Who is behind this huge amount of Wikipedia edits (Picture: PA)

The name Philip Cross sounds innocuous enough.

But mention his name to the likes of George Galloway and Jeremy Corbyn at your peril, for Cross has made hundreds of thousands of edits to Wikipedia pages, the results of which have angered a wide range of people, who claim he’s been biased against them.

The former Labour and Respect Party MP, Galloway, has said of the mysterious Wikipedia editor: ‘Christmas Day, Eid day, Easter Day, Cup final day, early hours of the morning, in the middle of the night – this man is on my case.

‘His edits are remorselessly targeted at people who oppose the Iraq war, who’ve opposed the subsequent intervention wars … in Libya and Syria, and people who criticise Israel.’


Rishi Sunak ends furlough scheme and reveals winter rescue plan

Galloway has been so incensed by the prolific Wikipedia editor that he offered a £1000 reward for his identity.

A visitor stands in front of the stand of online encyclopedia Wikipedia (Picture: Getty Images)

So who is Philip Cross?



The esoteric Mr Cross has been accused of bias for negative editing of some people’s Wikipedia pages he’s edited.

In his top 10 most-edited pages are the jazz musician Duke Ellington, The Sun newspaper, and Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre.

But also in that top 10 are a number of vocal critics of American and British foreign policy: the journalist John Pilger, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and Corbyn’s director of strategy, Seamus Milne.

His account was created at precisely 18:48 GMT on 26 October 2004. Since then, he’s made more than 130,000 edits to more 30,000 pages.

The online encyclopedia Wikipedia (Picture: Getty Images)

His critics also say that Philip Cross has made favourable edits to pages about public figures who are supportive of Western military intervention in the Middle East.

Cross is also on Twitter and uses his account to interact with Galloway and other politicians and journalists – calling a group of anti-war activists ‘goons’.

That raised claims of a conflict of interest, which is potentially against Wikipedia guidelines. Wikipedia, which was launched in 2001, is manned by volunteers who write and edit entries and follow rules and procedures.

On Twitter, Wikipedia’s co-founder, Jimmy Wales, rejected claims that Philip Cross is making entries biased.

Galloway says he’s received information about Philip Cross and that the reward has already been claimed, but that he is not revealing the personal details of the person behind the account.

BBC Trending has been able to establish that he lives in England, and that Philip Cross is not the name he normally goes by outside of Wikipedia.

Curiouser and Curiouser.

MORE: Bones of ancient cannibal cavemen are oldest ‘human fossils’ in Europe, scientists discover

MORE: Singer Anitta downplays Liam Payne calling her ‘hot’: ‘He has a girlfriend, no?’

MORE: David Dimbleby’s sense of mischief, generosity and political knowledge means he is one of the greatest broadcasters of all time