A Wikipedia Censorship Story

I almost never link to Wikipedia (but I allow Wikipedia links in the comment section). Every time I link to a Wikipedia page, I'm implicitly endorsing the entire site's content. Since Wikipedia is highly intralinked, and many sites link to Wikipedia, this effectively boosts the PageRank of *ALL* of Wikipedia's articles.

Similarly, if Wikipedia links to a website, that can *DRAMATICALLY* boost that site's PageRank. For this reason, Wikipedia's censors *RELIGIOUSLY* cull non-conforming links.

I conducted an experiment. On a drug page, I posted a link critical of that drug. The users I identified as drug PR agents culled the link. After an edit war, I imposed my Wikipedia boycott; I'll look up information on Wikipedia, but I refuse to contribute. From a different IP address, without logging in, I posted a link *PRAISING* that same drug. One of the drug PR agents sent me a PM saying "You should be a registered user; you'd be a great site admin!"

On Wikipedia, the "revert vandalism" bots are also usable as "auto-censorship bots". There's a fundamental flaw with Wikipedia's engine. "Edit wars" and censorship are a symptom of a defective engine design, and not an inherent problem that any popular website has. Wikipedia's secret backers *LOVE* the fact that Wikipedia gives the appearance of openness, while controversial topics are effectively censored.