NYPD caught red-handed sanitizing police brutality Wikipedia entries

[Victorious Secret]

 

 

"Garner raised both his arms in the air" changed to "flailed his arms about."

 

 

Looks like Wikipedia needs to tighten up who it gives rights to edit pages like this, content that will naturally cause outrage. 

 

If the NYPD is that upset with how content is written and how they will be viewed, perhaps they should engage in actions that wouldn't make them look like idiots in front of the whole world int the first place. 

 

Come on guys. You don't just get to mess with the internet and not get caught. Even the NSA got outed, you think you could just edit away and not get called out? 

 

One of the most brazen alterations concerned Eric Garner, who was killed by police last year during an arrest that was captured on video by an onlooker. The mobile phone video went viral, prompting widespread protests and a grand jury investigation. On December 3, the Staten Island grand jury agreed not to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo in connection to Garner's death, despite the medical examiner ruling it a homicide. The same day as the grand jury announcement, the "Death of Eric Garner" page on Wikipedia was altered from IP addresses traced to 1 Police Plaza. Those alterations can be seen here and here.

 

One of the edits changed "Garner raised both his arms in the air" to "Garner flailed his arms about as he spoke." Another line that said "push Garner's face into the sidewalk" changed to "push Garner's head down into the sidewalk." The word "chokehold," Capital New York discovered, was twice replaced to "chokehold or headlock" and to "respiratory distress."

 

 

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/03/nypd-caught-red-handed-sanitizing-police-brutality-wikipedia-entries/

[Norman_the_Owl]

God dammnit NYPD this is why we can't have nice things

[cesrai]

Damn USA your scary, I fucking appreciate UAE police more and more everyday.

[Trik'Stari]

Did they really think no one would notice?

 

Have they not heard the wisdom of GabeN?

[mr moose]

Well, for a group that has been trained to shoot first and justify later, I am not surprised they use the same tactic on wikipedia.

[elkenrod]

And if they had used a VPN it would have gone unnoticed, which is VERY SCARY.....

 

This just is a reminder that the State has been manipulating information forever.  It's just that with technology exploding the way it has, they haven't been able to keep up, and as a result they have been making mistakes.

[Trik'Stari]

And if they had used a VPN it would have gone unnoticed, which is VERY SCARY.....

 

This just is a reminder that the State has been manipulating information forever.  It's just that with technology exploding the way it has, they haven't been able to keep up, and as a result they have been making mistakes.

Unnoticed by everyone but the NSA

[gastew15]

I don't blame them, it was a really stupid call to edit the article, but the police keep getting screwed as a whole. I don't like police brutality but not only are news outlets playing videos of some guy when he was like 10 and how great he was, even if he was a thug in a case by my house and others I'm sure, so then even if the police  did nothing wrong, those in the incidents in the right or even those completely uninvolved, the cops get labeled as some evil killers. Kind of funny how people are against racist cops assuming that a whole race of people are criminals, only to go and label everyone in a job a criminal. I really hate how like most things people become outraged about something but only enough to complain and never do any research... Damn people...

 

Edit: So I don't condone what was done, it was beyond stupid, but it's pretty easy to see why it was done by someone.

[WinNut]

Well, since I live in NYC I think it's about time I learn to fend for myself.

[elkenrod]

I don't blame them, it was a really stupid call to edit the article, but the police keep getting screwed as a whole. I don't like police brutality but not only are news outlets playing videos of some guy when he was like 10 and how great he was, even if he was a thug in a case by my house and others I'm sure, so then even if the police  did nothing wrong, those in the incidents in the right or even those completely uninvolved, the cops get labeled as some evil killers. Kind of funny how people are against racist cops assuming that a whole race of people are criminals, only to go and label everyone in a job a criminal. I really hate how like most things people become outraged about something but only enough to complain and never do any research... Damn people...

 

I hope that one day you can take a look back at your old self and not feel so ashamed that you can't forgive yourself.

 

This incident is shameful because it's the police going beyond the scope of their duty in order to DECEIVE the public.  Your uninformed views about race, police brutality, etc. aren't relevant here at all.

[Ertman]

Yeah this is pretty dumb.

