The Department of National Defence says it is investigating after someone on a government network posted false information to a Wikipedia entry on Rehtaeh Parsons, a teenager who hanged herself after an alleged gang rape and was eventually taken off of life support.
The Ottawa Citizen reported Monday that Wikipedia’s revision history linked edits to Parsons’ Wikipedia page to two DND IP addresses.
On Jan. 29, someone revised a quotation from Parsons’ father to remove any mention of rape and suggest that he described his daughter’s sexual assualt as “consensual sex,” according to Wikipedia’s revision log.
The quotation initially read, “The two boys involved in taking and posing for the photograph stated Rehtaeh was throwing up when they had sex with her. That is not called consensual sex. That is called rape.”
The quotation was revised to read, “The two boys involved in taking and posing for the photograph stated Rehtaeh was throwing up after they had sex with her. That is called consensual sex,” according to Wikipedia.
Another edit was made to change the phrase “four boys accused of sexually assaulting Rehtaeh Parsons” to read “four boys involved.”
Parsons’ family has said she was bullied relentlessly after a digital photo of her allegedly being sexually assaulted in November 2011 was passed around her school.
The revision history also reveals that someone from another DND IP address edited the Wikipedia page to add the word “attempt” after mentions of Parsons’ suicide.
References to “rapists” and sexual assault were also deleted on Jan 29.
Wikipedia has flagged both addresses for “vandalism.”
Monday night Parsons’ father Glen Canning told the CBC he believes the person who made the revisions is “a relative of one of the boys charged in her case.”
Canning said he was the one who alerted police to the changes on the Wikipedia page, and the DND IP address.
“I know exactly what the policy is for using DND computers,” said Canning, who spent 25 years in the Navy. “It’s a very strict policy. I’ve seen what happens to people who violate it. It’s not a good thing.”
He says the same IP address has been used to post malicious comment on his own blog. As for the Wikipedia posting, Canning said he’s in disbelief that someone would be so “arrogant” to think they could get away with the changes.
“Their name is going to be known across Canada very soon,” said Canning. “Why would you post lies you know are not true?”
Tessier said that National Defence does not comment on ongoing personnel investigations. Asked if the edits represented sound judgement, Tessier responded by saying that members of the Canadian Armed Forces and civilian employees of DND must follow a code of ethics and values.
Tessier also said that all DND staff must read and follow a directive on acceptable internet use.
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