We traced hundreds of thousands of Wikipedia edits back to UC networks

We scraped Wikipedia edits made by UC staff, students and guests to see which articles were edited and how.

Noelle Chang | Staff

Despite never-ending debates about its viewpoint bias and reliability, Wikipedia is still read by billions of people each month who largely trust what’s written in it.

Since its founding in 2001, users across the UC system have contributed to it, as well as taken advantage of it. Our investigation found that editing and manipulating Wikipedia articles was common throughout the UC system, including from all 10 college campuses and the UC Office of the President, or UCOP.

How we tracked edits made on UC networks

Wikipedia’s lack of an account requirement allowed it to grow quickly and stay constantly updated. Anyone can visit a page and edit it without signing in or registering an account. Edits by non-logged-in users are associated with their IP address as opposed to their account name.

IP addresses are grouped into autonomous systems, or large networks that are routed together. They can be thought of as tiny parts of the internet that organizations own for more control over the way they are used. The University of California has separate autonomous systems for each of its campuses, as well as a separate UCOP autonomous system. We scraped Wikipedia’s expansive edit history to find any edits made by IP addresses within the University of California and its campuses.

The IP addresses making the edits we reviewed can be concretely linked to University of California networks through the authoritative ARIN database, as well as from internal resources such as the UCLA Knowledge Base.

Some schools have guest networks for visitors, so edits from public campuses’ networks could have been made by people who have no connection to the UC system outside of using the campus’s WiFi connection to edit Wikipedia.

UCOP is a special case. Its Oakland headquarters are not regularly open to the public or even UC students; rather, its network is only available to the office’s own staff. While UCOP’s headquarters does have a guest WiFi network, traffic from it is routed through a separate autonomous system. All edits connected with UCOP in this article did not come from the guest network.

An aggregate look into anonymous edit data

There are lots of metrics to quantify this anonymous Wikipedia editing activity, such as edit count, edit volume and unique editors.

The article with the most unique editors from UC Berkeley’s network was the one for its own campus, followed by Bowles Hall, the residential college, and Stanford University.

The amount of edits made from a UC IP address have been steadily increasing since the site’s founding in 2001. Edits from UC Berkeley IP addresses quickly rose to the top in the first few years before falling behind edits from UCLA.

The majority of changes on Wikipedia come from a small percentage of edits. This is due to a small number of massive vandalism edits that can be millions of characters large.

UCLA’s network has been the host of several such vandalous edits, making it the campus with the highest net change in characters to Wikipedia. At other campuses such as UC Santa Cruz and UC Riverside, users have removed hundreds of thousands of characters from the site. UC Berkeley currently has a net change of -40,000 characters — meaning users have overall deleted more than added — despite being the runner up for campus with the most number of edits.

Counting only IP address users of data we scraped, the UC system as a whole has contributed to 105,643 unique articles as of publication time, which are spread among thousands of different semantic categories.

We visualized this by using a semantic vector approximation algorithm to graph articles in 3D space. This algorithm is a way to turn article topics into points in space so that similar topics end up near each other.

For example, in one cluster related to professional sports games, edits from UCLA networks dominate, including edits made to articles such as “2012 NBA Playoffs” and “List of college women’s basketball career coaching wins leaders”. In another cluster, edits on articles such as “Medical microbiology” and “Streptococcus pyogenes,” the bacteria that causes strep throat, are linked to UC Davis.

Wikipedia vandalism under a UC network

Edits are reflected immediately on Wikipedia articles. They can be disputed by other contributors through further edits or discussion in the article’s “Talk” page. The eventual goal of such discussion is to reach a consensus and thus, Wikipedia relies on an honor system and trusts its contributors to make edits in the interests of good faith and objectivity.

Not everyone abides by that honor system. Due to how accessible Wikipedia is to both access and edit, articles on Wikipedia are susceptible to frequent acts of vandalism.

In February 2007, a user with a UCLA IP address replaced the entire “Leonardo DiCaprio” article with 57,000 instances of the f-slur. Later in May 2007, another UCLA IP address deleted the entire “History of Estonia” article and replaced it with more than 475,000 digits of pi and obscenity and references to Nazis. These were among the largest individual edits from the dataset.

