Wikileads

The Wikimedia Foundation censored a Wikinews article about possible child pornography on Wikipedia, according to Wikileaks‘ most recently leaked document.

For full coverage, see this post.

For buzz, background and inside responses, check out the following links:

From a Wikinews Watercooler thread about the censored article, a comment by the article’s author, DragonFire1024:

My beef: this was an office action. Period. I had sources to back up every single thing I said in that article, and still do. I stand by what I said and made no allegations. I simply quoted sources, like we always do, among edits and other items. I am not happy about this as this was clearly done before anyone could make an edit to satisfy the ones complaining. I don’t like the fact that I wasn’t given a chance. This wasn’t “run by anyone” or the legal department, it was zapped…. I believe and still do, that I performed an investigative report.

A Slashdot thread about the leak and possible repercussions. Read if you’re interested in whether the album cover was porn and whether Wikinews’ censorship could change its legal status. According to some users, the Communications Decency Act does not prevent groups like Wikinews from censoring articles before they are published. Also, commentators pointed out that all articles on Wikinews are technically published at every stage of the creation process. The difference between a “published” and “unpublished” article is one of promotion and site placement, not public visibility.