 AM on July 15, 2014 [6 favorites]
Also:
In addition, Choco Tacos have been a staple of vending machines in the Rayburn House Office Building of the U.S. House of Representatives honoring former Speaker Samuel Rayburn's devotion to his favorite snack. [8]With a citation even! Go congressional wikignomes! (Yeah, fixing typos on Wikipedia gets addictive after a while. That's almost all I do on Wikipedia anymore.)
posted by nangar at 7:41 AM on July 15, 2014 [6 favorites]
I'm sitting through a long, boring hearing in Rayburn right now, and I'm not going to lie, that thought brightens my morning a bit.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:45 AM on July 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:45 AM on July 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
We don't pay taxes for these people to hang out editing wikipedia.
posted by borges at 7:45 AM on July 15, 2014
posted by borges at 7:45 AM on July 15, 2014
We don't pay taxes for these people to hang out editing wikipedia.
But if it keeps congressional staffers from writing laws that favor corporations while screwing us little people I'm all for it.
posted by photoslob at 7:50 AM on July 15, 2014 [6 favorites]
But if it keeps congressional staffers from writing laws that favor corporations while screwing us little people I'm all for it.
posted by photoslob at 7:50 AM on July 15, 2014 [6 favorites]
We don't pay taxes for these people to hang out editing wikipedia.
That's right! Those guys need to pay 5 bucks and support small business owners like the rest of us!
posted by cmfletcher at 7:52 AM on July 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
That's right! Those guys need to pay 5 bucks and support small business owners like the rest of us!
posted by cmfletcher at 7:52 AM on July 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
We don't pay taxes for these people to hang out editing wikipedia.
Speak for yourself, America-Hater.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 8:01 AM on July 15, 2014 [6 favorites]
Speak for yourself, America-Hater.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 8:01 AM on July 15, 2014 [6 favorites]
Calling RT "correspondents" what they are is slander and pointing out that the Russian annexation of Crimea was illegal is propaganda?
WRT Russia's attack on Crimea: you'll never see any of the US' many violations of national sovereignty described as "illegal" in edits coming from these IPs. Whether it is true or not (and I believe that it is), it still represents a one-sided, self-interested effort by an Congressional employee to control opinion.
These edits have very little to do w/insuring the truth of Wikipedia entries.
Related, from this morning:
COINTELPRO entry edited to remove link to the Church report.
posted by ryanshepard at 8:01 AM on July 15, 2014 [3 favorites]
WRT Russia's attack on Crimea: you'll never see any of the US' many violations of national sovereignty described as "illegal" in edits coming from these IPs. Whether it is true or not (and I believe that it is), it still represents a one-sided, self-interested effort by an Congressional employee to control opinion.
These edits have very little to do w/insuring the truth of Wikipedia entries.
Related, from this morning:
COINTELPRO entry edited to remove link to the Church report.
posted by ryanshepard at 8:01 AM on July 15, 2014 [3 favorites]
I'm still trying to sort out whether that Barack Obama shaking hands with a person in a horse head mask is supposed to make me like him more or less. I can honestly see an edit like that being equally likely to be made by a meme-hip Obama intern as it is to be made by a GOP editor trying to undermine his credibility.
posted by metaphorever at 8:09 AM on July 15, 2014
posted by metaphorever at 8:09 AM on July 15, 2014
Do we know whether the person in the house mask was Wil Wheaton?
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:27 AM on July 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:27 AM on July 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
Whether it is true or not (and I believe that it is), it still represents a one-sided, self-interested effort by an Congressional employee to control opinion.
I am more interested in the truth than I am in the motivations behind telling it.
posted by Behemoth at 8:29 AM on July 15, 2014
I am more interested in the truth than I am in the motivations behind telling it.
posted by Behemoth at 8:29 AM on July 15, 2014
They're on to us:
"In 2014, the Wikipedia page on Journalism was used as click-bait to remind reporters that a more important story is the refusal of House Republicans to raise the minimum wage, pass immigration reform, extend unemployment insurance, and improve our roads and bridges."
posted by ropeladder at 8:33 AM on July 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
"In 2014, the Wikipedia page on Journalism was used as click-bait to remind reporters that a more important story is the refusal of House Republicans to raise the minimum wage, pass immigration reform, extend unemployment insurance, and improve our roads and bridges."
posted by ropeladder at 8:33 AM on July 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
COINTELPRO entry edited to remove link to the Church report.
In fairness, it was a citation of a dead link. Looks like it's since been added back with a valid link to the report.
posted by Coventry at 8:40 AM on July 15, 2014
In fairness, it was a citation of a dead link. Looks like it's since been added back with a valid link to the report.
posted by Coventry at 8:40 AM on July 15, 2014
WRT Russia's attack on Crimea: you'll never see any of the US' many violations of national sovereignty described as "illegal" in edits coming from these IPs.
A: I'm not sure that's true; there are plenty of people in congress who for various different political reasons are bitterly opposed to any given one of America's "many violations of national sovereignty."