==Pre-history==

fuck estonia in the ass 

Human settlement in what is now [[Estonia]] became possible when … (in Estonia from the beginning of the 9th millennium to the 5th millennium BC).

The fucking nazis

[[Estonian language|Estonian]] is a [[Finno-Ugric languages|Finno-Ugric language]] and … branch of the larger [[Finno-Ugric languages|Finno-Ugric language]] family.

They will burn in fucking hell

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa

3.1415926535...

Edits linked to the UC Office of the President

The Office of the President manages the University of California’s over $40 billion dollar budget. The UCOP IP addresses we tracked come from the offices’ network headquartered in Oakland.

As outlined as Wikipedia’s core content principles, contributors to Wikipedia are encouraged to write with neutrality for all articles, have verifiable sources and not include any “original research” for which no reliable, published source exists.

However, many edits made from UCOP IP addresses and accounts linked to administrative officials have been removed by other users for violating Wikipedia’s content policies.

Architect of UC's social media sought to build support for former president Mark Yudof

Former UC President Mark Yudof left behind a complicated legacy over his 2008-13 term. His Wikipedia page was vandalized on multiple occasions by users with UC IP addresses. In instances, Yudof was cursed out, while in another he was described as “the son of the Devil and Emperor Palpatine.”

On 26 August, 2009 employment unions of the UC called a vote of [[no confidence]] in President Yudof. If the vote passes, it would have no tangible effect, but would serve as a recommendation that Yudof be fired from his position.

In addition, it would appear that Mark Yudof is the son of the Devil and Emperor Palpatine. 

==References==

Another vandal replaced the entire article with critical poem titled, “Ode to Mark yudof.”

These edits were reverted within minutes by Wikipedia contributors who recognized them as vandalism.

During fall 2009, several users contributed information about the announcement of his appointment as UC President, his yearly compensation and his controversial handling of the budget crisis California had faced that same year. Though these edits included sources, the section on his handling of the crisis and the protests it sparked was removed in December 2009 by a contributor with the username “Brandonkline.” These edits were accompanied by additions of multiple sections praising Yudof and highlighting his contributions to the UC system.

The [[Regents of the University of California|UC Board of Regents]] confirmed his appointment on 27 March 2008, and Yudof began his term on 16 June 2008. His first-year compensation at The University of California was $828,000, of which $591,084 was salary, and $228,000 was a first-year contribution to his pension. He later told the New York Times he cut his salary to $540,000.

    In November 2009, [[TIME Magazine]] recognized Mark Yudof as one of the "10 Best College Presidents", citing his efforts to provide opportunity and access to a quality education for California residents with financial need whose family income is less than $60,000.

Later, the user cited an op-ed in The New York Times about UC Berkeley in a section of the article about federal funding for public universities.

[[New York Times]] columnist [[Bob Herbert]] visited the [[UC Berkeley]] campus and had this to say: <blockquote>

“The problems at Berkeley are particularly acute because of the state’s drastic reduction of support. But colleges and universities across the country — public and private — are struggling because of the prolonged economic crisis and the pressure on state budgets. It will say a great deal about what kind of nation we’ve become if we let these most valuable assets slip into a period of decline.”

</blockquote>  His op-ed piece, [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/03/opinion/03herbert.html?_r=3&amp;ref=opinion "Cracks in the Future,"] ran in the [[New York Times]] citing UC Berkeley as evidence of the cracks appearing in America’s cornerstone of civilization - higher education.<ref>Bob Herbert, The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/03/opinion/03herbert.html?_r=3&amp;ref=opinion</ref>

User Brandonkline also removed a paragraph discussing one of Yudof’s votes of no confidence.

The [[Regents of the University of California|UC Board of Regents]] confirmed his appointment on 27 March 2008, and Yudof began his term on 16 June 2008. His first-year compensation at The University of California was $828,000, of which $591,084 was salary, and $228,000 was a first-year contribution to his pension. He later told the New York Times he cut his salary to $540,000.

