Elon Musk Calls for Boycott of Wikipedia Donations Over Allegations of Bias
Elon Musk urges a boycott of Wikipedia donations, alleging the platform is controlled by far-left activists and biased in its coverage of Israel. His comments follow reports of biased edits, raising concerns about Wikipedia's open-editing model. In India, the platform faces legal action over alleged malicious edits.
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has urged the public to stop donating to Wikipedia, claiming that the platform is controlled by far-left activists. This statement follows a report from the US-based news outlet Pirate Wires, which accused a group of about 40 Wikipedia editors of working to delegitimize Israel and present radical Islamist groups in a favorable light.
In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Musk criticized Wikipedia for allegedly promoting biased narratives regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict. He referred to the report, which claimed that after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, an editor successfully removed references to Hamas' 1988 charter, which called for the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews. The report also suggested that these editors aimed to downplay human rights violations by Iranian officials.
Wikipedia is controlled by far-left activists.
People should stop donating to them. https://t.co/Cjq2diadFY — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 25, 2024
Musk's criticism of Wikipedia is not new; he has previously voiced concerns about the platform’s perceived leftist leanings. In his post, he stated, “Wikipedia is controlled by far-left activists. People should stop donating to them.”
In India, Wikipedia has faced similar accusations. The news agency Asian News International (ANI) filed a ₹2 crore defamation case against Wikipedia’s parent organization after certain edits were made to its page that they deemed malicious. The Delhi High Court issued a contempt notice to Wikipedia for not providing details about the edits.
The court has raised concerns about Wikipedia's open-editing model, with Justice Subramonium Prasad calling it "dangerous" because anyone can edit the content. This issue has been particularly evident in discussions around sensitive topics like the Manipur crisis, where claims have surfaced that biased editors are manipulating narratives.
As tensions surrounding these issues continue, the debate over Wikipedia's reliability as an information source remains ongoing.
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