Mone PR man admits ‘Wiki-washing’ page

An employee of Scots entrepreneur Michelle Mone has admitted to a national newspaper that he tried to finesse the public image of his boss by deleting unwelcome entries on her Wikipedia page relating to her chequered past.

The practice, know as “Wiki-washing” saw Mark Hassan-Ali, a PR professional who manages Ms Mone’s private office and business affairs also, redact information relating to her forging of qualifications and publically questioning the right of some UK citizens to basic to human rights.

According to reports in The Herald newspaper, Mr Hassan-Ali also admitted to allowing inaccurate information concerning the buyout of one of Ms Mone’s businesses to remain on the page untouched.

While members of the public can edit Wikipedia, the website has strict rules concerning impartiality and such conspiracy is contrary to the online encyclopaedia’s strict guidelines.

Stevie Benton, head of external relations at Wikimedia UK, part of the not-for-profit foundation that hosts Wikipedia, said he suspected Ms Mone’s page had been subjected to Wiki washing.

Mr Benton said information should not be removed by someone who is the subject of a Wikipedia article or a person with close links to it.

He added: “In this case, it appears that information was removed by someone connected to Michelle Mone.

“Wiki washing is not allowed because Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia. The information it contains should be backed up by reliable and neutral sources.

“Wikipedia articles should be written in a neutral point of view and this includes links to negative information as well as positive.

“In this case, because it appears the content was removed by someone connected with the subject, this would be viewed as a conflict of interest… this is against Wikipedia’s rules because it should be written in a neutral point of view.”

However, Mr Hassan-Ali deleted references to the controversy arising from Ms Mone’s recent appointment as the UK Government’s start-up czar, after leading business figures questioned her suitability for the post and called into question her record in the private sector.

Mr Hassan-Ali, a director at Ms Mone’s firm MJM Media Limited, also removed a reference to her pledging to leave Scotland if it became independent and information about a tweet she posted during the London riots saying participants did not deserve human rights.

Also removed were references to Ms Mone, who is expected to be named a Tory peer, faking qualifications to gain a job at the Labatt beer company, which she has publicly admitted.

Instead, he wrote that Ms Mone had to find full-time work after leaving school at 15, “which encouraged her entrepreneurial spirit to blossom” and that his boss “excelled herself” at the brewer before being made redundant.

Speaking to The Herald newspaper, Mr Hassan-Ali admitted he had made the changes and said he had corrected inaccuracies and updated the page.

However, the newspaper reports some inaccurate information was left untouched.

Mr Hassan-Ali did not correct a claim that Ms Mone bought her ex-husband Michael out of their business MJM International for £24 million, despite both parties saying the figure is not accurate and Mr Mone stating he received “nothing like” the sum.

The £24m figure, which made its way into tabloid headlines and suggested the business could be worth about £50m, helped to boost Ms Mone’s reputation as a successful multi-millionaire entrepreneur – something that has been called into question by senior businesses figures and the accounts of the small, loss-making companies she is associated with.

Despite the site’s strict guidelines on editing by parties with vested interests, Mr Hassan-Ali claimed that “anyone can write whatever you like” on the site.

The newspaper reported that it had failed to established whether Ms Mone had ordered the edits and that a spokesman for Ms Mone had declined to comment.