Wikipedia edits own editing policy

Online encyclopedia Wikipedia has changed its ‘anyone can edit’ policy to help stop vandalism of certain entries.

Wikipedia articles are now listed in three categories: Protected articles, semi-protected articles and free edit articles.

Protection means no-one can edit the articles, semi-protection means users can only edit the article if they have been registered for longer than four days.

George W Bush, Christina Aguilera, Adolf Hitler, sex and Tony Blair are now all protected or semi-protected, and Wikipedia said the list of protected items will change if and when articles need protection.

Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales, said: “Protection is a tool for quality control, but it hardly defines Wikipedia. What does define Wikipedia is the volunteer community and the open participation.”

http://www.wikipedia.org