Wikipedia: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:50, 24 November 2020

Wikipedia is a multilingual open-collaborative online encyclopedia created and maintained by a community of volunteer editors using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia uses the same software that ProleWiki and EcuRed uses, called MediaWiki.

While Wikipedia's large number of editors is a strength compared to physical encyclopedias, its popularity means that it's a prime target for misinformation campaigns by state actors or corporate interests. This, in part, is the reasoning behind starting ProleWiki.

Concept

Bias

Screenshot of wikipedia sources many of which are anti-communist — Western anti-communist sources are prevalently used on English Wikipedia.

Founder, foundation and users

Wikipedia's founder, Jimmy Wales, is a self-described Ayn Rand libertarian ^[1] who also wilfully participates in imperialist operations at the request of the US government. In a 2007 US Senate Committee, Wales stated "I am grateful to be here today to testify about the potential for the Wikipedia model of collaboration and information sharing which may be helpful to government operations and homeland security." ^[2]

While the website is technically managed by the Wikimedia foundation, it was created by Wales himself and he remains on the board of trustees ^[3] and is still seen as a "benevolent dictator, constitutional monarch, digital evangelist and spiritual leader". ^[4]

Katherine Maher, the current CEO of the foundation, previously worked for the World Bank, specifically in the African and Middle-East divisions. ^[5] She also worked at the National Democratic Institute and is a fellow at the Truman National Security Project. In a June 2020 article from the Grayzone, authors Ben Norton and Max Blumenthal delved deeper into Maher's connections to regime-change operatives and unearthed her whole résumé which links her to more imperialist organisations and institutes. ^[2]

While Wikipedia boasts that anyone can contribute, in truth only 1% of accounts are responsible for 80% of all edits^[6]. Famously, the most prolific editor on Wikipedia (Steven Pruitt), who has edited 1/3rd of all articles, works for the US department of border control, with previous employment at the TSA and ICE. ^[7] Other accounts in this 1% figure are people such as Philipp Cross, who posts without fail every single day from 6AM to 10PM, for an average of 30 edits. ^[8] The user also mostly makes pro-war edits, ^[9] which highly suggests that the account is a sockpuppet managed by a whole governmental team, likely the British. ^[10]

Administrators on the site are editors with user-management powers (such as banning people, or preventing articles from being edited). In a perhaps lighter example, it was found in 2020 that Scots Wikipedia was almost solely edited and managed by a 19-year-old US citizen who did not speak a word of Scots. ^[11] He was responsible for defacing almost half of Scots Wikipedia, and it is interesting to see here how easily administrator privileges are given to random users by other administrators, suggesting a widespread problem in the hierarchy. There have been various examples in the past of administrators who used their privileges to prevent their articles from being edited (therefore presenting their biased opinion as fact), or even asking for payment to let an edit through.

Unknown users, who do not navigate through the very strict (and sometimes absurd) editorial guidelines or do not socialize with other users will often see their edits reverted in mere minutes, no matter how accurate or labour-intensive they are.

The Wikimedia foundation will still claim that their encyclopedia is "community-created". This is mainly a convenient lie for Wales to make it seem like his libertarian principles can work on a large scale. This has prompted Ben Norton to call Wikipedia a scam ^[12] (in the interest of Jimmy Wales bourgeois, libertarian interests). In truth, much like libertarianism itself, it remains controlled by corporate elites and imperialist organisations.

Sexism

Women have been speaking about the sexism they faced on Wikipedia for many years, as about 90% of the user base is male (as per Wikipedia's own study). ^[13]

Women are generally discouraged from participating through widespread bullying and harassment. ^[14] Notably, several women were brought on board various projects aimed at reducing "gender bias" (Wikipedia's technical term for its sexist atmosphere), and all left after facing repeated harassment. This issue has been brought to the Wikimedia foundation's attention, to which founder Jimmy Wales responded, in one case: “I’m afraid I don’t know enough about the specific details here to be able to make a meaningful comment". ^[15]

Articles about famous women are often deleted or see their edits reverted, putting them off the spotlight. Edits by women themselves are often reverted as well, no matter how good the quality may be.

Racism

Imperialist interests

Ties to US government organizations

Funding

References

External Links

please use these external links to improve this page

Wikipedia (about)
EcuRed (Spanish, English auto translated) (about)
Grayzone: «Meet Wikipedia's Ayn Rand-loving founder and regime change operative CEO»
Grayzone: «Wikipedia formally censors The Grayzone as regime-change advocates monopolize editing»
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/meet-the-man-behind-a-third-of-whats-on-wikipedia/ (One person, who works at U.S. Customs and Border Protection "records and information", has edite ⅓ of English Wikipedia.)
[ http://helenofdestroy.com/index.php/49-wikipedia-rotten-to-the-core «Wikipedia : Rotten to the Core » ]

[1] ttps://mronline.org/2020/06/16/meet-wikipedias-ayn-rand-loving-founder-and-wikimedia-foundations-regime-change-operative-ceo/

[:0-2] 2.0 ^2.1 https://thegrayzone.com/2020/06/11/meet-wikipedias-ayn-rand-loving-founder-and-wikimedia-foundations-regime-change-operative-ceo/

