Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Wikipedia reprimands editor who accused Grant Shapps of ‘sock puppet’ edits

It is probably reasonably cold comfort to him, given he’s already lost his Cabinet job, but Grant Shapps has today seen a Wikipedia administrator who accused him of editing his own page and those of other ministers reprimanded.

Wikipedia conducted an investigation, which concluded there was no evidence Shapps was connected to an account called Contribsx which made edits to his profile. It said the administrator in question, who operated under the name ‘Chase me ladies, I’m the Cavalry’ (but whose real name was Richard Symonds), ‘struggled to provide an accurate timeline’ on blocking the account and coverage of the account in the Guardian.

The site’s Arbitration Committee said Symonds ‘did not take adequate steps before taking public action (revealing the information to the Guardian, publishing the SPI and blocking the account) to ensure that the check and following actions were seen as neutral and unbiased’. He has had his privileges on the site revoked.

Shapps said:

‘Wikipedia’s investigation has resulted in the strong disciplinary action now being taken. However, the failure of various media outlets to check even basic facts meant that this false and damaging story ran for an entire day during the General Election campaign. My hope is that this case serves as a reminder that both the source, as well as the content of a story, should be carefully checked before it is broadcast in future.’

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