More bad news for the Kremlin. Just one day after government-funded news network RT (formerly Russia Today) dealt with a correspondent's public resignation and claims that RT is "lying" about events in Ukraine, there's new evidence to suggest that even individuals within the government are participating in this reprobate mission of misinformation.
A while back, the internet was blessed by the creation of @CongressEdits, a "tweetbot" that automatically alerts its Twitter followers when a Wikipedia article is edited from any U.S. government IP address. It's a fascinating development in a world dominated by technological advancements; the application of technology to check government power and limit corruption in areas we actually can limit it.
Well, there's a Russian version now, and it's already exposed some pretty dramatic edits to a Wikipedia article about Flight MH17-- edits originating from a Russian government IP address.
The Telegraph first reported this story, saying that @RuGovEdits alerted its Twitter followers that a Wikipedia user within the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VHTRK) edited the Russian-language version of an entry about the Malaysian Airlines passenger jet shot down over Ukraine on Thursday.
The original entry stated that Flight MH17 had been shot down "by terrorists of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic with Buk system missiles, which the terrorists received from the Russian Federation."
The unknown user(s) behind the screen of a government-owned computer changed the Wikipedia entry to read "the plane [flight MH17] was shot down by Ukrainian soldiers".
Here's the tweet from the whistle-blowing twitterbot that uncovered the shady business:
see text for the tweet it doesn't copy
It's becoming increasingly clear that the Kremlin is using old school tactics in a new school world. Thanks to technological innovations like this corruption-catching twitterbot, we're calling bologna when we see it.