Was Wikipedia Spinning Part of H&K's Maldives Work?

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The Center for Media and Democracy has previously reported [9] on the PR firm Hill & Knowlton [10]'s work for the oppressive regime of the president of the Maldives [11], Maumoon Gayoom. Thanks to WikiScanner [12], a program mapping anonymous edits on the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, CMD can report that someone on a computer mapping to Hill & Knowlton [13]'s UK office edited the Wikipedia article "Politics of the Maldives [14]" in June 2005. The edits removed references to the lack of independent news outlets, election rigging and the imprisonment of political activists in the Maldives. The anonymous editor also rephrased a section on the lack of activity by organized political parties, up until June 2005. The anonymous editor changed a sentence beginning, "Political parties in Maldives was [sic] not allowed, though the constitution allowed it," to "[T]he Maldivian political system was based around the election of individuals, rather than the more common system of election according to party platform." While Hill & Knowlton's computers were apparently used to make the edits, it isn't possible to know who made the edits or whether they were part of the firm's official work for Gayoom.