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''This article is about the history and notable events that happened on ProleWiki. For a description of the wiki, see the [[ProleWiki:About|About page]].''{{Infobox website
<blockquote>''This article is about the history and notable events that happened on ProleWiki. For a description of the wiki, see the [[ProleWiki:About|About page]].''</blockquote>
 
{{Infobox website
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}}'''ProleWiki''' is a self-described "[[Communism|Communist]] ([[Marxist-Leninist]])" and "anti-imperialist" collaborative encyclopedia founded in September 2020. It is based on [[MediaWiki]] software.<ref name=":02">[https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/ProleWiki ProleWiki - ProleWiki]</ref> The site has promoted itself as ''"the proletarian encylopedia".''<ref group="note">ProleWiki, however, has also hitherto entitled itself ''the people's wiki'' or ''the people's [[Wikipedia]]'', indicating ProleWiki's founding motivations as creating an ideologically alternative to Wikipedia.</ref>
}}
'''ProleWiki''' is a free, collaborative [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist-Leninist]] encyclopedia founded in September 2020 aiming to build an [[Anti-imperialism|anti-imperialist]] [[Proletariat|proletarian]] online collection of pages and essays with information on history, current events, [[Communist party|communist parties]] worldwide, and countries, as well as hosting a [[ProleWiki:Library|library]] of texts important to the international proletarian movement.
 
ProleWiki was conceived and created in the community of [[Lemmygrad]], which is a communist community using the [[Free and open-source software|open-source]] software [[Lemmy]]. As of October 2022, ProleWiki is available in seven languages and has over 1,700 articles and 530,000 page views.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=ProleWiki|title=Statistics|url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Special:Statistics|retrieved=2022-10-09}}</ref>
 
One goal established for the project at the time of its founding was to make ProleWiki as self-sufficient as early as possible. An influx of new users in late 2022 led to democratic reforms, allowing editors to vote on account requests. Thus the administration is gradually moving closer to a mentor or guidance role, here to guide the editorship towards the goals set out by ProleWiki and measure adherence to the principles, as well as providing help and resources for setting up these editor projects.
 
== Etymology ==
The name chosen for ProleWiki was based on the term "proletariat", whose root ''"prole"'' you may find in common with very different Western languages: ''proletariat, proletariado, prolétariat, proletariato, proletariaat,'' et cetera''.'' This linguistic phenomenon reflects the [[Proletarian internationalism|internationalist]] aim of the encyclopedia.
 
== History ==
 
=== Founding ===
[[File:Prolewiki logo.png|thumb|203x203px|Old logo of ProleWiki used until February 2022]]
ProleWiki was created on 30 September 2020 by current ProleWiki administrator [[Comrade:Forte|Forte]]. The project began under his sole administration for some time, receiving casual help from several contributors on technical aspects, the most important of which was [[Comrade:MxAsh|MxAsh]]. MxAsh helped with organizing the database, maintaining the server, establishing regular backups and generally helped out with the tech stack.
 
On 1 November 2020, ex-user [[Comrade:Jucheguevara|Jucheguevara]] joined ProleWiki and became an administrator that same month until September 2022.
 
In the month of November, ProleWiki received a mass influx of account creations and spam accounts,<ref name=":0">[https://en.prolewiki.org/index.php?title=Special:Log&offset=&limit=500&type=newusers&user=&page=&wpdate=&tagfilter=&subtype= ProleWiki logs on user creation]</ref> prompting the administration to implement an account request system.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Camarada Forte|newspaper=Lemmygrad|title=Enjoy ProleWiki's first spam attack|date=2020-11-16|url=https://lemmygrad.ml/post/9176|quote=}}</ref>
 
On 16 November 2020, current ProleWiki administrator [[Comrade:CriticalResist|CriticalResist]] joined the project.<ref name=":0" />
 
Jucheguevara and CriticalResist became administrators on 30 November 2020 and 5 February 2021 respectively, along with several other members of ProleWiki (as an invitation was extended to all editors at the time), in an effort to diminish the centralization of tasks into a single person.<ref name=":1">[https://en.prolewiki.org/index.php?title=Special:Log&offset=&limit=500&type=rights&user=&page=&wpdate=&tagfilter=&subtype= ProleWiki logs on user rights]</ref> The effort eventually proved ineffective as the administration group suffered with absenteeism, and most of the early administrators would have their functions revoked a some months later.<ref name=":1" /> The administrators who remained committed and active on ProleWiki at that time were Jucheguevara, Forte and CriticalResist.
 
