Wikipedia referees Scientology debate - 2009-05-29
Wikipedia referees Scientology debate May 29, 2009,
On Friday, the Wikipedia Arbitration Committee voted to bar several IP addresses linked to the Church of Scientology from making edits to some or all articles on the site, as The Register first reported. The committee, a senior group of volunteers who frequently review matters related to controversial and high-activity articles, found these users to be in frequent violation of the site's "neutral point of view" principle - defined as content added or edited "as far as possible without bias" - among other policies.
A Wikipedia representative says the verdict was the result of an extended period of review, and that the committee "looked at all sides of the situation" before making a decision. Indeed, the committee also banned some Wikipedia users for making edits to the "Scientology" article that were critical of the organization. Bans on IP addresses are not permanent; site administrators can lift them or make other concessions.