B: The whole point about an entity like Wikipedia is that it's no individual person's job to represent all sides of a given question or to seek out all the relevant information with respect to a given topic. If the people in Congress (and, indeed, in the US generally) are by and large going to put in the information that supports America's case that doesn't prevent anyone else from putting in the information that opposes America's case.
posted by yoink at 9:37 AM on July 15, 2014
A: I'm not sure that's true; there are plenty of people in congress who for various different political reasons are bitterly opposed to any given one of America's "many violations of national sovereignty."
B: The whole point about an entity like Wikipedia is that it's no individual person's job to represent all sides of a given question or to seek out all the relevant information with respect to a given topic. If the people in Congress (and, indeed, in the US generally) are by and large going to put in the information that supports America's case that doesn't prevent anyone else from putting in the information that opposes America's case.
posted by yoink at 9:37 AM on July 15, 2014
We don't pay taxes for these people to hang out editing wikipedia.
But if it keeps congressional staffers from writing laws that favor corporations while screwing us little people I'm all for it.
They seem to have plenty of time to do both.
posted by maqsarian at 10:04 AM on July 15, 2014
But if it keeps congressional staffers from writing laws that favor corporations while screwing us little people I'm all for it.
They seem to have plenty of time to do both.
posted by maqsarian at 10:04 AM on July 15, 2014
COINTELPRO entry edited to remove link to the Church report.
In fairness, it was a citation of a dead link. Looks like it's since been added back with a valid link to the report.
I'm just happy the congresscritters are reading the entry on COINTELPRO.
I just hope they read the Church report.
posted by el io at 11:13 AM on July 15, 2014
In fairness, it was a citation of a dead link. Looks like it's since been added back with a valid link to the report.
I'm just happy the congresscritters are reading the entry on COINTELPRO.
I just hope they read the Church report.
posted by el io at 11:13 AM on July 15, 2014
I'm not sure that's true; there are plenty of people in congress who for various different political reasons are bitterly opposed to any given one of America's "many violations of national sovereignty."
Perhaps you're right - someone at the House of Representatives just outed Donald Rumsfeld as an alien lizard.
posted by ryanshepard at 11:45 AM on July 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
Perhaps you're right - someone at the House of Representatives just outed Donald Rumsfeld as an alien lizard.
posted by ryanshepard at 11:45 AM on July 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
What's great about this project is how easy it is to repurpose and build upon. If you have the skills to learn which IP blocks are assigned to a corporation, government, etc., you can just build your own. Here's one for Minnesota state government (includes some county/city gov't IP ranges too).
Of course, savvy adversaries who wish to edit Wikipedia will actually sign up for an account so as not to reveal their IP address...
posted by antonymous at 1:46 PM on July 15, 2014
Of course, savvy adversaries who wish to edit Wikipedia will actually sign up for an account so as not to reveal their IP address...
posted by antonymous at 1:46 PM on July 15, 2014
Wow, the Canadian one... There's two types of edits: innocuous typo correction and edits for clarity by somebody at the Department of National Defense - and some catty bastard using a House of Commons IP to anonymously attack his enemies.
Some examples of the latter:
On July 15, 2014, McMillan succumbed to a previousdly-unknown, viralent strain of syphilus.
The Museum has four permanent exhibition galleries including one exhibiting Pierre Trudeau's immortal soul, which shows some slight signs of damage, and Jean Chretien's last shred of integrity.
On Dean Del Mastro, official scapegoat of the Robocall scandal: profession= Dealer of Used Cars with Bent Frames, Perjurer
posted by Kevin Street at 2:48 PM on July 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
Some examples of the latter:
On July 15, 2014, McMillan succumbed to a previousdly-unknown, viralent strain of syphilus.
The Museum has four permanent exhibition galleries including one exhibiting Pierre Trudeau's immortal soul, which shows some slight signs of damage, and Jean Chretien's last shred of integrity.
On Dean Del Mastro, official scapegoat of the Robocall scandal: profession= Dealer of Used Cars with Bent Frames, Perjurer
posted by Kevin Street at 2:48 PM on July 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
> I laughed out loud.
OK. This is cute: The CongressEdits article was approved. I made a comment about the Choco Taco edit yesterday. Megan Garber at The Atlantic noticed it too and wrote an article about it. The article is now included in the reference section of the CongressEdits article.
posted by nangar at 4:26 AM on July 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
OK. This is cute: The CongressEdits article was approved. I made a comment about the Choco Taco edit yesterday. Megan Garber at The Atlantic noticed it too and wrote an article about it. The article is now included in the reference section of the CongressEdits article.
posted by nangar at 4:26 AM on July 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
Oh, drat, 143.231.249.138 just got blocked for a day form Wikipedia for disruptive editing. Whoever was vandalizing Donald Rumsfeld's bio is screwing things up for everybody else.
posted by nangar at 4:45 AM on July 16, 2014
posted by nangar at 4:45 AM on July 16, 2014
Too many references on wikipedia are no longer working, it is a shame really.
posted by marienbad at 11:21 AM on July 16, 2014
posted by marienbad at 11:21 AM on July 16, 2014
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