A bipartisan group of 23 Congressmembers wrote a letter to the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF), the San Francisco-based nonprofit that oversees Wikipedia, on April 30 expressing “our deep concern regarding antisemitism, anti-Israel bias, and the potential abuse of Wikipedia by coordinated actors.”
The letter, written by Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), and Don Bacon (R-Neb.) was signed by two Los Angeles representatives, Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) and Ted Lieu (D- West. LA). It cited a report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) published in March that found that “identified a group of approximately 30 Wikipedia editors who have significantly undermined the platform’s credibility, making more than 1.5 million edits over the past decade to gradually and systematically distort neutral narratives on articles related to Israel, pushing an antisemitic, pro-Hamas, anti-Zionist, and anti-Israel agenda.”
“While Wikipedia mandates that all content be written from a ‘neutral point of view (NPOV),’ these edits go far beyond presenting differing perspectives,” the letter stated. “Instead, they suggest a deliberate effort to inject antisemitic bias and propaganda, raising concerns that some of these editors may be pro-Hamas or even acting on behalf of foreign state actors.”
The letter highlighted how the report documented instances in which these editors scrubbed the Wikipedia pages of certain public figures’ support for terrorism and antisemitism and that the Hamas Wikipedia page whitewashes Hamas’terror activities.
Additionally, Wikipedia’s Arbitration Committee (ArbCom), the site’s version of a Supreme Court, topic banned eight editors from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict topic area in January, five of whom were mentioned in the ADL report as being part of the “bad faith” editors group, per the letter. The members of Congress who signed the letter called ArbCom’s moves “a welcome first step” but called for more action.
They asked the WMF what safeguards it has in place to protect Wikipedia content from foreign actors and misinformation, and what processes it has in place to “verify the identities and affiliations of editors”; further, the members of Congress asked what measures the WMF has to prevent the spread of anti-Israel bias on Wikipedia and if Wikipedia “provide us data on content disputes, edit reversions, and administrator actions related to antisemitic, anti-Zionist, or anti-Israel bias.”
“Evidence points to a startling lack of enforcement of Wikipedia’s most basic rules and editorial safeguards,” Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. “Given the immense influence that Wikipedia articles have over our online and real life global conversations, far more editorial responsibility and transparency is needed, immediately. My hope is that our bipartisan questions and concerns can curb a suspected coordinated campaign to manipulate Wikipedia content that drives antisemitic content and biases.”
“Given the immense influence that Wikipedia articles have over our online and real life global conversations, far more editorial responsibility and transparency is needed, immediately.” – Rep Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Bacon also said in a statement, “Antisemitism and anti-Israel views have increased on Wikipedia due to their lack of enforcing their own rules and standards and they need to take steps immediately to fix the problem. Wikipedia has such a broad reach and people take what is posted there as 100 percent truth, when it always isn’t. I’m glad to join Rep. Wasserman Schultz on this bipartisan letter, in the hopes we can get Wikimedia to fix this.”
The WMF did not respond to my request for comment.
The letter from members of Congress comes on the heels of Interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin sending a letter to the WMF on April 24 with myriad questions related to the San Francisco-based nonprofit’s tax exempt status; like the congressional letter, Martin asked the WMF about, among other things, its processes for protecting Wikipedia from foreign actors and the issue of editor anonymity.
WMF Associate General Counsel Jacob Rogers said in a statement to The Verge in response to Martin’s letter, “Wikipedia’s content is governed by three core content policies: neutral point of view, verifiability, and no original research, which exist to ensure information is presented as accurately, fairly, and neutrally as possible. The entire process of content moderation is overseen by nearly 260,000 volunteers and is open and transparent for all to see, which is why we welcome opportunities to explain how Wikipedia works and will do so in the appropriate forum.”
“The Wikipedia Flood” blog wrote a satirical post on April 26 on what the WMF’s responses to Martin’s questions would be “if it would honestly answer the questions, free of doubletalk and self-serving gobbledygook.” At the end of the post, the longtime editor behind the blog called for the CEO of Wikipedia to be “summoned to Congress to testify under oath.”
