Why Rely on Wiki? (As it Is : the Free Encyclopedia)

Q

What steps can be taken to ensure the accuracy of a Wikipedia article before it is published? How can one verify the correctness of the information included in the article?
https://www.quora.com/What-steps-can-be-taken-to-ensure-the-accuracy-of-a-Wikipedia-article-before-it-is-published-How-can-one-verify-the-correctness-of-the-information-included-in-the-article/answer/Hans-Georg-Lundahl-1

Hans-Georg Lundahl

none/ apprx Masters in Latin (language) & Greek (language), Lund University

7.I.2024

A wikipedia article is published as soon as it is created by someone using the wikipedia.

The steps to ensure its accuracy (as well as completeteness) are X repetitions of this loop:

// : wikipedian user reads the article
wikipedian user sees something to change in the article
wikipedian user clicks “redact” and either adds a section, or deletes a section, or changes the content, or corrects a spelling or a term or adds a reference
wikipedia user publishes the hopefully improved article : //

Some articles are locked or semi-locked, i e only administrators can change it or publish proposed changes. Administrators can also take down an article they think superfluous (like a publicity for a brand that’s not an everyday word or like a doublet to an already existing and better redacted article).

Every step in this process can be abused and is sometimes abused. The same is true for the steps taken to ensure accuracy in printed encyclopedias or their online versions, whether free or paywalled.

An example of abuse in the English wiki is this:

• Christchurch shooting has an article
• Tarrant has no article any more, is treated only in a section of this article
• and the section on Tarrant is omitting material that I can find in the French article on Tarrant.

To wit, Tarrant is an admirer of Red China. None of the wikis claim he is a Fundamentalist Christian, by the way, nor should they, neither was Breivik. But some would like to hide how much this “right wing extremist terrorist” shares the basics of their own world view rather than those of the Christian Fundies, which they also hate. Hence the deletion of the English article on Tarrant.

Communiste, anarchiste, puis libertarien, il adopte progressivement des idées d'extrême droite et se définit comme « écofasciste »1. Il considère par ailleurs la Chine communiste comme l'« État idéal »7.

7 (sourced) Kim Sengupta, « Brenton Tarrant: Suspected New Zealand attacker ‘met extreme right-wing groups’ during Europe visit, according to security sources », The Independent,‎ 16 mars 2019 (lire en ligne [archive], consulté le 21 mars 2019).

Suspected New Zealand attacker ‘met extreme right-wing groups’ during Europe visit, according to security sources
Tarrant says he began planning his operation after a visit to Europe in 2017
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/brenton-tarrant-new-zealand-attacker-far-right-europe-gunam-shooting-a8825611.html

Suspected New Zealand attacker ‘met extreme right-wing groups’ during Europe visit, according to security sources
Tarrant says he began planning his operation after a visit to Europe in 2017
https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.independent.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Faustralasia%2Fbrenton-tarrant-new-zealand-attacker-far-right-europe-gunam-shooting-a8825611.html#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&tab=url

Brenton Tarrant — Wikipédia
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenton_Tarrant#cite_note-7