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Corbett’s Wikipedia edited from PA government computer

Someone in Harrisburg used a government IP address to edit out some controversial subjects on Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s Wikipedia page.

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Don’t do shady things on your work computer — especially when you work for the government.

That’s the lesson a Wikipedia editor should have learned before Buzzfeed’s Andrew Kaczynski pointed out that a user under a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania system IP address censored quotes and facts from Governor Tom Corbett’s Wikipedia page.

One edit removed a controversial quote from the governor on the proposed bill to require women to undergo an ultrasound before having an abortion. The quote is from a press conference when Corbett responded to a reporter who questioned whether the bill went too far in forcing women to watch images of the fetus. “I don’t know how you make anybody watch. You just have to close your eyes,” Corbett said.

Another edit dealt with a fracking law that would potentially bar doctors from consulting patients exposed to toxic chemicals that the natural gas industry uses in its extraction process. The bill, HB 1950, stated that health professionals must prove that their patient may have been exposed to hazardous chemicals in their request for information on chemicals considered “trade secrets.” The law goes on to specify that if the chemicals are disclosed to the health professional, they must be kept confidential. The bill said that the doctor could not disclose to the patient what chemical had affected their health. The governor’s office had maintaining that doctors could still share vague information with their patient and hold an “unfettered discussion.” 

The user also deleted a section discussing criticism following the administration’s $3 million grant to a charity run by convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky.

The editor cited “bias” for the latter two changes and for the first, said that the governor had been misquoted. The same IP address made a few juvenile edits to Patrick Swayze’s profile back during the Rendell administration, but didn’t return to the site anonymously until April and August of 2012. When users edit Wikipedia entries anonymously, their IP address serves as a placeholder for a user name. 

 
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