Wikipedia started with the motto: The free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

Today that is not true. I cannot edit the following page.



John Podesta is protected on Wikipedia.



I tried to login to see if I could edit the page. But then, even though I have the correct password, they blocked me. And they sent a verification code to an email address I no longer have.


I took the suggestion and emailed Wikipedia for help. We will see if they do.

This experience shows that only approved people can edit Wikipedia pages that they protect. And they require an email address, so the edits are less likely to be anonymous. Today, I was not allowed to edit the Wikipedia page.

Wikipedia says John Podesta's page suffered "vandalism" (he's the victim, they claim) but the people who posted updates to the page might disagree. This also proves that not just anyone can edit the page. People could make meaningful edits, only to be called "vandals", and their edits quickly removed and their accounts blocked. This would be called censorship.

They might say I could edit his page some days from now if I meet certain criteria. However, they do not guarantee that my edit would not be called "vanadalism", even if I promise to use good faith and cite my sources.