Because of the [[California budget crisis]], in April 2009, Yudof noted the University of California's large workforce could face salary cuts. In the summer of 2009, the [[California legislature]] cut $3 billion from state colleges, universities and the University of California. The [[UC Regents]] and Yudof approved the cuts by imposing tuition increases and layoffs. As a result, on September 3, 2009, 9,600 UC staff and faculty members at all 10 campuses of the [[University of California]] signed a vote of no confidence to Yudof. Approximately 10,000 people cast a ballot, representing about 70,000 of the university's 180,000 employees, according to labor unions. A system-wide walkout on the part of students, faculty and workers occurred on September 24, 2009 to protest the cuts, faculty furloughs and tuition fee increases.

Two months earlier, an account with the username “Kliner916” had removed thousands of characters from the article, including information about his salary and pension.

| workplaces    = [[University of Texas School of Law]]<br>[[University of Minnesota]]<br>[[University of Texas System]]<br>[[University of California]]

| profession    = University administrator, professor

| salary        = [[$540,000/yr]]

| housing       = $132,000/yr

| pension       = $228,000 (2008)

| spouse        = Judy Yudof

| website       = [http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/president/welcome.html President Mark G. Yudof]

Kliner916 also removed the entire “Criticism” section of the article.

In an interview for The New York Times, Yudof compares being the President of the University of California to "being a manager of a cemetery: there are many people under you, but no one is listening" When asked how he got into education Yudof replied 

"I don’t know. It’s all an accident. I thought I’d go work for a law firm." <ref>{{cite news | last=Solomon | first=Deborah | title=Questions for Mark Yudof - Big Man on Campus work=[[The New York Times]] | date=2009-09-24 | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/magazine/27fob-q4-t.html | accessdate=2009-09-24 }}</ref>

==Criticism==

Mark Yudof has incited sharp criticism for his financial decisions while serving as president of the University of California. The actions under dispute include:

Increases in University executive compensation, accompanied by furloughs for professors and staff.

The proposal of two consecutive fifteen percent increases in student registration fees.

==See Also==

His first-year compensation at The University of California was $828,000, of which $591,084 was salary, and $228,000 was a first-year contribution to his pension. He later told the New York Times he cut his salary to $540,000.

While defending his annual compensation and mandating faculty [[furlough|furloughs]] in 2009, [[University of California]] President Yudof controversially failed to promote public education and stated that the "shine is off" education and that it is being "squeezed out" by other funding priorities, such as health care.

In August 2009, UC employment unions called a vote of [[no confidence]] in President Yudof. An overwhelming 96 percent of employees cast a ballot of [[no confidence]] in Yudof at polling stations across the 10-campus system. 

In an interview for The New York Times, Yudof compares being the President of the University of California to "being a manager of a cemetery: there are many people under you, but no one is listening" When asked how he got into education Yudof replied 

"I don’t know. It’s all an accident. I thought I’d go work for a law firm."

UC spokesperson Stett Holbrook, told The Daily Californian in an email that the UCOP does not have information about the edited article, nor about who made the edits.

In an interview, Brandon Kline, who worked at UCOP from 2006 to 2012 during the time in which the edits were made, confirmed he had made the edits.

He explained social media use was limited while working there. In addition to the edits, Kline also created the first Facebook page for the University and a Twitter account for Yudof despite others at UCOP fearing that open social media platforms could prompt a loss of messaging control.

During Yudof’s term, the UC system faced a steep decline in state funding related to the 2008 financial crisis, leading to furloughs and budget cuts. Kline described part of his job as finding new ways of communicating with students and staff during the crisis, many of whom were mad at the Yudof. “[The] most difficult part of the job was explaining how it's not Mark Yudof who was deciding to not fund the University of California … the faculty didn't really see that furloughs were being caused by the shortfalls in funding”. “The outcomes were intended to increase support for the UC budget … and try to stop the cuts [to higher education,” Kline said.

Now counsel for the California Air Resources Board, Kline said the edits were made by a younger version of himself without direct permission from anyone.

