Users of encyclopaedia website Wikipedia claim the site has been exploited for a viral marketing campaign for a BBC project.
Users of encyclopaedia website Wikipedia claim the site has been exploited for a viral marketing campaign for a BBC project.

The site gives users the power to upload and update information on any topic, but its fans fear its free access has been exploited to promote a BBC online project created around an artificial band called Boy*d Upp.

The row comes after a page was created for a singer called Jamie Kane. The entry looked authentic, but the singer does not exist and the page is believed to have been part of a campaign to publicise a BBC online drama aimed at teenage girls.

Wikipedia took down the entry and claims to have traced the person who made it to a BBC server. It immediately hit out at the corporation's use of the site.

"It contained no facts that were actually true, no sourcing, and no indication that its intent was to deceive the reader," stated the site.

A user claiming to be a BBC employee later posted an entry claiming responsibility for the stunt, and saying he was acting independently of the corporation.

"My action was in no way part of an orchestrated campaign on behalf of the Jamie Kane project team, nor was it intended for my page to be attributed to the BBC," said the user, who identified himself as MattC.

A BBC spokesman said: "Flattering for its ingenuity though it is, the BBC's marketing and publicity departments were not involved in creating a fictitious entry to Wikipedia on Jamie Kane. As later entries point out, this was submitted by an eager fan of the project. The entry has now been amended and clearly reflects the fictitious nature of Jamie Kane."