[3] ttps://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/jimmy-wales/

[4] ttps://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/technology/17wikipedia.html

[5] ttps://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/katherine-maher/

[6] ttps://www.inverse.com/article/38302-wikipedia-one-percent

[7] ttp://archive.ph/ix7kx

[8] ttps://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/05/the-philip-cross-affair/

[9] ttps://www.mintpressnews.com/phillip-cross-the-mystery-wikipedia-editor-targeting-anti-war-sites/250824/

[10] ttps://www.mintpressnews.com/phillip-cross-the-mystery-wikipedia-editor-targeting-anti-war-sites/250824/

[11] ttps://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/aug/26/shock-an-aw-us-teenager-wrote-huge-slice-of-scots-wikipedia

[12] ttps://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1227725961975803905

[13] ttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/LE15_Gender_overall_in_2018.png

[14] ttps://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/10/how-wikipedia-is-hostile-to-women/411619/

[15] ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo_Wales/Archive_178#Said_at_GGTF_arbitration

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 === Founder, foundation and users ===
-Wikipedia's founder, Jimmy Wales, is a self-described [[Ayn Rand]] libertarian<ref name=":0">https://thegrayzone.com/2020/06/11/meet-wikipedias-ayn-rand-loving-founder-and-wikimedia-foundations-regime-change-operative-ceo/</ref> who also wilfully participates in imperialist operations at the request of the US government. In a 2007 US Senate Committee, Wales stated "I am grateful to be here today to testify about the potential for the Wikipedia model of collaboration and information sharing which may be helpful to government operations and homeland security."<ref name=":0" />
+Wikipedia's founder, Jimmy Wales, is a self-described [[Ayn Rand]] libertarian <ref>https://mronline.org/2020/06/16/meet-wikipedias-ayn-rand-loving-founder-and-wikimedia-foundations-regime-change-operative-ceo/</ref> who also wilfully participates in imperialist operations at the request of the US government. In a 2007 US Senate Committee, Wales stated "I am grateful to be here today to testify about the potential for the Wikipedia model of collaboration and information sharing which may be helpful to government operations and homeland security." <ref name=":0">https://thegrayzone.com/2020/06/11/meet-wikipedias-ayn-rand-loving-founder-and-wikimedia-foundations-regime-change-operative-ceo/</ref>
-While the website is technically managed by the Wikimedia foundation, it was created by Wales himself and he remains on the board of trustees<ref>https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/jimmy-wales/</ref> and is still seen as a "benevolent dictator, constitutional monarch, digital evangelist and spiritual leader"<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/technology/17wikipedia.html</ref>.
+While the website is technically managed by the Wikimedia foundation, it was created by Wales himself and he remains on the board of trustees <ref>https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/jimmy-wales/</ref> and is still seen as a "benevolent dictator, constitutional monarch, digital evangelist and spiritual leader". <ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/technology/17wikipedia.html</ref>
-Katherine Maher, the current CEO of the foundation, previously worked for the [[World Bank]], specifically in the African and Middle-East divisions<ref>https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/katherine-maher/</ref>. She also worked at the National Democratic Institute and is a fellow at the Truman National Security Project. In a June 2020 article from the Grayzone, authors Ben Norton and Max Blumenthal delved deeper into Maher's connections to regime-change operatives and unearthed her whole résumé which links her to more imperialist organisations and institutes<ref name=":0" />.
+Katherine Maher, the current CEO of the foundation, previously worked for the [[World Bank]], specifically in the African and Middle-East divisions. <ref>https://wikimediafoundation.org/profile/katherine-maher/</ref> She also worked at the National Democratic Institute and is a fellow at the Truman National Security Project. In a June 2020 article from the Grayzone, authors Ben Norton and Max Blumenthal delved deeper into Maher's connections to regime-change operatives and unearthed her whole résumé which links her to more imperialist organisations and institutes. <ref name=":0" />
-While Wikipedia boasts that anyone can contribute, in truth only 1% of accounts are responsible for 80% of all edits<ref>https://www.inverse.com/article/38302-wikipedia-one-percent</ref>. Famously, the most prolific editor on Wikipedia (Steven Pruitt), who has edited 1/3rd of all articles, works for the US department of border control, with previous employment at the TSA and ICE<ref>http://archive.ph/ix7kx</ref>. Other accounts in this 1% figure are people such as Philipp Cross, who posts without fail every single day from 6AM to 10PM, for an average of 30 edits.<ref>https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/05/the-philip-cross-affair/</ref> The user also mostly makes pro-war edits<ref>https://www.mintpressnews.com/phillip-cross-the-mystery-wikipedia-editor-targeting-anti-war-sites/250824/</ref>, which highly suggests that the account is a [[sockpuppet]] managed by a whole governmental team, likely the British<ref>https://www.mintpressnews.com/phillip-cross-the-mystery-wikipedia-editor-targeting-anti-war-sites/250824/</ref>.
