Daimler caught editing negative content from own Wikipedia page?

[Scott at Pelican Parts]

Filed under: Etc., Marketing/Advertising, Mercedes-Benz



Obviously, we spend a lot of time trawling the Internet looking for interesting automotive news. When we find it, we're often curious to get a little more backstory. Sometimes we need some of the big players identified, due to our own lack of familiarity with what's going on in the larger world of pop culture that has nothing to do with cars. For that task, we occasionally rely on Wikipedia to help us dig up additional sources - probably just the same as you do.

Thus, we're glad to see a Daimler employee called out for an alleged misdeed, which is not just against Wikipedia's policies, but frankly, runs counter to the whole spirit of the not-for-profit, crowd-sourced Internet encyclopedia. According to a report by The Local, someone with a Daimler IP address altered the company's German-language Wikipedia page, seemingly intent on removing unflattering passages. The section in question concerned a "Worst EU Lobbying Award" that the parent of the Mercedes-Benz brand received in 2007, along with BMW and Porsche, for "a concerted campaign to 'dilute and delay CO2 reduction targets.'"

A Daimler spokesman is deflecting the incident by blaming it on employees, calling the actions "independent" and "private," insinuating that they were not part of an official directive from the company itself. Apparently changes to other Wikipedia pages were made at the same time, those concerning the cereal muesli and Victoria, the Crown Princess of Sweden, suggesting there could be something to spokesman's assertion.Daimler caught editing negative content from own Wikipedia page? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 12 Mar 2012 14:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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03-12-2012 03:16 PM