An anonymous user with an UCOP IP address edited the same article less than four hours after the user Brandonkline also removed references to Yudof’s pension.

Also in 2009, Yudof came under criticism for an interview that he gave to Deborah Solomon of the [[New York Times]], [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/magazine/27fob-q4-t.html Big Man on Campus], in which he joked about taking a pay cut from his salary of over $800,000 to $400,000 in exchange for the White House and Air Force One.  

Despite his opposition to increasing pension benefits to other UC executives, Yudof himself is likely to get the highest-ever pension in UC history, with $350,000 per year for the rest of his life if he stays at UC until 2015.<ref>http://www.ucop.edu/atyourservice/administrators/docs/ucrs-ucrp-plan_2009.pdf - Appendix O, page 337</ref>

=

The text added by Brandonkline and Kliner916 was eventually removed by other contributors who were skeptical of potential bias. An anonymous Wikipedia user claimed that Kliner916’s edits were unethical. Another user continued, saying that the resulting article with the removals by Kliner916 “may as well have been written by Yudof or the UC system.”

“A great disservice is done by allowing the powers that be to dictate their version of the truth to the public via Wikipedia,” the anonymous user wrote. “For shame!”

Edits from UCOP IP addresses beyond University matters

Some edits from UCOP IP addresses deal with non-UC related content. A fan of the show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” edited the season 4, episode 13 article from a UCOP IP address to include in-depth analysis of the characters’ interactions foreshadowing a romance.

* It is in this episode that Willow and Tara's relationship takes a romantic turn; although no romantic affection is explicitly shown, it can be inferred from the quality of their interactions.

* Before turning romantic, the start Willow and Tara's relationship is foreshadowed a couple of times in this episode. First, when Willow prays for the heart she desires in a poker game with Anya and Xander. Next, when Willow notes "everybody's getting spanked" but her, alluding to the fact that she is the only one without a girlfriend or boyfriend.

In another instance, a UCOP IP address made an edit to the article for Berkeley’s Aquatic Park, removing references to meetings between homosexual men. A year before the edit, the East Bay Times reported on efforts by the city to clean up the park which they said was a well known place for casual sex.

The Wikipedia article on affirmative action was edited by a user with a UCOP IP address who included in the article a suggestion that a paragraph only provided negative opinions on the topic. Affirmative action has been banned in California’s public universities since 1996.

===Effectiveness===

This paragraph needs editing as it only provides negative opinions as to the effectiveness of affirmative action.

During a panel discussion at [[Harvard University]]'s reunion for African American alumni during the 2003–04 academic year, two prominent black professors at the institution—[[Lani Guinier]] and [[Henry Louis Gates]]—pointed out an unintended effect of affirmative action policies at Harvard. They stated that…

In 2007, a user with a UCOP IP address edited the People’s Park article to add information about James Rector. Rector was visiting Berkeley in 1969 when he was shot and killed by police when lethal force was deployed against students and reporters. People’s Park had a history of tensions between activists, the pro-development University of California and police.

On Wednesday, [[May 21]] [[1969]], a midday memorial was held for student James Rector at Sproul Plaza on the University campus. 

[James Rector wasn't a student.  He was an unemployed carpenter from San Jose who had been helping with construction at the Park.]

Rector had suffered massive internal injuries from his shotgun wounds, finally dying at [[Alta Bates Summit Medical Center|Herrick Hospital]] on [[May 19]]. In his honor, several thousand people peacefully assembled to listen to speakers remembering his life. Without warning, National Guard troops surrounded Sproul Plaza, donned their gas masks, and pointed their bayonets inward, while helicopters dropped [[CS gas]] directly on the trapped crowd. No escape was possible, and the gas caused acute respiratory distress, disorientation, temporary blindness and vomiting. Many people, including children and the elderly, were injured during the ensuing panic. The gas was so intense that breezes carried it into Cowell Memorial Hospital, endangering patients, interrupting operations and incapacitating nurses. Students at nearby Jefferson and Franklin elementary schools were also affected.

