Larry Sanger, Wikipedia co-founder has asked Trump ally Elon Musk to determine the US government branches that pay employees to edit, monitor update and lobby content on the online encyclopedia and defund them. But the message came with a caveat “if any”. And if there are no such departments, Mr Musk should inform Mr Sanger, he added.
“Hi @ElonMusk. Wikipedia co-founder here. May I ask you to determine what branches of the U.S. government-if any!-have employees paid to edit, monitor, update, lobby, etc., WIkipedia? Such operations should be defunded, if any. If there are *none*, we’d like to know. Agree? (sic)”
Hi @ElonMusk. Wikipedia co-founder here. May I ask you to determine what branches of the U.S. government—if any!—have employees paid to edit, monitor, update, lobby, etc., WIkipedia?
Such operations should be defunded, if any. If there are *none*, we’d like to know. Agree?
— Larry Sanger (@lsanger) February 26, 2025
Mr Musk has often alleged Wikipedia to be “controlled by far-left activists” and urged his followers not to donate to the platform.
Last year in October, Mr Musk referred to a report by the US-based news website Pirate Wires that alleged “a coordinated campaign led by around 40 Wikipedia editors has worked to delegitimize Israel, present radical Islamist groups in a favourable light, and position fringe academic views on the Israel-Palestine conflict as mainstream over past years, intensifying after the October 7 attack.”
To this, Mr Musk said “Wikipedia is controlled by far-Left activists. People should stop donating to them.”
Wikipedia is controlled by far-left activists.
People should stop donating to them. https://t.co/Cjq2diadFY
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 25, 2024
Mr Musk made similar appeals in December and January calling to “Defund Wikipedia until balance is restored!”
Defund Wikipedia until balance is restored! https://t.co/CIszNP5Pvc
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 21, 2025
Entrepreneur Musk has also called Wikipedia an “extension of legacy media propaganda.” This came after his Wikipedia page was updated with the “salute controversy” that erupted after his speech during Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
In his speech during the President’s inaugural ceremony, Mr Musk “thumped his right hand over his heart, fingers spread wide, and then extended his right arm out, emphatically, at an upward angle, palm down and fingers together.” The gesture was compared to the “Nazi salute”.
This drew a reaction from Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, who asked Mr Musk if the event was described inaccurately. “That isn’t MSM propaganda. That’s fact. Every element of it,” Mr Wales affirmed.
Is there anything you consider inaccurate in that description? It’s true you did the gesture (twice) and that people did compare it to a Nazi salute (many people) and it’s true that you denied it had any meaning.
That isn’t MSM propaganda. That’s fact. Every element of it.
— Jimmy Wales (@jimmy_wales) January 21, 2025
Mr Sanger also requested US President Donald Trump to issue an executive order to “make it a policy that neither federal worker hours nor federal moneys may be used to edit Wikipedia or pay for Wikipedia editing?”
Mr Sanger said he voted for Trump during the US Presidential Elections 2024.
Hi, @realDonaldTrump—co-founder of Wikipedia here—could I persuade you to use an executive order to make it a policy that neither federal worker hours nor federal moneys may be used to edit Wikipedia or pay for Wikipedia editing?
Thanks in advance. (I voted for you.)
— Larry Sanger (@lsanger) February 27, 2025
Mr Sanger left Wikipedia in 2002 and has been a critic of the platform for over two decades. “The Wikipedia process is almost as opaque to me as it is to you. Yes it’s biased, I’ve said so for a long time,” he added.