Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Snowden Wikipedia page edited to label him a "traitor" from Senate computer

en.wikipedia.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 57 posts

Re: Snowden Wikipedia page edited to label him a "traitor" from Senate computer

#21

Post by snowwrestler »

_bfhp wrote: post #7
singularity0 wrote: post #3

Why is this newsworthy? Several senators have already issued public statements labeling him a traitor.

They didn't deface Wikipedia to claim it, though. I doubt it's Peter King having a (particularly) bad night, but we all can dream

Wikipedia is the encyclopedia that "anyone can edit." Although it might fly against the prevailing opinion online, I would not classify a one-word edit like this as a defacement. Whether Snowden is a dissident, traitor, or some other word (patriot?) is really a matter of opinion.

Re: Snowden Wikipedia page edited to label him a "traitor" from Senate computer

#22

Post by rdtsc »

WestCoastJustin wrote: post #12

Probably not a shocker, or news worthy, but amusing to get busted like this. Snowden has been publicly called a traitor by at least two senators, " I think Snowden is a traitor -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid [1], and Kerry characterized former NSA contractor as a " traitor to his country. " -- US Secretary of State John Kerry [2], and there are lots of hits in Google News [3], so there are probably others. [1]…

> "traitor to his country."

Because for them country=government. He is a traitor to a corrupt and power hungry government. So that description is accurate.

Re: Snowden Wikipedia page edited to label him a "traitor" from Senate computer

#23

Post by qq66 »

_bfhp wrote: post #11
9ac345a5509a wrote: post #8

There is no evidence that this is a Senator or anyone in a position of power. It is more likely that it is just a bored intern.

No one's claiming that it is a Senator, but then again, is this what my tax dollars are funding?

Yes, your tax dollars are funding this, but they are funding much worse. In terms of the useless: a friend ordered a $25,000 computer with 192 GB of RAM because he had a research grant for computer hardware that he had to use up. In terms of the horrifying: Extrajudicial murder of civilians.

Re: Snowden Wikipedia page edited to label him a "traitor" from Senate computer

#25

Post by Buge »

bbx wrote: post #15

The latest revision reads as "American fugitive intelligence analyst". On a side note, the user is registered to WikiPedia, and his contributions page [1] hints at his awareness of the public availability of these contributions (and of their IP address). Maybe he didn't want to hide the origin of this edit, or maybe it was a clumsy mistake. There isn't much more to tell. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Cont…

What do you mean the user is registered? If the user was registered, it would show the username instead of the IP address.

Re: Snowden Wikipedia page edited to label him a "traitor" from Senate computer

#26

Post by ihsw »

sologoub wrote: post #13

Feinstein (D-Calif.)? http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/policy-and-strategy/304...

Have you seen her direct the NSA-related congressional hearings? She's definitely a dusty old battle-axe, but I'd wager that her computer skills (or lack thereof) impede her ability to edit Wikipedia articles.

Re: Snowden Wikipedia page edited to label him a "traitor" from Senate computer

#27

Post by impendia »

_bfhp wrote: post #11
9ac345a5509a wrote: post #8

There is no evidence that this is a Senator or anyone in a position of power. It is more likely that it is just a bored intern.

No one's claiming that it is a Senator, but then again, is this what my tax dollars are funding?

Yes, in addition to all of the surveillance programs being discussed, as well as the salaries of the people who lied to Congress about it.

Re: Snowden Wikipedia page edited to label him a "traitor" from Senate computer

#28

Post by ihsw »

singularity0 wrote: post #3

Why is this newsworthy? Several senators have already issued public statements labeling him a traitor.

Because it's astroturfing. It's a small step to go from monitoring communications in real-time to directly and automatically responding to certain communications events, for example giving the appearance of interest where there is none (or the opposite, giving the appearance of disinterest).

It needn't be bots posting spam but it could be trained professionals engaged in spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

Re: Snowden Wikipedia page edited to label him a "traitor" from Senate computer

#29

Post by _bfhp »

qq66 wrote: post #23
_bfhp wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one's claiming that it is a Senator, but then again, is this what my tax dollars are funding?

Yes, your tax dollars are funding this, but they are funding much worse. In terms of the useless: a friend ordered a $25,000 computer with 192 GB of RAM because he had a research grant for computer hardware that he had to use up. In terms of the horrifying: Extrajudicial murder of civilians.

I wasn't being serious; this was all likely just a prank anyway

Re: Snowden Wikipedia page edited to label him a "traitor" from Senate computer

#30

Post by kennywinker »

_bfhp wrote: post #19
bbx wrote: post #15

The latest revision reads as "American fugitive intelligence analyst". On a side note, the user is registered to WikiPedia, and his contributions page [1] hints at his awareness of the public availability of these contributions (and of their IP address). Maybe he didn't want to hide the origin of this edit, or maybe it was a clumsy mistake. There isn't much more to tell. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Cont…

Now all we have to do is pinpoint the one US Senator interested in revolvers, Islamic historical sites, people straddling the exec boards of multiple large corporations, and tiki bars in San Francisco.

Probably not an actual senator, but someone on a senator's staff.
Post reply on HN