The “Communist Party USA” article was the subject of a 2011 edit by a UCOP IP address who challenged the claim that Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted and executed by the United States, provided nuclear secrets to the Soviets during the Cold War.

In regards to the former charge, the CPUSA, claiming [[proletarian internationalism]] (while the U.S. Government called it [[espionage]]), sponsored an elaborate intelligence network on behalf of the Soviet Union, involving over 500 members acting as agents. The most prominent example dealt with the [[Manhattan Project]] in which the network succeeded in giving the blueprints of the atomic bomb to the Soviets; [[Julius Rosenberg|Julius]] and [[Ethel Rosenberg]] were thereafter convicted and jailed as the chief architects of this plan. {{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}

In regards to the former charge, the CPUSA, claiming [[proletarian internationalism]] (while the U.S. Government called it [[espionage]]), sponsored an elaborate intelligence network on behalf of the Soviet Union, involving over 500 members acting as agents. The most prominent example dealt with the [[Manhattan Project]] in which the network was accused in giving the blueprints of the atomic bomb to the Soviets; [[Julius Rosenberg|Julius]] and [[Ethel Rosenberg]] were thereafter convicted and jailed as the chief architects of this plan. Later evidence proved that the Rosenbergs did not have the plans but the use of fear of Communism and its spread, helped to render a guilty verdict.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}

UC Berkeley PR administrator edits Rich Lyons article

Current UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons’ Wikipedia article has also been edited by accounts linked to high-ranking campus officials. Eight edits were made to the article by an account named “Mgoehring” on Jan. 7 and 8, 2025, between the hours of 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

== Career ==

== Career ==

After his doctoral graduation from MIT, Lyons served as an assistant professor of business for six years at the [[Columbia Business School]].{{Cn|date=November 2024}}

Before joining Haas in 1993, Lyons spent six years on the [[Faculty (teaching staff)|faculty]] at [[Columbia Business School]]. In addition to teaching, he held several leadership roles at Haas, including acting dean (2004–05), executive associate dean (2005–08), and dean (2008–18). Under his leadership as the chief innovation and entrepreneurship officer, UC Berkeley topped PitchBook’s list as the nation’s top university for the number of venture-funded startups founded by undergraduate alums. Lyons also served as the chief learning officer at [[Goldman Sachs]] in [[New York City]] from 2006–08. 

Lyons moved to the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business as a professor of economics and finance in 1993.{{Cn|date=November 2024}} In 1998, he received UC Berkeley’s Distinguished Teaching Award. He also won the Haas School's Teacher of the Year (Cheit) award for six times.<ref>[http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/faculty/awards.html Haas Faculty Teaching Award Winners]</ref>

Lyons’ teaching expertise is in [[international finance]], [[Foreign exchange market|currency markets]], and financial market microstructure. He is fluent in French and, as an accomplished musician, owns several musical copyrights. He and Jennifer, his wife, have two children.

At Berkeley, Lyons also served as Acting Dean of the Haas School from 2004 to 2005.{{Cn|date=November 2024}} He left for a two years for [[Goldman Sachs]] in [[New York City]] to serve as the Chief Learning Officer.{{Cn|date=November 2024}}

Lyons’ pioneering work as a scholar focuses on how information within a society is aggregated and expressed in price signals, which in turn helps societies make better decisions. Most of that work focuses on international exchange rates, i.e., the prices of all of one country’s goods and services relative to another. His book, ''The Microstructure Approach to Exchange Rates'' ([[MIT Press]]),  was instrumental in creating the field. Other interests include leadership and culture, [[Cryptocurrency|cryptocurrencies]], and exchange rate economics.

