Wikipedia Volunteer Uncovers Decade-Long Campaign That Created 335 Articles About One Composer

Wikipedia volunteer Grnrchst uncovered a decade-long campaign that created articles about composer David Woodard in 335 languages. The investigation identified 200 accounts and IP addresses systematically creating Woodard articles across 92 languages between 2017 and 2019, averaging one new article every six days. From December 2021 through June 2025, 183 unique accounts each created a single Woodard article in different languages after establishing credibility through unrelated edits.

Wikipedia stewards removed 235 articles from smaller wikis. Larger Wikipedia communities banned numerous accounts and deleted 80 additional articles. Twenty Woodard articles remain. Grnrchst called it 'the single largest self-promotion operation in Wikipedia's history.'

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