 

While I do think that the police, in general and as a whole, are being vilified unfairly, specific members should not be doing things like this that obfuscate the actions of other individuals as it leads to less trust by the community.

[Blade of Grass]

Honestly, Wikipedia is suppose to be about facts, not sensationalism. I find that not all of what they've changed is bad, as it is still based in fact (such as them adding this to the sentence: "Use of the chokehold is legal, but has been prohibited by", or "put in a chokehold or headlock from behind"). 

While I don't agree with the incident, I do believe that we should try to keep our information sources unbiased.

[elkenrod]

While I don't agree with the incident, I do believe that we should try to keep our information sources unbiased.

 

What does the incident have to do with this at all?  How can the perception of unbiased information exist, when the parties involved are allowed to change the information once it has been documented?

 

People on this forum disappoint me...

 

There would be more of an outcry if NVIDIA edited the gtx 970 wiki page.... even if the information they posted was ACCURATE.

[Ertman]

Honestly, Wikipedia is suppose to be about facts, not sensationalism. I find that not all of what they've changed is bad, as it is still based in fact (such as them adding this to the sentence: "Use of the chokehold is legal, but has been prohibited by", or "put in a chokehold or headlock from behind"). 

While I don't agree with the incident, I do believe that we should try to keep our information sources unbiased.

Valid points, but should they necessarily be the ones involved in doing this as their objectivity is reasonably questionable.

[gastew15]

I hope that one day you can take a look back at your old self and not feel so ashamed that you can't forgive yourself.

 

This incident is shameful because it's the police going beyond the scope of their duty in order to DECEIVE the public.  Your uninformed views about race, police brutality, etc. aren't relevant here at all.

What?

 

It's extremely relevant since that's why it was edited, to swing the article in their favor, not to mention I never once said that it was right, in fact I stated that it was not acceptable, merely why such a ridiculous decision was made. I also think saying police as a whole is ridiculous as well, since I'm sure some person ordered it done and had it carried out. If an employee or employees do something illegal, which as an example since editing the article is untasteful but definitely not illegal, and I'm sure plenty people here have falsely edited wiki articles in the past, the employee(s) are labeled as doing so not a whole police department, and it's crazy to think so. (Unless you want to be in trouble if your boss at your job did something wrong that you weren't involved in and probably didn't even know about...)

 

I should be ashamed for not just spewing out words about how evil police are then?

[Blade of Grass]

What does the incident have to do with this at all?  How can the perception of unbiased information exist, when the parties involved are allowed to change the information once it has been documented?

 

People on this forum disappoint me...

 

There would be more of an outcry if NVIDIA edited the gtx 970 wiki page.... even if the information they posted was ACCURATE.

The part about the incident was so people don't cry I'm for police brutality.

 

The issue is that the information on the wiki is one sided, and that is not how an information (fact) source should be. 

 

On to your question about bias; everyone has bias, everyone, you do, I do, Linus do. Sure, the optics for what they did aren't great, but if you objectively look at it, you will find that it's no different then if a family member or friend had edited the article to add more facts (note, facts, not opinions). 

 

Valid points, but should they necessarily be the ones involved in doing this as their objectivity is reasonably questionable.

Valid point also I do agree that they aren't necessarily the best people to have done this, but nonetheless they didn't objectively do anything that bad. The biggest issue here (IMO) is the appearances, from that perspective the optics of this are bad.

[elkenrod]

 

On to your question about bias; everyone has bias, everyone, you do, I do, Linus do. Sure, the optics for what they did aren't great, but if you objectively look at it, you will find that it's no different then if a family member or friend had edited the article to add more facts (note, facts, not opinions). 

 

 

Um no.... it's COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THAN THE EXAMPLES YOU MENTIONED...

 

The NYPD is not an individual.

The NYPD's job is to protect and serve, not to edit Wiki entrys

The NYPD is funded by public tax dollars

 

The wiki entry could be about just about anything else (excluding organizational information about the NYPD) and it would have been just as Inappropriate for them to edit it. 

The salt in the wound, is the fact that they chose to edit a post that didn't put them in the most favorable light.

 

It's about principle, not the actual damage done here.

