Wikipedia spat rumbles on

Disagreements over the phrase ‘corporate social responsibility’ on the internet reference site Wikipedia remain unresolved more than a year after the entry was nominated to be ‘checked for its neutrality’.

Contributors to the online reference site, which allows allcomers to work on entries, have argued over the topic since 2006. Sceptics from non-governmental organizations and free trade groups have challenged definitions and inserted their own critical comments (EP8, issue 9, p1). The entry is now more balanced, but there is still no sign of overall agreement.

Wikipedia puts no timescale on when it expects disputes to be settled. Spokesman David Gerard told EP: ‘We tend to take the slow approach, but the entry will be good eventually.’ He urged all interested parties to participate in the process.

At present the page has a B rating from Wikipedia, indicating that ‘considerable editing’ is still needed, and that there are concerns about missing elements and balance of content.

However, Wikipedia says that other entries ‘began life as virtual partisan screeds but were nicely cleaned up by people who concerned themselves with representing all views clearly and impartially.’ Consensus has been achieved on entries for a number of controversial topics, including abortion, it adds.