Wikipedia cracks down on 'black hat' paid editors, blocking 300 accounts

Wikipedia said it has blocked more than 300 accounts being used by people being paid to create or tweak entries at the communally sourced online encyclopedia.

Weeks of investigation revealed 381 accounts being used at the English version of Wikipedia for "black hat" editing in which people took money to promote outside interests without disclosing they were on someone's payroll, according to a blog post.

Wikipedia editors who led the investigation found reason to believe that some tactics used were malicious and might even be considered extortion. In some cases, people pretending to represent Wikipedia reached out to subjects of articles seeking payment, according to the widely used online encyclopedia.

"Other times, these individuals would threaten to delete the article if the subjects of the article failed to make payment," Wikipedia said on Wednesday. "That being said, we would agree that the actions taken by [those] behind these accounts were extortionate and even in some cases, similar to blackmail."

Wikipedia is powered mostly by volunteers and bars paid advocacy that is not disclosed, such as in the case of museums or universities having employees tune entries related to exhibits or institutions.