I thought no more about it until I looked at my entry on Wikipedia. As well as learning that I was a probable alcoholic, a hypocrite and a supporter of Sarah Palin, I noticed that all reviews of my work were missing except Hari’s effort. Far from saying that he had made wild allegations and I had responded by quoting from the book, a writer working under the pseudonym ‘David r from Meth Productions’ suggested that I had made wild allegations while Hari ‘had offered quotes from Cohen which he argued backed up his claims’. The fearsome honour code by which hacks abide insists that no journalist can sue for libel — if you give it, you must take it. I bowed to its stern injunctions while wishing that my colleagues would grant me a release just this once so that I might relieve Jimmy Wales of a part of his fortune.

The fearsome honour code by which hacks abide insists that no journalist can sue for libel — if you give it, you must take it. I bowed to its stern injunctions while wishing that my colleagues would grant me a release just this once so that I might relieve Jimmy Wales of a part of his fortune.

not to mention articles involved in the News Of The World scandal....
yet another British journalist, wasting time on WP?

It gets worse.

I thought no more about it – until a “friend” of my mother’s teased her about my Wikipedia entry. “Your daughter’s not exactly a shining beacon of professional integrity,” summed up her reaction. She read out the nastier bits of my potted (and manipulated) bio, and my mother was devastated.

Edward Lucas, my husband, determined to find out what was going on. As Nick Cohen described in his excellent Spectator diary, he soon concluded that a certain “David R” was penning all the vicious attacks on me. The same David R went on to tamper with the Wiki entries of a host of other Hari critics – from Francis Wheen to Nick Cohen. The author’s obsessive editing took place on a daily basis, often at dawn; at midnight one Christmas Eve, David R was busily messing up Richard Littlejohn’s Wiki entry. Goodwill to all men.

Hari has been suspended for 2 months from his job.

Hari also apologised for editing the Wikipedia entries of people he had clashed with, using the pseudonym David Rose, "in ways that were juvenile or malicious", saying he was "mortified to have done this". He admitted calling "one of them antisemitic and homophobic, and the other a drunk".

In a formal apology published on the Independent's website, Hari admitted he did "two wrong and stupid things" – the first, inserting quotes that were not his own into interviews, and the second, deliberately editing the entry on himself in Wikipedia and using an alter ego to edit other people's entries.

"I took out nasty passages about people I admire – like Polly Toynbee, George Monbiot, Deborah Orr and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown … but in a few instances, I edited the entries of people I had clashed with in ways that were juvenile or malicious: I called one of them antisemitic and homophobic, and the other a drunk." He added: "I am mortified to have done this, because it breaches the most basic ethical rule: don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you. I apologise to the latter group unreservedly and totally."

You imply that creating a fake identity to correct your own Wikipedia entry is entirely normal and that your only mistake was to retain this identity while editing Wikipedia entries about other people. Er, no.

Toby Young fails to realize that, yes, creating a fake identity to edit your own WP entry (or hiring someone to create a fake identity and edit it for you) is indeed entirely normal, although ethically questionable.

I'd say it's not even ethically questionable. What's ethically questionable is running a Top 5 website that posts "biographies" of living people, which are open to any drive-by nut to alter at any time of day or night, all while the biography of the co-founder of the project is set up to allow only edits by established accounts that have registered days ago and beavered about the rest of the encyclopedia.

This piece in the Telegraph, in which Hari's apology is dissected and unravelled, is very good. I take exception to one particular piece of criticism, however: Toby Young fails to realize that, yes, creating a fake identity to edit your own WP entry (or hiring someone to create a fake identity and edit it for you) is indeed entirely normal, although ethically questionable.

The whole sock puppet business was pretty sad. Thank heavens this newspaper would never employ someone who did that.

Changing the subject completely, I wonder what Gilligan makes of it all.

Johann Hari sockpuppetry

On the "Category:Suspected Wikipedia sockpuppets of David r from meth productions" is User:Robblackhurst whose one edit, on Talk:Johann Hari started "I've just stumbled across the Johann Hari entry which, as a reader of his work since his first pieces in the New Statesman, seems to me to be balanced and accurate." (23 October 2006)

There is an editor, User:Zafio whose first edit - also on Talk:Johann Hari started "I wonder if a fresh perspective might be useful? I stumbled upon, some months ago and quite by accident, the dispute over this page. As a relative newcomer to Wikipedia, I found the whole process fascinating, and at times good theatre" (22 November 2007)

Zafio's contributions continued to involve the Hari page throughout 2008.

In 2009 and 2010 Zafio made no contributions to the Johann Hari page, making just 16 edits. Zafio's first edit of 2011 was on 12 July, back on Talk:Johann Hari: "I agree with most of Yonmei's suggestions here. I was involved in discussions of this page some years ago, and agree that Dave R may have some COI. I doubt very much that he is Hari, however, accusations that have resurfaced elsewhere on the web."

Zafio has edited on 12 & 15-18 July and then on 16-17 September. User:David r from meth productions was banned from WP on 18 July 2011. IMO Zafio is another David R sock. Yours, almost-instinct 15:57, 18 September 2011 (UTC)