Wikipedia bans UK’s Daily Mail for being a ‘generally unreliable’ source
The decision was made based on the tabloid’s ‘reputation for poor fact checking, sensationalism and flat-out fabrication’.
Editors of online encyclopedia Wikipedia have voted to ban British tabloid Daily Mail as a source for its content, after rating it “generally unreliable”. The decision was “centred on the Daily Mail’s reputation for poor fact checking, sensationalism and flat-out fabrication”, The Guardian reported.
Volunteer editors on English Wikipedia have been debating the reliability of Daily Mail since early 2015, according to a statement from the Wikimedia Foundation, which runs the online database but does not control its editing processes. The suggestion was made by an editor, who goes by Hillbillyholiday, early in January, after which other editors voiced their opinions for and against the ban on the tabloid over the past month.
“This means that the Daily Mail will generally not be referenced as a ‘reliable source’ on English Wikipedia, and volunteer editors are encouraged to change existing citations to the Daily Mail to another source deemed reliable by the community. This is consistent with how Wikipedia editors evaluate and use media outlets in general – with common sense and caution,” the statement said.
Wikipedia editors have asked volunteers to review some 12,000 links to the Daily Mail that are already on the website and replace them with alternative, more reliable sources wherever possible, according to The Guardian.
The blanket ban on the Daily Mail, which also includes its website dailymail.co.uk, comes at a time when the spread of viral fake news has drawn concern. Tech major Google and social media giant Facebook had drawn flak for the spread of such reports and decided to take action against the circulation of them.