GAVIN Barwell said the aide who edited his Wikipedia page to remove reference to a satirical Advertiser article made a 'silly mistake'.
Mario Creatura should not have deleted an entry about a satirical campaign that mocked the Croydon Central MP for launching too many campaigns, said Mr Barwell.
Mr Creatura, also a local councillor, removed the passage on Thursday morning because he felt it was "slightly politically biased".
The MP told the Advertiser his assistant should not have edited the page because it was a "nice, funny story".
Mr Barwell said: "I think he has learnt a lesson that you shouldn't fiddle with Wikipedia pages."
He added that the Coulsdon West councillor would not be punished for what had happened.
The sentence in question related to the Advertiser's Campaign to End All Campaigns, which started in December when Mr Barwell set up his fifth petition in little more than a month.
It said: "The local paper the Croydon Advertiser called on Mr Barwell to 'stop launching campaigns' and persistent attempts at headline-grabbing in December 2014, saying 'Gavin, we get it, there's an election on'."
Mr Creatura, who edited the page using a computer in the House of Commons, said he deleted the passage because he believed 'Gavin, we get it, there's an election on' was "unfair".
"I thought Wikipedia was about biographical accuracy without political bias," he explained.
Asked whether his assistant should have changed the entry, Mr Barwell said: "No, for two reasons.
"Firstly, it's always a mistake for politicians to try and manipulate these things.
"Secondly, I've always regarded the Advertiser article as quite a nice, lighthearted story. There's nothing there to worry about.
"Even if it had been negative it's not a sensible thing to do.
"If there's something untrue then you take it up with Wikipedia, but it's never a good idea for politicians or their staff to try and edit these things.
"It was a mistake on Mario's part."
Quizzed on whether he knew Mr Creatura edits his page, the MP replied: "No. I've never looked at my Wikipedia page. I've no real interest in it.
"I take the point of view there are a whole load of things people will say about you online and you need to have a thick skin about it."
Mr Creatura told the Advertiser he took care of such matters because his boss is "not the most technically-minded person".
"He generally has no idea," he added.
Mr Barwell said: "I would say I'm certainly not a genius at these things but I have a reasonable level of competence."
As for whether it was within his aide's remit, Mr Barwell said: "It is in his job description to help with communications; I don't think that counts as communications."
Mr Barwell declined to reveal whether he had received an apology from his assistant, but said he considered the matter closed.
"He made a silly mistake and he learned his lesson.
"It doesn't go any further than that."
He added that he had no idea a reference to his 'dating Asian girls' gaffe had been deleted from Wikipedia and said he was confused by the multiple entries relating to Steven Seagal (including someone changing his name and profession to the Hollywood hardman).
"I'm quite a fan of some of his films but not in any obsessive way," he said.
"I don't know what that's about at all. That just shows you the sort of weird stuff that goes online."