In 2008, Lyons left Goldman Sachs to serve as the dean of the Haas School of Business, succeeding [[Tom Campbell (California politician)|Tom Campbell]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Richard-Lyons-succeeds-Campbell-as-Haas-dean-3276562.php |title=Richard Lyons succeeds Campbell as Haas dean |first=George |last=Raine |newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=July 19, 2008}}</ref> In 2018, Lyons returned to teaching after serving 11 years as dean as the William and Janet Cronk Chair in Innovative Leadership.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.losaltosonline.com/schools/rich-lyons-los-altos-native-steps-down-from-haas-school-of-business/article_2ffe7192-5d7f-5ce7-a345-eb986a777f64.html |title=Rich Lyons, Los Altos native, steps down from Haas School of Business |work=Los Altos Town Crier |first=Emily |last=MacInnis |date=August 22, 2018}}</ref>

Lyons is also known for culture leadership — anchoring institutions on distinctive values that help create a cohesive community that supports the mission. As dean of the Haas School of Business, he led an initiative that codified the school's culture around four defining leadership principles: question the status quo, confidence without attitude, students always, and beyond yourself. He is a powerful advocate for public higher education that is both accessible and excellent. He also believes culture leadership connects to the “why” of great education, including not just knowledge and thinking tools, but also opportunities that enhance personal development.  

His teaching expertise is in [[international finance]].<ref name="haas.berkeley.edu" /> Lyons’s early [[research]] focuses on [[currency markets]], a focus reflected in his book “The Microstructure Approach to Exchange Rates” ([[MIT Press]]).<ref>''The Microstructure Approach to Exchange Rates'' at MIT Press ([http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=10838] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060914101030/http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=10838|date=2006-09-14}})</ref>

In 2018, Lyons received the Berkeley Citation, one of UC Berkeley’s highest honors, for contributions that go beyond the call of duty. In 1998, he received the Distinguished Teaching Award, Berkeley’s highest teaching honor, and he won the Earl F. Cheit Award For Excellence In Teaching at Haas six times.

Though some of the edits made still remain on the page, several were removed within days of their creation. Wikipedia user GuardianH reverted these two paragraphs of Mgoehring’s work, writing “promotional unsourced puffery” as the purpose of the deletion in their edit summary. They also cited Wikipedia’s rules on “no original research”.

Lyons’ teaching expertise is in [[international finance]], [[Foreign exchange market|currency markets]], and financial market microstructure. He is fluent in French and, as an accomplished musician, owns several musical copyrights. He and Jennifer, his wife, have two children.

Lyons’ pioneering work as a scholar focuses on how information within a society is aggregated and expressed in price signals, which in turn helps societies make better decisions. Most of that work focuses on international exchange rates, i.e., the prices of all of one country’s goods and services relative to another. His book, ''The Microstructure Approach to Exchange Rates'' ([[MIT Press]]),  was instrumental in creating the field. Other interests include leadership and culture, [[Cryptocurrency|cryptocurrencies]], and exchange rate economics.

Lyons is also known for culture leadership — anchoring institutions on distinctive values that help create a cohesive community that supports the mission. As dean of the Haas School of Business, he led an initiative that codified the school's culture around four defining leadership principles: question the status quo, confidence without attitude, students always, and beyond yourself. He is a powerful advocate for public higher education that is both accessible and excellent. He also believes culture leadership connects to the “why” of great education, including not just knowledge and thinking tools, but also opportunities that enhance personal development.

Campus spokesperson Dan Mogulof said in an email “Moehring” is Maya Goehring-Harris, the current Director of External Relations at UC Berkeley, and that she was authorized to make these edits.

“Anyone involved in communications or external relations has a responsibility to ensure what is said and written about the campus and its leadership is truthful and accurate,” Mogulof said in an email.

Wikipedia introduces “temporary accounts” in place of IP addresses

Starting Nov. 4, 2025, new contributions made by unregistered editors are no longer identified by IP address. Instead, unregistered editors are assigned temporary accounts which expire 90 days after their creation.

The Wikipedia article for temporary accounts states the reason for this change is privacy and security, in an effort to help editors avoid political persecution and cyberattacks.

While unregistered contributors of edits made prior to Nov. 4 are still viewable by IP address, analysis on edits made by UC students, staff, and guests may not be possible again in the future.

Ajith Araiza-Singh is a data developer. Contact him at aaraiza-singh@dailycal.org

John Bragado is a data developer. Contact him at johnbragado@dailycal.org

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