‘Wikipedia controlled by far-left’: Why Elon Musk wants people to ‘stop donating’ to platform – Times of India

Tech billionaire Elon Musk took a dig at Wikipedia, calling it “controlled by far-left activists”. Musk, whose dislike for the platform is no secret, went a step further on Friday, urging people to stop donating. “Wikipedia is controlled by far-left activists. People should stop donating to them,” he said.
Musk, who is rooting for Donald Trump as president, responded to a report by “Pirate Wires” alleging that around 40 “Pro-Hamas” Wikipedia editors have led a “seemingly coordinated campaign” to “delegitimize Israel, present radical Islamist groups in a favorable light, and promote fringe academic views on the Israel-Palestine conflict as mainstream.” According to the report, this activity has intensified since the October 7 attack.
However, this is not the first time the tech honcho has accused the platform of alleged far-left bias. In November last year, Musk launched a barrage of attacks on Wikipedia, prompting a response from its founder too. Musk offered $1 billion to the organization if it changed its name to “Dickipedia” and accused Wikipedia of having a “non-trivial left-wing bias.” In response, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said, “I mean, he’s had a war of words with me; I just ignore him. So I didn’t really respond to that.”
He also noted that many people appear to be leaving Twitter, the microblogging platform owned by Elon Musk. “I think a lot of thoughtful and serious people are fleeing Twitter,” the Wikipedia founder had said.
Interestingly, as it turns out, the platform has also been facing charges in India. On September 5, the Delhi High Court issued a contempt notice to Wikipedia, expressing strong disapproval of its failure to provide information about users who edited an entry on an Indian news agency’s page.
In response to this non-compliance in a defamation case filed by the news agency, the court remarked that if Wikipedia found it difficult to comply, it should consider ceasing operations in India.
The court also warned that it might ask the central government to block the platform in the country.