On 29 December 2021, ProleWiki editor [[Comrade:Ledlecreeper27|Ledlecreeper27]] joined the project.<ref name=":0" /> He brought the project to new heights through his extremely quality contributions spanning several subjects. As of 2023, he remains the most prolific editor on ProleWiki.<ref name=":2">[[Special:ContributionScores|ProleWiki contribution scores]]</ref>
 
=== Purge of patriotic socialists ===
[[File:Jucheguevara Infrared message.png|thumb|382x382px|Messages sent by Jucheguevara to Infrared supporters attempting to infiltrate ProleWiki with MAGA communists]]
In September 2022, Jucheguevara worked with [[Infrared]] in an attempt to infiltrate ProleWiki with [[MAGACommunism|MAGA communists]] and [[Patriotic socialism|patriotic socialists]]. He was banned on 27 September 2022.<ref>{{Web citation|author=@felipeforte|newspaper=[[Lemmygrad]]|title=Jucheguevara has been removed from administrative positions|date=2022-09-27|url=https://lemmygrad.ml/post/391777}}</ref> Following the purge of two other patriotic socialists, which formed the only presence on ProleWiki, he and followers of Infrared started [[InfraWiki]] on 13 October to promote [[settler colonialism]] and [[social conservatism]].<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=InfraWiki|title=InfraWiki|date=2022-11-21|url=https://infrawiki.us/index.php/InfraWiki|retrieved=2022-11-25}}</ref> On 22 October, ProleWiki added opposition to chauvinism and patriotic socialism to its [[ProleWiki:Principles|principles]], thereby cementing a position of no compromise on such ideologies.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=ProleWiki|title=Principles of ProleWiki|date=2022-10-22|url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/ProleWiki:Principles|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122165427/https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/ProleWiki:Principles|archive-date=2022-11-22|retrieved=2023-01-28}}</ref>
 
=== Anti-revisionist subversion attempt ===
In June 2022, [[Comrade:Wisconcom|Wisconcom]], a self-described [[Hoxhaism|Hoxhaist]], joined ProleWiki. He was a competent editor and overall improved many articles on ProleWiki, reaching 4th in all time edits in late 2022.<ref name=":2" /> In ProleWiki's [[Discord]] server, Wisconcom had behavioural and ideological conflicts with other editors, but was allowed to stay due to his prolific editing. For the most part he respected the line of ProleWiki, even though he did not agree with it.
 
In August 2022, Wisconcom began to oppose ProleWiki's [[ProleWiki:Principles|principles]] in the talk page of the ''[[Socialist market economy]]'' article.<ref>[[Topic:X1agp9ljig0tt2cj|Topic on ''Socialist market economy'' talk page]]</ref> When the discussion was shared in [[Lemmygrad]], Wisconcom argued with others and sometimes insulted them.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Camarada Forte|newspaper=Lemmygrad|title=Discussion about socialist market economy. Does socialism have commodity production? Is China a capitalist country because it has commodity production?|date=2022-08-16|url=https://lemmygrad.ml/post/353032}}</ref> Because of his behaviour, he was eventually banned from Lemmygrad but later created another account to evade his ban.
 
After creating the c/Hoxhaism community on Lemmygrad, which he dedicated to anti-[[People's Republic of China|China]] propaganda, Lemmygrad administrators called for a collective debate on the issue in the People's Court of Lemmygrad (a space that the administrators use to poll and audit the community and gather opinions), and it was decided that Wisconcom and his community would be banned for ban-evasion and [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] propaganda.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Black Tulip|newspaper=Lemmygrad|title=The Admins want your opinion on the Hoxhaism community. [RESOLVED]|date=2022-08-26|url=https://lemmygrad.ml/post/362912}}</ref> Even though Wisconcom was banned from Lemmygrad, he was allowed to continue his work on ProleWiki. What started as honest engagements with ProleWiki editors would gradually devolve to name-calling, bad faith arguments, and generally being disruptive on Wisconcom's part. Wisconcom later edited articles to oppose the consensus of the editors without the consultation of said editors and also engaged in a dishonest manner with others, even resorting to lying and editing or deleting his messages after sending them to make it look like he said something different.
 