+While Wikipedia boasts that anyone can contribute, in truth only 1% of accounts are responsible for 80% of all edits<ref>https://www.inverse.com/article/38302-wikipedia-one-percent</ref>. Famously, the most prolific editor on Wikipedia (Steven Pruitt), who has edited 1/3rd of all articles, works for the US department of border control, with previous employment at the TSA and ICE. <ref>http://archive.ph/ix7kx</ref> Other accounts in this 1% figure are people such as Philipp Cross, who posts without fail every single day from 6AM to 10PM, for an average of 30 edits. <ref>https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/05/the-philip-cross-affair/</ref> The user also mostly makes pro-war edits, <ref>https://www.mintpressnews.com/phillip-cross-the-mystery-wikipedia-editor-targeting-anti-war-sites/250824/</ref> which highly suggests that the account is a [[sockpuppet]] managed by a whole governmental team, likely the British. <ref>https://www.mintpressnews.com/phillip-cross-the-mystery-wikipedia-editor-targeting-anti-war-sites/250824/</ref>
-Administrators on the site are editors with user-management powers (such as banning people, or preventing articles from being edited). In a perhaps lighter example, it was found in 2020 that Scots Wikipedia was almost solely edited and managed by a 19-year-old US citizen who did not speak a word of Scots<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/aug/26/shock-an-aw-us-teenager-wrote-huge-slice-of-scots-wikipedia</ref>. He was responsible for defacing almost half of Scots Wikipedia, and it is interesting to see here how easily administrator privileges are given to random users by other administrators, suggesting a widespread problem in the hierarchy. There have been various examples in the past of administrators who used their privileges to prevent their articles from being edited (therefore presenting their biased opinion as fact), or even asking for payment to let an edit through.
+Administrators on the site are editors with user-management powers (such as banning people, or preventing articles from being edited). In a perhaps lighter example, it was found in 2020 that Scots Wikipedia was almost solely edited and managed by a 19-year-old US citizen who did not speak a word of Scots. <ref>https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/aug/26/shock-an-aw-us-teenager-wrote-huge-slice-of-scots-wikipedia</ref> He was responsible for defacing almost half of Scots Wikipedia, and it is interesting to see here how easily administrator privileges are given to random users by other administrators, suggesting a widespread problem in the hierarchy. There have been various examples in the past of administrators who used their privileges to prevent their articles from being edited (therefore presenting their biased opinion as fact), or even asking for payment to let an edit through.
 Unknown users, who do not navigate through the very strict (and sometimes absurd) editorial guidelines or do not socialize with other users will often see their edits reverted in mere minutes, no matter how accurate or labour-intensive they are.
-The Wikimedia foundation will still claim that their encyclopedia is "community-created". This is mainly a convenient lie for Wales to make it seem like his libertarian principles can work on a large scale. This has prompted Ben Norton to call Wikipedia a scam<ref>https://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1227725961975803905</ref> (in the interest of Jimmy Wales bourgeois, libertarian interests). In truth, much like [[libertarianism]] itself, it remains controlled by corporate elites and imperialist organisations.
+The Wikimedia foundation will still claim that their encyclopedia is "community-created". This is mainly a convenient lie for Wales to make it seem like his libertarian principles can work on a large scale. This has prompted Ben Norton to call Wikipedia a scam <ref>https://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1227725961975803905</ref> (in the interest of Jimmy Wales bourgeois, libertarian interests). In truth, much like [[libertarianism]] itself, it remains controlled by corporate elites and imperialist organisations.
 === Sexism ===
-Women have been speaking about the sexism they faced on Wikipedia for many years, as about 90% of the user base is male (as per Wikipedia's own study)<ref>https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/LE15_Gender_overall_in_2018.png</ref>.
+Women have been speaking about the sexism they faced on Wikipedia for many years, as about 90% of the user base is male (as per Wikipedia's own study). <ref>https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/LE15_Gender_overall_in_2018.png</ref>
-Women are generally discouraged from participating through widespread bullying and harassment<ref>https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/10/how-wikipedia-is-hostile-to-women/411619/</ref>. Notably, several women were brought on board various projects aimed at reducing "gender bias" (Wikipedia's technical term for its sexist atmosphere), and all left after facing repeated harassment. This issue has been brought to the Wikimedia foundation's attention, to which founder Jimmy Wales responded, in one case: “I’m afraid I don’t know enough about the specific details here to be able to make a meaningful comment"<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo_Wales/Archive_178#Said_at_GGTF_arbitration</ref>.
+Women are generally discouraged from participating through widespread bullying and harassment. <ref>https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/10/how-wikipedia-is-hostile-to-women/411619/</ref> Notably, several women were brought on board various projects aimed at reducing "gender bias" (Wikipedia's technical term for its sexist atmosphere), and all left after facing repeated harassment. This issue has been brought to the Wikimedia foundation's attention, to which founder Jimmy Wales responded, in one case: “I’m afraid I don’t know enough about the specific details here to be able to make a meaningful comment". <ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo_Wales/Archive_178#Said_at_GGTF_arbitration</ref>
 Articles about famous women are often deleted or see their edits reverted, putting them off the spotlight. Edits by women themselves are often reverted as well, no matter how good the quality may be.