The Department of Health has been banned
from Wikipedia for making too many edits, according to
parliamentary records.
Labour minister of state for the
Department of Health, Ben Bradshaw, was asked to explain why Health officials had been
meddling with Wikipedia in a written parliamentary
question.
Bradshaw said he could not identify the
specific edits or on what pages they had occurred, due to the cost
involved, but did admit the department was responsible for 1,500
Wikipedia
edits between 22 August 2005 and 3 August 2007, which had led to a
ban.
"Wikipedia has blocked the Department's
IP address for creating or amending entries," Bradshaw notes.
"Information on the Wikipedia site indicates that this has occurred
because it has identified the IP address as being shared by many
users.
"Since the IP address has been blocked,
staff wishing to create or edit entries from departmental computers
must create a user account with Wikipedia. Wikipedia will not
release details of user accounts."
The Department of Health denies that
staff were asked to edit the site as part of their duties. "The
Department does not contribute to Wikipedia and it is not part of
the Department's communication or information strategy," a
spokesperson tells PC Pro.
"We have strict policy and guidance that
covers staff on the acceptable use of IT including personal use.
Staff must not risk bringing the Department into disrepute. Any
staff accessing Wikipedia from DH computers, including creation,
editing or just reading material are doing so for personal
use."