Wisconcom retired on 17 October 2022 after a final struggle session. Three days later, he came back demanding that he be given higher authority over ProleWiki "to ensure that no unfair rejections of [[Anti-revisionism|anti-revisionists]] takes place" (referring to ProleWiki's account request system).<ref>[[Topic:X5dlyp67d28sfwgz|Topic on the talk page of ProleWiki administrator Forte]]</ref> After arguing with Forte and condemning ProleWiki and Lemmygrad, he was banned on 21 October.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=ProleWiki|title=Blocked users|url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Special:BlockList?wpTarget=&wpOptions%5B%5D=addressblocks&wpOptions%5B%5D=rangeblocks&blockType=&limit=50&wpFormIdentifier=blocklist|retrieved=2022-11-26}}</ref> Immediately after his ban, he attempted to infiltrate ProleWiki through several means and even managed to deface some ProleWiki articles in the German-language instance (in which he called China a [[Fascism|fascist]] state<ref name=":3" /><ref><blockquote>''"Er behauptet zwar, ein sozialistischer Staat zu sein, steht aber in Wirklichkeit unter der Herrschaft einer kapitalistischen und sozialfaschistischen Oligarchie."''  (It [China] claims to be a socialist state, but in reality is under the leadership of a capitalist and social fascist oligarchy.)</blockquote>
<blockquote>''"China wird von der sogenannten 'Kommunistischen' Partei Chinas regiert, einer sozialfaschistischen und revisionistischen Partei."''  (China is ruled by the so-called 'Communist' Party of China, a social fascist and revisionist party.)</blockquote>
<blockquote>"Die Staatsideologie ist der 'Sozialismus chinesischer Prägung' [...]. Diese Ideologie wird durch ihr neofaschistisches korporatistisches Wirtschaftsmodell [...] definiert."  (The state ideology is 'Socialism with Chinese characteristics'.  This ideology is defined by its neo-fascist corporatist economic model.)</blockquote>
<blockquote>"China basiert auf einer 'dritten positionistischen' (faschistischen Korporatismus) staatskapitalistischen Wirtschaft."  (China is based on a 'third positionist' (fascist corporatism) state capitalist economy.)</blockquote>
<blockquote>"Informationen aus der Volksrepublik China angesichts ihrer faschistischen Politik der Autarkie und ihrer quasi-dystopischen Überlebenssysteme [...] knapp sind."  ([In reference to trade unions] Information about the People's Republic of China is scarce given its fascist politics of autarchy and its quasi-dystopian systems of survival.)</blockquote>
<blockquote>''"1989 protestierte eine große Anzahl von Studentenprotestierenden, [...], gegen die kapitalistisch-faschistische und revisionistische Diktatur von Deng Xiaoping"'' (In 1989, a large number of student protestors protested against the capitalist-fascist and revisionist dictator Deng Xiaoping.)</blockquote>
<blockquote>''"Die sozialfaschistische dengistische Regierung unterdrückte die prosozialistischen Proteste [...] bald mit brutaler Gewalt."''  (The social-fascist Dengist government quickly suppresses pro-socialist protests with brutal force.)</blockquote>
<blockquote>''"Nach 1989 wurde in China eine definitive faschistische Diktatur geschaffen."''  (After 1989, a definite fascist dictatorship was established.)</blockquote>
Wisconcom (2022).:  ''Volksrepublik China''.  (in German).  ProleWiki.  [https://web.archive.org/web/20230103091002/https://de.prolewiki.org/index.php?title=Volksrepublik_China&diff=prev&oldid=4759 Archived] from [https://de.prolewiki.org/index.php?title=Volksrepublik_China&diff=prev&oldid=4759 the original] on 2023-01-03.  Retrieved 2022-10-29.</ref>, suggests that it is committing a genocide in its westernmost regions,<ref><blockquote>''"Es begeht derzeit zahlreiche Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit und soll in seinem östlichen Land sogar Völkermord begehen."''  (It [China] is committing numerous crimes against humanity at this time and is even said to be committing genocide in its eastern territory.)</blockquote>
<blockquote>''"Bild, das die chinesische revisionistische Unterdrückung und den Völkermord in Tibet darstellt."''  (Image depicting the revisionist Chinese repression and the genocide in Tibet.)</blockquote>
Wisconcom (2022).:  ''Volksrepublik China''.  (in German).  ProleWiki.  [https://web.archive.org/web/20230103091002/https://de.prolewiki.org/index.php?title=Volksrepublik_China&diff=prev&oldid=4759 Archived] from [https://de.prolewiki.org/index.php?title=Volksrepublik_China&diff=prev&oldid=4759 the original] on 2023-01-03.  Retrieved 2022-10-29.</ref> and likens the Chinese economy to that of [[German Reich (1933–1945)|Nazi Germany]]<ref><blockquote>''"...die einzige erlaubte 'Gewerkschaft' ist eine einzige staatliche Institution namens 'Gesamtchinesischer Gewerkschaftsbund' [...], ähnlich der 'Gewerkschaft' in Nazideutschland."''  (The only 'trade union' allowed is a state-owned institution called the 'All-China Federation of Trade Unions', similar to the 'trade union' in Nazi Germany.)</blockquote>
Wisconcom (2022).:  ''Volksrepublik China''.  (in German).  ProleWiki.  [https://web.archive.org/web/20230103091002/https://de.prolewiki.org/index.php?title=Volksrepublik_China&diff=prev&oldid=4759 Archived] from [https://de.prolewiki.org/index.php?title=Volksrepublik_China&diff=prev&oldid=4759 the original] on 2023-01-03.  Retrieved 2022-10-29.</ref>). He has denounced ProleWiki as promoting "Dengist [[Revisionism|revisionist]] ideology."<ref name=":3">{{Web citation|author=Wisconcom|newspaper=Substack|title=On ProleWiki|date=2022-11-13|url=https://wisconcom.substack.com/p/on-prolewiki}}</ref>
 
