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In May the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed that makers of all antidepressant medications – including Seroquel – update labeling to include warnings over increased risks of suicidal thinking and behavior in young adults during early treatment. The proposed warnings would emphasise that other serious psychiatric disorders are themselves the most important causes of suicide.

He told Times Online in an interview this afternoon that he is likely to next turn his attention to the "treasure trove of information that people give away" on social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo.

"I think you could do some very interesting things there - you have huge amounts of information openly available; it's not like you have to do anything naughty," he said.

Meanwhile, his efforts so far have also uncovered amendments made from computers linked to the CIA, which were used to edit entries including the biographies of the former US presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon.

Individuals using computers registered to the Vatican have amended entries on Roman Catholic saints and Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein.

A computer linked to the Church of Scientology’s network was used to delete references to links between it and a group dubbed the “Cult Awareness Network”.

In the political arena, a computer based at Labour's Millbank offices was used to edit out an unflattering reference to "careerist MPs" while a computer linked to the Democrats' headquarters was used to brand listeners of Rush Limbaugh, the conservative American radio host, "legally retarded".

A user of a BBC computer, meanwhile, edited George W Bush’s middle name from “Walker” to “Wanker”.

Massaging Wikipedia entries has become a well-established phenomenon as the reach of the world’s most popular online reference work has become apparent.

Last year the site was transformed into a political battleground in the US, with politicians' aides accused of "vandalising" entries on opposition figures.

The site, launched in 2001, started an inquiry after staff for Marty Meehan, a Democratic representative, admitted having "polished" his biography.

The partisan editors were traced through their computers' unique IP addresses — which were tracked back to Senate machines.

On several occasions Wikipedia had been used as a platform for negative propaganda, the site admitted at the time.

According to a report on Wikipedia's own news service, staff in the offices of Senator Joe Biden removed a paragraph concerning an alleged plagiarism scandal, as well as changing the section regarding a possible 2008 presidential campaign "to read very positively".

However, in a signal of how tempting it can be for interested parties to amend articles, Jimmy Wales, the Wikipedia founder, himself ran into controversy in 2005, when he admitted editing his own Wikipedia entry.

He said that such behaviour, though tempting, "was in bad taste".

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