A call to edit: Congress and Wikipedia told to peacefully co-exist

The first rule when it comes to congressional staffers and Wikipedia: "It's probably just a bad idea to edit members' pages," said Jim Harper, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, at a briefing on Wikipedia editing held for Hill aides. Left unsaid: It's also probably not a terrific notion for Hill aides to anonymously update the crowd-sourced online encyclopedia with moon-landing conspiracy theories or unfounded charges against media organizations. Especially when the @CongressEdits Twitter bot is tweeting out changes to Wikipedia made from Hill IP addresses. But Harper and his Cato colleagues were in the Rayburn Building with a positive message, too, and that's that House and Senate staffers should, they argued, be encouraged to get their hands dirty in Wikipedia by editing entries on bills before Congress.