Colbert Segment Prompts Wikipedia Veepstakes Lockdown

image
Published: 08 Aug, 2012
Updated: 13 Oct, 2022
1 min read

colbert

TechPresident is reporting today that Wikipedia has put restrictions on editing the profiles of top contenders for Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick. Seems like a segment on The Colbert Report promoting viewers to edit all the profiles of VP potentials sparked the response.

We picked up on an earlier post by the blog pointing out how monitoring Wikipedia edits could possibly forecast the eventual VP selection. At least, it appeared to be the case in 2008 when then-Governor Sarah Palin was plucked out of relative obscurity.

Stephen Colbert picked up on the story via FOX News on last night's show, and as is typical, challenged his loyal audience to wreck havoc: "So, Nation, let your voice be heard in this history decision. Go on Wikipedia, and make as many edits as possible to your favorite VP contender."

TechPresident's Micah Sifry reports:

…as of last night, the Pawlenty page was locked to protect it from vandalism. In addition, the Portman and Rubio pages have been "semi-protected" by site administrators, which means they can only be edited by registered users. The same thing has been done to the pages for Paul Ryan, Bobby Jindal, Chris Christie, and David Petraeus (who got a burst of attention yesterday because of an item on the Drudge Report). That means that only people who have already been on Wikipedia for at least four days and previously made ten edits to other unprotected pages can edit these pages.

So, looks like Veepstakes watchers are back to the Romney mobile app. Go Amercia!

Latest articles

Cartoon image of Cuomo and Adams running into each other with cars.
Adams and Cuomo Power Players Play Chicken With New York Elections
NYC Mayor Eric Adams and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo are currently playing a game of chicken with each other – leveraging the city’s electoral system to pressure the other to quit the race. The question is: Who will blink first? Or… are they headed for a collision?...
14 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Open Primary NYC
5 Influential Forces in NYC that Threaten the Success of Open Primaries
New York City’s Charter Revision Commission (CRC) is considering a proposal to adopt a nonpartisan “Top Two” open primary system, which would allow the city’s 1.1 million independent voters to cast a ballot in primary elections they pay for....
14 Jul, 2025
-
13 min read
Tyson points at Trump with a marijuana leaf behind him.
Mike Tyson Calls Out Donald Trump to Make Good on Cannabis Rescheduling Promise
Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight boxing champion known as “Iron Mike,” is calling on President Donald Trump to make good on a campaign promise to reclassify cannabis under federal law....
11 Jul, 2025
-
2 min read