[mr moose]

Um no.... it's COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THAN THE EXAMPLES YOU MENTIONED...

 

The NYPD is not an individual.

The NYPD's job is to protect and serve, not to edit Wiki entrys

The NYPD is funded by public tax dollars

 

The wiki entry could be about just about anything else (excluding organizational information about the NYPD) and it would have been just as Inappropriate for them to edit it. 

The salt in the wound, is the fact that they chose to edit a post that didn't put them in the most favorable light.

 

It's about principle, not the actual damage done here.

 

So what I am reading here is that the NYPD aren't allowed to change wikipedia entries, but everyone else can.   It is not a political message so being a government agency/funded should have nothing to do with it.

 

Now I personally disagree with it, There are better ways to have it changed, ergo send wikipedia an open letter explaining the difference between  X and Y or even join the discussion on the topic to express such changes and explain why.   Hell my first post quite clearly illustrates how I feel about police brutality.

 

However their right to change it to reflect the facts only and have it written to not purvey a predetermined opinion is quite fair. I find a few articles on wikipedia that are written in such a way that good science is somewhat sidelined in favour of a positive spin on socially popular trends.  It's just something you either have to get used to, or join the wikipedia editors and try to make a difference.

[Misanthrope]

Here's a cynical and depressing thought: This was done intentionally to take attention away from the continued and renewed Police issues in Ferguson.

[flibberdipper]

That is bullshit.

[Trik'Stari]

Well, since I live in NYC I think it's about time I learn to fend for myself.

Too bad the "all knowing" leftists running NYC have made that all but illegal/impossible

[elkenrod]

So what I am reading here is that the NYPD aren't allowed to change wikipedia entries, but everyone else can.   It is not a political message so being a government agency/funded should have nothing to do with it.

 

Hell my first post quite clearly illustrates how I feel about police brutality.

 

So let's just forget about the content of the Wiki entry.  It's difficult to have this conversation with people because they focus on the brutality issue, or race, or whatever.  I don't even care about those things right now.  My objection to what the NYPD has done, Is not dependent on my views on the social issues that the article contains.  Which Is why EVERYONE in the U.S. who cares about their rights should be outraged.  Because regardless of the issues that you hold dear, now you know that the state can, and will, change history to suit it's needs... even if it squashes you under it's boot while it does so.

 

The government is held to a HIGHER standard.  They must be.  This is how there can be a government.  This would include editing Wiki articles in the way that it did.... or at all. 

What other people or organizations do on Wikipedia is irrelevant. 

[mr moose]

So let's just forget about the content of the Wiki entry.  It's difficult to have this conversation with people because they focus on the brutality issue, or race, or whatever.  I don't even care about those things right now.  My objection to what the NYPD has done, Is not dependent on my views on the social issues that the article contains.  Which Is why EVERYONE in the U.S. who cares about their rights should be outraged.  Because regardless of the issues that you hold dear, now you know that the state can, and will, change history to suit it's needs... even if it squashes you under it's boot while it does so.

 

The government is held to a HIGHER standard.  They must be.  This is how their can be a government.  This would include editing Wiki articles in the way that it did.... or at all. 

What other people or organizations do on Wikipedia is irrelevant. 

 

But if the changes are kept within said acceptable standards then the problem is not that they changed it but the way in which they did. 

 

EDIT: also the police force are not the government, they might be funded by the government, but that just means they are at the mercy of the government the same as any other citizen.

[DeViLzzz]

People complain about this and that and then when I say change things drastically in this world they complain about that. Most of the people in the world right now can go **** themselves.  You wouldn't know what making life better for everyone is about anyway.  RIP John Lennon.

[Misanthrope]

Let's be very clear about a few things:

 

1) Editing incidents where you as an entity are directly involved, is generally frowned upon since it immediately implies bias

2) The NYPD basically is the government here. Any time the government directly interferes with Public opinion to distort or obfuscate in any way it's a clear violation of Freedom of Speech.

3) Even if the NYPD edits were right and the Wiki article was sensationalist in tone, they could emit their opinion and take on it but not directly edit it. This is not just a matter of the content here, the most important part here is point 2) and as a matter of principle this should not be allowed.