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| A spokesman for the Jean Charles de Menezes' family expressed deep shock that anonymous editors had used official state computer networks to alter information in his Wikipedia article.(Reuters / Menezes family RR / KS) |
UK government officials have reportedly edited an
array of Wikipedia articles relating to the high profile killings of Jean
Charles de Menezes, Lee Rigby and Damilola Taylor.
According to an in-depth investigation conducted by
Channel 4 News, UK government computers were recently utilized to add
inaccurate data to a Wikipedia page documenting Jean Charles de Menezes’ death.
De Menzes was shot and killed by Metropolitan Police officers at Stockwell tube
station in 2005.
Official
state computers were also reportedly harnessed to edit the pages of Damilola
Taylor, a 10-year-old Nigerian schoolboy who was murdered in Britain in 2000,
and Lee Rigby, the 25-year-old victim of the 2013 Woolwich terror killing.
A
spokesman for the de Menezes family expressed deep shock that anonymous editors
had used official state computer networks to alter vital information in his
Wikipedia article. The edits allegedly sought to obscure police failings from
public knowledge.
Asad
Rehman, who spoke on behalf of the De Menezes family, condemned the
revelations, emphasizing it wasn’t the first time they’d been targeted in such
a manner.
"Like
all ordinary members of the public, I'm shocked. This is yet one more smear and
attack on the family. We've seen over many years lies, misinformation and
smears during the family's attempt to find the truth and justice and answers
about how an innocent young man on his way to work was gunned down by police
officers," he said.
On
the question of whether UK civil servants had breached their formal
responsibilities under the Civil Service Code, a government spokesperson gave
an assurance on Wednesday that “Government
takes these matters very seriously.”
The spokesperson
subsequently confirmed plans to issue more comprehensive guidance on the
utilization of internet and social media technology to all UK government
departments.
Internet Censorship: "Right To Be Forgotten"Ruling
Government
officials’ alleged editing of Wikipedia articles documenting the tragic and
untimely deaths of Damilola Taylor and Lee Rigby have also generated criticism.
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| The Wikipedia page documenting the case of Lee Rigby, a soldier who was attacked and killed in 2013, has been edited by anonymous government officials.(AFP Photo / Lindsey Parnaby) |
The
revelations have surfaced at a time when the Wikimedia Foundation has confirmed
its decision to challenge the European Court of Justice’s “Right to be Forgotten” ruling. The Wikimedia Foundation is
a non-profit organization that operates Wikipedia and other open source
knowledge projects. The Foundation announced on Wednesday its plans to publish
data of individuals, who issue formal requests to Google to remove pages about
them from its search engine.
In
its first transparency report, the Foundation condemned the ECJ’s controversial
ruling. The policy shift, enacted by the European court, undermines internet
transparency and accuracy, according to the Foundation’s executive director,
Lila Treitkov.
"A
recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision is undermining the world's
ability to freely access accurate and verifiable records about individuals and
events. The impact on Wikipedia is direct and critical,"
Tretikov recently wrote in his blog.
Tretikov
argues that the ECJ has reneged on its responsibility to safeguard one of the
most vital and universal rights: “the right to seek, receive, and impart
information.” In the wake of the ‘Right to be Forgotten Ruling’, “accurate search results are vanishing in
Europe with no public explanation, no real proof, no judicial review, and no
appeals process," he warns.
Treitkov
cautions that the result is a censored internet forum where inconvenient data “simply disappears.”
De Menezes
With
respect to Jean Charles de Menezes, an official government computer was
reportedly used to delete a crucial section of a Wikipedia article that
criticized the Independent Police Complaints Commission’s (IPCC) handling of
the deceased man’s case.
An
entire section pertaining to the IPCC’s admittance it had “got it wrong” with
respect to leaks relating to Mr de Menezes’ death simply vanished, according to
Channel 4 News.
The covert editor, who is
yet to be identified, also erased a quote that stated the Metropolitan Police
Federation accused the IPCC of “perverse
action” with respect to its mediation in the de Menezes’ case. New
information pertaining to the IPPC was added by this editor, including the
Commission’s responsibility to increase “public
confidence,” and multiple other cases the body has dealt with.
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| An official government computer was reportedly used to delete a crucial section of a Wikipedia article that criticized the Independent Police Complaints Commission’s (IPCC) handling of the De Menezes' case.(Reuters / Dylan Martinez) |
These
edits surfaced in the aftermath of a report released in July, which uncovered
the Met’s Special Demonstration Squad had effectively spied on 18 separate UK
justice campaigns, including that of the De Menezes family.
Eight
years ago, official government computers were also used to incorporate
slanderous information into one section of his Wikipedia article. On this
occasion the editor alleged the deceased had “a high level” of Class A drugs in
his system. Wikipedia editors were also approached to alter the rationale
followed for employing the decision to shoot the young man.
And
in the early phase of the 2008 inquest into his death, official government
computers were orchestrated to delete accurate data relating to Menezes’ immigration status.
Damilola Taylor & Lee Rigby
Following
the firing of a UK civil servant over potentially defamatory data added to
internet pages associated with the Hillsborough tragedy, an array of
automatically generated Twitter “bots”
have been created to draw attention to edits enacted by parliamentary
officials.
In
light of these developments, the UK government is currently facing questions
over the harnessing of official state computer networks to alter controversial
websites.
One anonymous individual
allegedly harnessed a government network to edit sensitive information about
Damilola Taylor, a young schoolboy of Nigerian extraction who tragically lost
his life in 2000. The person in question reportedly substituted the phrase “was
murdered” to simply state the young boy had “died.”
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In
the case of 25-year-old British soldier, Lee Rigby - who was attacked and
killed in 2013 – another anonymous edit claimed his death was simply “not
notable enough” for an article pertaining to terrorism. A complete section of
the article relating to Rigby’s death was also deleted by the editor in
question.
The
edits were all elicited from internet addresses that have previously been noted
as being on an official state network called the Government Secure Intranet
(GSI). This internal network provides a platform for government officials,
along with certain police officers, to connect online.
The
full range of Wikipedia edits are visible in the page’s history, as are the
specific internet addresses from which the changes were enacted. This level of
transparency cultivated by Wikipedia ensures computer networks from which
anonymous edits originate can be revealed.
While Wikipedia has faced
demands to remove approximately 50 search results to various articles, it plans
to publish the details of each and every request. The firm’s first ever
transparency report backs this measure. The Wikimedia Foundation has also
stated it plans to host and update a page documenting Wikipedia pages censored in European
search results.
Originally published in RT
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