Someone At US Congress Gets Banned From Wikipedia For Trolling

Someone At US Congress Gets Banned From Wikipedia For Trolling

Trolling is fun, until you get caught. And that’s exactly what just happened to someone in Washington, who got a Congressional IP address banned for trolling Wikipedia.

It all started when the Twitter account @CongressEdits started tracking (and tweeting) the anonymous edits Congressional IPs were making to Wikipedia. It seems that someone (a staffer no doubt) got just a little too trigger happy, and after a slew of increasingly zany edits — including one that called the outlet Mediaite “sexist” and “transphobic” — the offending IP was banned.

The IP-based ban is only 10 days, but can affect multiple computers — just like the one I earned for my entire library in high school. Users can get around it by creating an account, but that makes it a little more annoying to troll. So for now the fun is mostly over, and if Congress-folk continue to act up, Wikipedia has stronger ban options up its sleeves.

Here’s to hoping whoever is behind this has learned their lesson: Don’t be so obvious! [The Washington Post via The Wire]


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