Elon Musk challenges Wikipedia: A clash over editorial bias
Billionaire Elon Musk does not approve of the way Wikipedia operates. Why does the right more often "fall victim" to fact-checking?
Elon Musk, known for his wealth, has urged his supporters not to donate to Wikipedia, which he mockingly called "Wokepedia," until it "restores balance in its editorial power." According to data from the digital marketing platform Semrush, in November 2024, the online encyclopedia ranked as the fourth most visited website in the world, with a monthly traffic of 6.7 billion visits. The site is managed by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization based in San Francisco, United States.
Elon Musk's criticism of Wikipedia
Musk's post appeared on platform X, owned by the world's richest man. It responded to a post from the Libs of TikTok account, which distributes far-right content. After Musk took over Twitter in 2022, moderation mostly disappeared from the platform, turning it into a hub for hate speech and disinformation, issues that are more regulated on other social media platforms.
The Libs of TikTok post that Elon Musk responded to included a chart from Wikipedia's annual financial report for 2023/24. According to the chart, during this period, 29% of the encyclopedia's budget was allocated to "security and inclusivity" and "equity." In 2023, Musk offered the Wikimedia Foundation 1 billion USD to change the site's name to "Dickipedia" (with "dick" being a slang term in English). The offer was rejected.
Is Wikipedia left-leaning?
A spokesperson for the Wikimedia Foundation explained in an email to the American publication "Newsweek" that the equity-related expenses "concern enabling more people to share reliable knowledge on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects." They stated, "Wikipedia is based on the assumption that it improves when more people with different perspectives (including political) contribute, edit, create, and verify content."
The Wikipedia spokesperson added, "This goal focuses on legal actions that protect freedom of speech, prevent censorship, and advocate for legal regulations that keep Wikipedia accessible to all users." Wikipedia has faced accusations of bias from both ends of the ideological spectrum. A July 2018 article in "The Guardian" accused Wikipedia of being "dominated by men and pro-Western," referencing studies that showed only 16% of the site's editors were women.
Meanwhile, in January 2024, David Rozado, a professor of computer science at New Zealand's Otago Polytechnic, published a study indicating that "Wikipedia more often presents right-wing individuals in a negative light compared to their left-wing counterparts." This allegation, which also comes from the right, especially the far right, regarding media, is worthy of closer examination.
Why do conservatives demand "equity"?
Should progressive and conservative views indeed be "equally" represented in places that are intended to be dedicated to facts, like encyclopedias or media? The fact that right-wing views more frequently "fall victim" to fact-checking is not due to a "woke" conspiracy but rather because regressive conservatism often contradicts data and objective information. Core right-wing stances often include an adherence to tradition and the past, along with a desire to maintain the status quo, which is fueled by (often imaginary) fears about the outcomes of changes demanded by progressive individuals.
Elon Musk's fight for "freedom of speech" is, in reality, a battle for the right to "equally" amplify xenophobic, racist, or homophobic content, which, while capturing attention and fueling conservatives' fears, helps preserve the status quo. It provides an outlet for frustrations arising from enormous social inequalities in the USA, of which Musk is one of the main beneficiaries. Hence, the owner of X's aversion to Wikipedia. Edited by millions of users, it is closer to hard facts, whose widespread availability is inconvenient for billionaires.