==== Attempted infiltration ====
Wisconcom used his account on [[RationalWiki]] to spread anti-China propaganda and denounce ProleWiki for being "[[tankie]]", "pro-[[Communist Party of China|CCP]] [sic]", and "whitewashing Chinese [[imperialism]]."<ref>{{Web citation|author=Wisconcom|newspaper=RationalWiki|title=Revision of the page "Wiki" as of 02:08, 3 November 2022|date=2022-11-03|url=https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Wiki&diff=prev&oldid=2497774|archive-url=https://archive.ph/9gP3m|archive-date=2023-02-15}}</ref> This event was shared on Lemmygrad,<ref>{{Web citation|author=@felipeforte|newspaper=Lemmygrad|title=Wisconcom has made edits on RationalWiki claiming we are "pro-CCP" propaganda|date=2022-11-13|url=https://lemmygrad.ml/post/434221|retrieved=2022-11-26}}</ref> leading him to create another fake account claiming he didn't make the edits.<ref>{{Web citation|date=2022-11-03|title=Revision of the page "RationalWiki:Requests to change username" as of 20:20, 13 November 2022|url=https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Wiki&diff=prev&oldid=2497774|newspaper=RationalWiki|author=Wisconcom|quote=I request to have my username changed to "Fiscornus", [my] present username just doesn't feel right for me.}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation|author=@Leninimusundthings (Wisconcom)|newspaper=Lemmygrad|title=Comment on "Wisconcom has made edits on RationalWiki claiming we are "pro-CCP" propaganda"|date=2022-11-13|url=https://lemmygrad.ml/post/434221/comment/320477|retrieved=2022-11-27}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation|date=2022-11-20|title=Revision of the page "RationalWiki:Requests to change username" as of 03:44, 20 November 2022|url=https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Wiki&diff=prev&oldid=2497774|newspaper=RationalWiki|author=Wisconcom|quote=I temporally changed my username due to security reasons, however, those reasons no longer exist. I request my username be changed back to Wisconcom, sorry for the confusion.}}</ref>
[[File:Wisconcom's message to the ProleWiki administration on Reddit.png|thumb|466x466px|A screen capture of ''Wisconcom''<nowiki/>'s message to the mods of the ProleWiki subreddit, under the alias ''ComradeWenger'', saying "You have forced me to go THERMONUCLEAR!" as he announces the "Committee to Reconstitute ProleWiki"]]
This status quo went on for several months: Wisconcom would attempt to make accounts on Lemmygrad or ProleWiki, get found out and banned, and try again after a few days. On 26 January 2022, he changed tactics: he first contacted the moderators of the r/ProleWiki subreddit (at the time, the same administrators of ProleWiki) and left them a message under a known alias of his, ComradeWenger, saying ProleWiki had "left him no choice" and that he would "go [[Nuclear weapon|THERMONUCLEAR]]!" (see picture on the right). Secondly, he founded a "committee" on Discord seeking to infiltrate ProleWiki and overthrow its administration.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Wisconcom|title=Announcement on the creation of the Committee to Reconstitute ProleWiki|date=2023-01-26|url=https://wisconcom.substack.com/p/announcement-on-the-creation-of-the/comments|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230127232637/https://wisconcom.substack.com/p/announcement-on-the-creation-of-the/comments|archive-date=2023-01-27|retrieved=2023-01-28}}</ref>
 
This prompted the administration of ProleWiki to create an internal security group composed of trusted editors, whose tasks are to audit prospective and established members, monitor ProleWiki's reputation online, help solve conflicts between editors, and generally offer opinions and information on matters of security to the project. This group was formalised on 15 February 2023.
 
