David Coburn, Scotland’s only UKIP politician, has been BANNED from Wikipedia after editing an article about himself 69 times in six days.
Coburn, one of Scotland’s six MEPs, said the changes were made by a member of his staff to clean up inaccuracies and the “garbage” that had been written about him.
The changes included deleting accusation that he could never remember the name of SNP candidate and The National columnist Tasmina
Ahmed-Sheikh. There also seemed to be some form of confusion over where he went to school and where he lived, with users repeatedly claiming he lived in Glasgow, and the MEP claiming that he lived in Edinburgh. The MEP left notes for other users on the site complaining that they were getting details about his life wrong.
“I am David Coburn MEP – I am aware of where I live – I live in Edinburgh – I am also aware of where I went to school & which University I attended – there are several people changing the facts and they need to stop,” he wrote. He even invited those who kept changing details to his house for tea, so that they could see which city it was in.
Coburn told The Guardian that it was SNP supporters who were behind the changes: “I’m sure its all wee cybernats who’ve got nothing better to do with their time and they should actually be out getting a job.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here