Bless your comprehensive soul, Wiki. Today, research by an independent group has emerged, revealing the top 100 most “controversial” articles on the site in ten languages. “Wikipedia is more than just an encyclopaedia; it is also a window into divergent social-spatial priorities, interests and preferences,” the group WikiWarMonitor states in their article’s summary. The group investigated and measured how “controversial” an article on Wikipedia is based on the number of peer edits it has received throughout its history.
A top 100 list for ten languages has now been collated based on WikiWarMonitor’s research, highlighting both the great diversity and close similarities between different languages’ lists. In English, for example, George W Bush‘s entry is unsurprisingly the most contentious; in French, the top spot goes to Bush’s polar opposite in every sense: Ségolène Royal, France’s most powerful and iconic female Socialist politician (currently holding the environmental portfolio) and ex-partner of the current President, Francois Holland. In German, Scientology closely follows Croatia as the most controversial article pages. The entry on Jesus however, rates in the top 10 of the English, French, German, Spanish and Czech lists.
The usual suspects populate the pointy end of the English list: United States, Islam, Abortion, Michael Jackson, Barack Obama, September 11. What’s interesting, however, is old mate John Howard got a substantially high placing on the top 100 list, sitting pretty at number 44. If we go ahead and interpret this list literally, then, as only a fool truly would – John Howard is more controversial than Evolution (49), Ayn Rand (55), Fox News (59), World War II (61) Fascism (62), Iran (70), God (91), Truth (100), Atheism (86), Britney Spears (74) and Super Smash Bros Brawl (85).
Admittedly, I’ll buy the last two.
You can find the full list here. Some top 10 highlights below.
Via SMH.
