{"id":32729,"date":"2024-04-05T13:36:16","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T20:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=32729"},"modified":"2024-04-05T13:36:18","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T20:36:18","slug":"wikipedia-is-san-franciscos-newest-political-battlefield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/04\/05\/wikipedia-is-san-franciscos-newest-political-battlefield\/","title":{"rendered":"Wikipedia is San Francisco&#8217;s newest political battlefield"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Adam%20Shanks\">By Adam Shanks | Examiner staff writer |<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Apr 4, 2024\u00a0Updated\u00a01 hr ago  (SFExaminer.com)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/sfexaminer.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/a\/e9\/ae915c38-f1fd-11ee-b8e9-0f5d673373b5\/660dc4584b817.image.jpg?resize=400%2C269\" alt=\"wikiwars_web\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Supervisor Dean Preston, the only Democratic Socialist on the Board of Supervisors, owns a home worth some $2.5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just check his Wikipedia entry. It\u2019s right there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Preston doesn\u2019t dispute that he owns a home that, like many in San Francisco, is worth a pretty penny. However, Preston is the only supervisor whose personal home value is&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/politics\/why-sf-supervisor-dean-preston-dumped-twitter-for-bluesky\/article_1a317914-6955-11ee-9b63-77167b376b97.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">listed on his Wikipedia page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe most telling thing is that when you look at my profile on there, compared to most other supervisors, it\u2019s just pretty obvious what facts are being put out there, what frame it is,\u201d Preston said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Dean_Preston\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Preston\u2019s page on Wikipedia<\/a>&nbsp;\u2014 the free-to-use, open-source encyclopedia operated by a San Francisco-based nonprofit \u2014 is a battleground. As he seeks reelection to a second term in office, the controversial politician\u2019s Wikipedia page has seen nearly 200 edits since the start of 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Preston is just one among prominent San Francisco leaders whose Wikipedia page is a place where anonymous editors go to war over the truth \u2014 or, at least, which version of the truth to present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wikipedia catalogs the edits made to every page. Supervisors running for election, including&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/politics\/connie-chan-forges-reelection-path-in-richmond-district\/article_f1cdb240-eaef-11ee-ba6c-5312534ae0b9.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Connie Chan<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/politics\/powerful-pac-growsf-targets-sf-supervisor-dean-preston\/article_bd45fa72-6158-11ed-bdf1-a77a6acdcd1b.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Preston<\/a>&nbsp;and Aaron Peskin \u2014 who is contemplating a run for mayor \u2014 have seen an uptick in the number and scale of edits made to their pages in recent months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-datawrapper wp-block-embed-datawrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" title=\"Supervisors&#039; Wikipedia revisions climb \" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/jJ22x\/1\/#?secret=hJw6mj28aN\" data-secret=\"hJw6mj28aN\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"411\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Preston\u2019s page was edited more than 150 times in 2023 alone \u2014 more than three times the number of edits made in 2022 \u2014 and the edits have more than doubled the length of the article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The rate at which&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/politics\/sf-supervisor-dean-preston-launches-2024-reelection-bid\/article_9127907e-3d42-11ee-afce-476810d5f549.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Preston\u2019s page<\/a>&nbsp;is edited has inched closer to that of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who represents more than 400 times as many constituents and surged into the national spotlight last year amid his quarrel with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the relatively low profile of a San Francisco supervisor compared to national leaders, Wikipedia pages can amass thousands of views and frequently rank highly in search-engine results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wikipedia rules<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyone can edit Wikipedia, but it is not without rules. The site is maintained by 265,000 volunteers who establish guidelines and editorial policy, according to a spokesperson for the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wikipedia discourages users with potential conflicts of interest from editing entries, and it encourages a \u201cneutral point of view\u201d based on \u201creliable sources.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe whole process of content moderation by Wikipedia volunteers is open and transparent,\u201d the spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Examiner. \u201cEverything from the way an article grows and evolves over time, to the citations required to verify the facts, to the content discussions amongst editors, are all publicly available on the article\u2019s history and talk pages.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lee Hepner, a former aide to Peskin, said he wasn\u2019t aware of Peskin\u2019s office or anyone else\u2019s wading directly into editing battles on Wikipedia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/wo8oL\/1\/\">https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/wo8oL\/1\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is not neutral, and it reflects the editorial biases of people who have the time and skill to edit it, and frankly, that does not include Supervisor Peskin; he\u2019s not in there tinkering,\u201d Hepner said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The challenge for elected officials, he said, is to get an honest and direct message to constituents, \u201cand that is a problem or a challenge that is bigger than Wikipedia or any media platform or journalistic outlet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just as a student should not write a book report based on a single Wikipedia article, Hepner suggested that voters assume they can \u201cbe pointed in the right direction\u201d but that the site is \u201cvulnerable to inaccuracies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI trust that voters are going to be consuming information holistically,\u201d Hepner said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Andy Mullan, formerly an aide to Supervisor Catherine Stefani, said there was never any emphasis or conversation around Wikipedia when he worked in City Hall. However, in the two years since he left, the breadth and scope of supervisors\u2019 