Doris Day's Wikipedia page defaced after death announcement, social media slams site's editorial policy
Minutes after the death of Doris Day was announced on Monday, the Wikipedia page of the late Hollywood actress and singer was defaced with an extremely graphic image. The image was up on the site for several minutes before it was removed.
Users took to Twitter to slam Wikipedia's editors and policies for allowing the image to be on the page.
"@Wikipedia users updating your website are a disgrace. The Doris day page has been violated within minutes of her death. I am disgusted. Your update policy needs a serious review," one Twitter user wrote.
"Goodbye, Doris Day. BDE. (And do NOT go to her Wikipedia page. DISGUSTING picture.)" added another.
"Get that vile picture sorted @Wikipedia on Doris Day’s page, how anyone could think of doing such a thing is beyond me. Sickening," and, "I will never understand why people do things like this. Could we all just act with some basic decency?" were some of the few tweets that criticized Wikipedia for not monitoring the page.
(Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
According to Wikipedia's policy, anyone can edit "any unprotected page and improve articles immediately for all readers." In addition, there are also different guidelines that people have to use to edit pages, the type of language and information from reliable sources among other protocols.
Day starred in numerous dramas, musicals and innocent sex comedies which made her a top star in the 1950s and '60s and among the most popular screen actresses in history. According to NTD, The Doris Day Animal Foundation confirmed that Day died early Monday at her Carmel Valley, California, home.
The foundation in an emailed statement to AP said that she was surrounded by friends and family and "had been in excellent physical health for her age, until recently contracting a serious case of pneumonia."