Dear colleagues,

Quite apart from the substantive issues being discussed relating to the Murty series editorship, I was puzzled by the procedural rules at Change.org. After about four thousand people had signed the present petition, the name of the person who had started the petition was changed, and the text of the petition itself was altered. It surprised me that this was possible according to the Change.org rules. Surely it means that the first four thousand people had signed a somewhat different petition than the one we see today, to which their names are still attached.

The petition hasn't changed that much, so this isn't a very important point in the present case. But it's not hard to imagine more extreme examples. What if the petitioners changed the petiton in subtle but really critical ways? A whole bunch of people could find their names attached to something they really wouldn't have wished to support.

I wrote to Change.org to ask about this. Their answer is below. Basically, they're saying, anyone can do anything, and it's up to the signatories to watch out that the petition hasn't altered while they weren't looking. They can withdraw if they don't like the alterations to the petition. Caveat emptor.

This policy quite strongly diminishes my trust in the change.org platform.

Best,

Dominik Wujastyk

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Change.org Help Center (Change.org Help Center) <help@change.org>
Date: 1 March 2016 at 11:29
Subject: [Change.org Help Center] Re: post-editing a petition
To: Wujastyk <wujastyk@gmail.com>

C

hange.org Help Center (Change.org Help Center)

Mar 1, 12:29 PM

Hello Dominik,

Thank you for getting back to me. I'm sorry if I was not clear in my response. You question was about attachment of supporters signatures to a difference statement by way of changing petition text from it's original version.

Change.org merely provides a free platform to the users to create petitions and bring change in their communities and around the world. While doing so, we do not fact-check or endorse any of the campaigns on our site. It's up to the supporters to evaluate a petition and support worthy causes and follow all supported petitions. Supporters are at liberty to withdraw their support at any stage if they see a deviation in the petition's objectives

Users also have the ability to flag any content as inappropriate by selecting an appropriate category on the petition page. Once a content is flagged inappropriate, our compliance team audits the contents and take necessary action, including taking down the petition, if found in violation of our Terms of Services or Community Guidelines.

Feel free to contact us if you have any other concerns or questions.

Best wishes,

Muhammad
Change.org Help Center