'Unfortunately, hoaxes on Wikipedia are nothing new, and the craftier they are, the more difficult it is to catch them,' William Beutler, president of Beutler Wiki Relations, a Wikipedia consulting firm, told Yahoo News.
'Anyone who's clever enough to make up convincing sources and motivated enough to spend the time and skilled enough to write a plausible article can deceive whole Internet—at least for awhile.'
Indeed, several hoaxes have taken place on the crowd-sourced encyclopedia site, so much so that the encyclopedia has its own page detailing them.
Given how easy it is for a single person with free time to create overtly false articles that exist and spread misinformation for years, how much easier is it for more subtle propaganda created by well-funded private and government agencies to persist for decades misleading the public?
But hey, let's still call the site accurate.
The war that never was: Most elaborate Wikipedia hoax ever as 4,500 word article on 'Bicholim Conflict' - a fictitious fight for Goan independence - fooled site for FIVE YEARS
Given how easy it is for a single person with free time to create overtly false articles that exist and spread misinformation for years, how much easier is it for more subtle propaganda created by well-funded private and government agencies to persist for decades misleading the public?
Wikipedia is the mother of all fake news sites.
#fakeNews #politics #wikipedia