Church of Scientology editing on Wikipedia

Church of Scientology IP addresses blocked
2) All IP addresses owned or operated by the Church of Scientology and its associates, broadly interpreted, are to be blocked as if they were open proxies. Individual editors may request IP block exemption if they wish to contribute from the blocked IP addresses.

Passed 10 to 1 at 13:31, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

Church of Scientology edits to Wikipedia led to a ban on editing the entire website from the organization's computers.^[1]^[2]

A series of incidents in 2009 led to Church of Scientology–owned networks being blocked from making edits to Wikipedia articles relating to Scientology. The Church of Scientology has long had a controversial history on the Internet and had initiated campaigns to manipulate material and remove information critical of itself from the web. From early in Wikipedia's history, conflict arose regarding the website's coverage of Scientology. Disputes began in earnest in 2005, with users disagreeing about whether or not to describe Scientology as an abusive cult or religion, and continued through the decade.^[3]

WikiScanner, a publicly searchable database that linked anonymous edits on Wikipedia to the organizations where those edits apparently originated, made public the nature of edits on Wikipedia which were able to be traced directly back to Church of Scientology-controlled computers. News organizations reported that edits linked to the Church of Scientology were made to remove criticism from the main Scientology article, to downplay connections between Scientology and the New Cult Awareness Network, and to add links to Scientology-affiliated groups such as the Citizens Commission on Human Rights.^[4]

In January 2009, a case involving Scientology was brought before Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee. Wikipedia administrators presented evidence during the case that Church of Scientology-controlled computers were used to promote the organization, using multiple user accounts. One user, going by the pseudonym "COFS", admitted this pattern of editing and stated the edits from Scientology computers would continue. In May 2009, the Arbitration Committee decided to restrict editing from IP addresses belonging to the Church of Scientology to prevent biased edits. The decision meant that Church of Scientology-controlled IP addresses received the same blockable status as open proxies on the site. Many Scientology critics were also banned; the committee concluded that both sides had "gamed policy" and resorted to "battlefield tactics", with articles on living persons being the "worst casualties" of edits.^[5]^[6] On 7 January 2022, the rule of IP addresses owned by Scientology being blocked as if they were open proxies was lifted.^[7]

Arbitration Committee member Roger Davies wrote the majority of the decision, and commented to The New York Times that due to the controversial nature of the case, the decision was crafted so as not to focus directly upon any particular individual.^[8] Statements from Church of Scientology spokeswoman Karin Pouw labelled the arbitration ruling as a routine matter and maintained there were still "gross inaccuracies" on the Scientology article.^[9] In a statement to CNN, Pouw denied the presence of an organized campaign by the Church of Scientology to manipulate Wikipedia.^[10] Scientology representative Tommy Davis emphasized to the St. Petersburg Times that users critical of the organization were also banned, and similarly denied that Church of Scientology leadership arranged a campaign to manipulate entries on Wikipedia.^[11]

^ Cite error: The named reference matthewmoore was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference religionnewsservice was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference mickbrown was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference lischka was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Huff was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference wikipediabars was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference arca was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference noamcohen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference macmillan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference finley was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference brassfield was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[matthewmoore-1] Cite error: The named reference matthewmoore was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[religionnewsservice-2] Cite error: The named reference religionnewsservice was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[mickbrown-3] Cite error: The named reference mickbrown was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[lischka-4] Cite error: The named reference lischka was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Huff-5] Cite error: The named reference Huff was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[wikipediabars-6] Cite error: The named reference wikipediabars was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[arca-7] Cite error: The named reference arca was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[noamcohen-8] Cite error: The named reference noamcohen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[macmillan-9] Cite error: The named reference macmillan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[finley-10] Cite error: The named reference finley was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[brassfield-11] Cite error: The named reference brassfield was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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