Talk:Conflict-of-interest editing on Wikipedia

The North Face replacing photos on Wikipedia
I saw a (very) recent post on Wikimedia's blog talking about a recent incident where The North Face replaced photos from contributors with their own, without consulting them or Wikimedia. Since their goal was very clearly commercial, would this count to be included in this article? -- TheSola10 (The Mailbox) 20:36, 29 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Sure, why not? This absolutely is pertinent to the article. Statements from WMF counts. Tsumikiria⧸ 🌹🌉 21:07, 29 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Yup, it's already been added: Conflict-of-interest editing on Wikipedia. Colin M (talk) 21:08, 29 May 2019 (UTC)


 * It should be in the article, but consider WP:NOTNEWS and WP:RECENT. Here's another source : North Face criticised for replacing Wikipedia pics with branded shots. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 16:32, 30 May 2019 (UTC)

Would it be possible to get a list of the images/articles affected as well as the usernames of the uploaders?14.201.115.190 (talk) 01:22, 31 May 2019 (UTC)
 * The images are collected here. Schazjmd (talk) 01:26, 31 May 2019 (UTC)

Companies have argued for leeway with "ignore all rules"
This text:


 * Companies have argued for greater leeway in conflict-of-interest editing, citing Ignore all rules, a policy, which states: "If a rule prevents you from improving or maintaining Wikipedia, ignore it."

was just deleted as unsourced. You last revised it here. Do you have a better source? I wouldn't be surprised if it is true. --David Tornheim (talk) 22:13, 1 June 2019 (UTC) You added the original text here. Do you have a source? --David Tornheim (talk) 22:26, 1 June 2019 (UTC)
 * David, that edit of mine you linked to was just a light copy edit. I may not have looked at the source. As for the source, it said at the time (February 2014): "Wikipedia's de-facto ban on paid editing is universally ignored. In a recent study conducted by the Public Relations Society of America, 40% of PR professionals admitted to having edited Wikipedia. It amounts to over a quarter of million of PR pros who take refuge in the Wikipedia’s "Ignore All Rules" policy which says: 'If a rule prevents you from improving or maintaining Wikipedia, ignore it.'" I don't know whether source still says that or how it should be interpreted. SarahSV (talk) 04:34, 2 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the response. It seems likes something from that quote belongs in the main text--with mention of date.  --David Tornheim (talk) 04:56, 2 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Chiming in since I'm the one who deleted this text. Technically my edit summary used the phrase "poorly sourced", not "unsourced". What I meant was that I don't think that WikiExperts FAQ page is WP:RELIABLE for the purposes of verifying the claim that companies have cited WP:IAR in arguing for greater leeway in COI editing. It's an FAQ page on the website of a company that does paid Wikipedia editing - it's going to be coming at the issue with a heavy bias, and it basically falls under WP:SPS. I'd be okay with including the statement if it could be supported by a reliable, independent source. Or the WikiExperts source could potentially be used to support a weaker claim like "WikiExperts, a company that offers paid editing services, despite being banned for undisclosed paid editing, has justified its methods by citing Ignore all rules which says blah blah". But I think that's giving WP:UNDUE weight to a passing comment made by one specific company in an FAQ. Colin M (talk) 15:41, 3 June 2019 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 22:24, 9 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Parque da guarita pedra sul.jpg

Now NBC on the Weinstein Scandal:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/ronan-farrow-overcame-spies-and-intimidation-to-break-some-of-the-biggest-stories-of-the-me-too-era/2019/10/10/9cc46c9a-eac1-11e9-85c0-85a098e47b37_story.html

"Interestingly, NBC doesn’t dispute one of Farrow’s scoops, a minor one but telling nonetheless. In the wake of the Weinstein imbroglio, he writes, the network hired a “Wikipedia whitewasher” to scrub references to the episode from some of its pages, a curious decision for a news organization dedicated to transparency. To this day, there’s no reference to the Weinstein affair under Oppenheim’s Wikipedia entry, and only a fleeting one in Lack’s."

Also:

https://www.newsweek.com/nbc-wikipedia-whitewashing-matt-lauer-weinstein-ronan-farrow-1464118

Ocaasit &#124; c 08:26, 11 October 2019 (UTC)

Where to report companies?
I just got a letter from a company offering to make a Wikipedia page for me, stating
 * We own multiple accounts on Wikipedia with page curation and new page reviewer rights, so we can create and moderate pages with almost zero risk of another mod taking it down.

Where do I report companies like this? That should be a section in this article. --WiseWoman (talk) 20:57, 13 March 2020 (UTC)
 * per our reader focus, we shouldn't link from mainspace to WP-space, but it'd absolutely be a good idea to add a header to this talk page directing there; I'll whip that up. To answer your question, you're looking for COI noticeboard. Sdkb (talk) 22:12, 13 March 2020 (UTC)

"Paid advoacy" listed at Redirects for discussion
A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Paid advoacy. The discussion will occur at Redirects for discussion/Log/2021 August 24 until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. Hog Farm Talk 18:04, 24 August 2021 (UTC)

New Haaretz
Noting that this article makes some comments on the topic in general, may be good for some content. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 12:24, 13 May 2022 (UTC)

WikiScanner - too many examples?
As above, really. Do we really need three lines of nothing but examples? Couruu (talk) 08:04, 23 May 2023 (UTC)


 * Why not? They're all well sourced and demonstrate the extensive misuse of Wikipedia across dozens of industries and corporate/political leaders. Ocaasit &#124; c 09:11, 24 May 2023 (UTC)
 * I think a sentence like "extensive misuse of Wikipedia across dozens of industries and corporate/political leaders" with a few examples would read better than a single comma-separated sentence of 49. The full list can be (and currently isn't) listed in the WikiScanner article. Belbury (talk) 10:47, 24 May 2023 (UTC)
 * @Belbury +1 on this. If the entire list needs to remain, I'd vote for moving it to WikiScanner. Couruu (talk) 11:15, 24 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Well, moving it to Wikiscanner is a nice solution. Ok... let's just keep some examples from the more prominent and diverse names in this article (fewer than 10, but I'll leave it to you!) Ocaasit &#124; c 12:54, 24 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Sounds like a good plan to me, but it doesn't seem to have gotten done. This isn't my sort of topic area, so I'm not sure I would do it in cases I bollixed something up.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  23:58, 9 January 2024 (UTC)

"WikiProject Integrity" listed at Redirects for discussion
The redirect [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WikiProject_Integrity&redirect=no WikiProject Integrity] has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at  until a consensus is reached. Utopes (talk / cont) 22:43, 11 October 2023 (UTC)

"WikiProject Integrity"
We're "tracking", if you will, something called "WikProject Cooperation", but it is defunct. It seems to have been replaced by WikiProject Integrity, but this article no longer has any information about or even mention of it. It presumably did earlier, because in the above-mentioned RfD about the cross-namespace WikiProject Integrity redirect, the nominator linked explicitly to Conflict-of-interest editing on Wikipedia, a heading that has since been renamed (without an anchor for the original name) to #WikiProject Cooperation. I would think that the material should be restored or new material written, so that those with an interest in the CoI stuff know it exists and has taken over (doing whatever it is doing) where WikiProject Cooperation left off. — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  23:57, 9 January 2024 (UTC)