Wikipedia, in a move to thwart merry pranksters from wreaking havoc across the site, is blocking edits on encyclopedia entries about possible GOP vice-presidential nominees.
While Romney has all but clinched the GOP nomination for president, he has not yet picked his running mate. Politics blog Tech President speculated on Monday that clues to Romney's running mate might be spotted in recently edited Wikipedia entries, prompting a flurry of media interest that inspired comedian Stephen Colbert to call on his viewers to make a few creative Wiki edits of their own.
"Go on Wikipedia and make as many edits as possible to your favorite VP contender," Colbert said during a segment on his Tuesday night show. He then pulled out a laptop and narrated a mock-editing of Tim Pawlenty's page.
Politico is now reporting that the Wiki entries for Tim Pawlenty, Rob Portman, Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal, Chris Christie and David Petraeus are now locked.
According to TechPresident, Wikipedia is allowing some edits of these pages, but only from trusted users. Writes TP, "only people who have already been on Wikipedia for at least four days and previously made ten edits to other unprotected pages can edit these pages."
A rep for the encyclopedia was not immediately available to comment.
Colbert, a habitual ruffler of Wikipedia's feathers, was famously banned from the site in 2006 after a segment on his show in which he deliberately made inaccurate edits to Wikipedia pages and kicked off a spree of mischief after telling fans to follow his lead.
[Hat tip, NY Mag]