For about as long as Wikipedia has been around, Wikipedia editors have changed “is” to “was” at the speed of light to denote the death of a public figure.
Upon Queen Elizabeth II’s death, the world was quick to note the free encyclopedia’s up-to-the-minute coverage. “WIKIPEDIA DIDN’T WASTE ANY TIME,” someone tweeted. “Someone was in there watching her last breaths with a computer on wikipedia ready to just press enter,” another joked.