Wikipedia pages have grown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mullan suggested it might not necessarily reflect a greater interest in San Francisco politics but a shift in the medium through which that interest is expressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSo much more of the political discourse is now happening on the internet as opposed to the printed pages of a newspaper or face to face,\u201d Mullan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Editing wars<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>On Preston\u2019s page, users have battled over his record on housing and the extent of his wealth and privilege. His supporters highlight his career as a tenants rights attorney, while critics allege he\u2019s privileged, with deep pockets that contradict his ideals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One anonymous user, thenightaway, has edited Preston\u2019s page 26 times since 2020. In a recent edit, the user added on March 14 that the school Preston attended in the 1980s is \u201ca prestigious Ivy League preparatory\u201d and that he owns a valuable home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is true, but Preston is not the only supervisor with wealth attached to his name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-datawrapper wp-block-embed-datawrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" title=\"Supes&#039; Wikipedia page size swell\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/WVOyt\/2\/#?secret=IOk4CozjWY\" data-secret=\"IOk4CozjWY\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"439\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Because she and her husband own a boat anchored in the East Harbor, Supervisor Catherine Stefani recently had to recuse herself from the debate over a controversial proposal to build a new harbor next to the Marina Green.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Peskin owns multiple homes in San Francisco that he rents out for supplemental income. Supervisor Myrna Melgar disclosed in ethics filings that she owns a bed-and-breakfast called Surfer\u2019s Paradise Casa Sunzal in El Salvador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Housing, housing, housing<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Housing has become an increasingly thorny issue in San Francisco politics. The City faces a legally imposed demand to plan for more than 80,000 new homes \u2014 and that pressure is reflected on Wikipedia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2021, a user added that&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/politics\/bilal-mahmood-challenging-sf-supervisor-dean-preston-in-2024\/article_3d19f12c-ba1d-11ee-83c0-07376095641c.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Preston<\/a>&nbsp;\u201chas worked to delay and block numerous development plans and legislative proposals to increase the supply of both market-rate and affordable housing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In another edit, the same user maintained a sentence about how Preston worked to \u201chalt the city of San Francisco buying a hotel in Japantown which it would use to house homeless people,\u201d but deleted the end of it, which had clarified that Preston\u2019s position was taken \u201cwith an unusual ally, Mayor Breed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The same user has also sought to clarify Peskin\u2019s housing record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On March 21, thenightaway wrote that Peskin \u201chas persistently blocked new housing and other development in San Francisco.\u201d Thenightaway deleted a sentence that was, arguably, not written from a neutral point of view. It claimed that Peskin \u201cwas pivotal in passing the Eastern Neighborhoods Plan, one of the largest rezonings in the city\u2019s history, and instrumental in creating the city\u2019s ADU program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s not always an unflattering edit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A user recently edited Supervisor Chan\u2019s page to add to her record on housing. The previous edition had highlighted Chan\u2019s resistance to housing legislation, such as when she \u201cprevented the Board of Supervisors from considering a proposed referendum that would streamline the permitting process for certain housing developments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But a new edit on Feb. 20 not only clarified several of the stances already enumerated on her page but also added that Chan \u201cvoted to improve funding\u201d for a new affordable housing complex on Geary Boulevard\u201d and \u201cauthored legislation to offer relief to tenants and small property owners who lost income during [the] COVID-19 pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Editors have also come to Preston\u2019s defense, and the \u201ctalk\u201d section of his page \u2014 where editors debate its content \u2014 is rife with discourse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>User coffeeandcrumbs, a regular editor of Preston\u2019s page, deleted a section from the introduction explaining that Preston has \u201cattributed capitalism as the cause of crime, drug use, and homelessness in San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOf course, as a socialist, he believes capitalism is the cause of societal issues,\u201d coffeeandcrumbs explained in a message accompanying the edit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to Preston\u2019s home and the alleged family trust connected to Preston\u2019s wife \u2014 which Preston said his wife &#8220;is not a beneficiary (of) or in any way affiliated (with),&#8221; and &#8220;no one would have any evidence to the contrary&#8221; \u2014coffeeandcrumbs wrote on the \u201ctalk\u201d page that \u201cthe \u201cmulti-million dollar property\u201d you describe is \u201cjust a house in San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat is how much they cost,\u201d the user wrote. \u201cThe article says \u2018the family of Goosby\u2019 has multiple trusts. Including this claim based on this sourcing is clearly [point-of-view] pushing. If you don\u2019t see that, I don\u2019t know what to tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Editor&#8217;s note: This article was amended on April 4, 2024, to include Dean Preston&#8217;s attestation that his wife is not a beneficiary or in any way linked to a previously reported trust that owns property in San Francisco.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supervisor Dean Preston, the only Democratic Socialist on the Board of Supervisors, owns a home worth some $2.5 million. Just check his Wikipedia entry. It\u2019s right there. Preston doesn\u2019t dispute that he owns a home that, like many in San Francisco, is worth a pretty penny. However, Preston is the&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/04\/05\/wikipedia-is-san-franciscos-newest-political-battlefield\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32729"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32729"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32733,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32729\/revisions\/32733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}