Since early May 2023, Wisconcom has deleted his online presence and has stopped bothering ProleWiki and Lemmygrad. It is unknown what prompted this change of mind.
=== Democratic reforms ===
[[File:ProleWiki book club.png|thumb|Screenshot of the users who participated in the first ProleWiki book club]]
Regular backups of the website were quickly established, and a plan to distribute them freely on the Internet (so that ProleWiki could be rehosted in case it went down) was studied but put on hold due to the effort required to enact that plan, which was not deemed urgent.
 
In the fall of 2022, the administration started a work group program, which was aimed at delegating some tasks (outside of editing articles) to the editorship. An Agitprop group was created, which editors could join to help create content for social media. Since June 2023, all [[ProleWiki:Trusted Editor Permissions|Trusted editors]] are opted into the agitprop group. This work group structure lets editors branch out to areas of interest to them and not limit themselves strictly to editing the wiki. Editors are able to propose almost any plan they wish to be involved with that would be beneficial for ProleWiki, and the administrators help them with everything they need to set up these self-governing groups.
 
Around the same time, editors became more involved in approving account requests. When someone requests an account on Prolewiki, their vetting answers are systematically passed on to the editorship in the Discord server who can vote with a simple yes or no. The administration provides context if necessary, and abides by the results of the vote. This was made possible by the growing interest in ProleWiki that happened in 2022, as the Discord server was mostly inactive until some users joined in September and breathed new life into it.
 
In January 2023, ProleWiki made great strides in its goal of establishing proper [[democratic centralism]] in the project so that it would not depend on a single person for survival. Co-administrator CriticalResist was given access to the entirety of the ProleWiki accounts and started learning how to debug MediaWiki software on a VPS. This meant that in case either of the two administrators was unable to participate on the project in the future, the other could always keep ProleWiki alive.
 
Around the same time, editor [[Comrade:RedCustodian|RedCustodian]] created a book club that was managed entirely by himself,<ref>{{Web citation|author=@felipeforte|newspaper=Lemmygrad|title=Follow-up post about ProleWiki’s book club|date=2023-02-13|url=https://lemmygrad.ml/post/511125|retrieved=2023-02-18}}</ref> with members of the book club voting on what to read and when.


ProleWiki is infamous among most [[Socialist]] circles for its exceedingly narrow range of accepted ideological trends, with most of its editors being militant [[Dengism|Dengists]] and those who are not often getting banned, its nearly uncritical support for the economic and political system of [[People's Republic of China|China]], [[Russia]], and other modern [[Capitalism|Capitalist]] states (of which they codify their support of in their "principles"<ref name=":12">[https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/ProleWiki:Principles ProleWiki - Principles]</ref>), and its extremely closed and numerically small administration, and its support of anti-science movements. Depite claiming to maintain nearly 90 fully active editors as of January 2023, the site in reality has less than a dozen editors who are even moderately active.
=== Fundraiser ===
In February 2023, ProleWiki began its first ever fundraiser to expand its storage space from 40 to 80 gigabytes. The goal of the fundraiser was $528 USD, enough to cover the hosting costs of this new server for two years.<ref name=":4">{{Web citation|author=@CriticalResist8|newspaper=Lemmygrad|title=Comrade, ProleWiki has big plans and needs your donation!|date=2023-02-18|url=https://lemmygrad.ml/post/514336|retrieved=2023-02-18}}</ref> The administration has been completely transparent about where the money is going;<ref>CriticalResist, Forte (2023-02-21).:  [[ProleWiki:Donate|''ProleWiki:Donate'']].  ProleWiki.  [https://web.archive.org/web/20230221224322/https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/ProleWiki:Donate Archived] from the original on 2023-02-21.  Retrieved on 2023-02-21.</ref> it has also decided that, should any excess be raised, the contributors would be allowed to vote on what the surplus is spent on.<ref name=":4" />


The site is greatly connected to other ideologically-aligned communities on the online left, such as [[Lemmygrad]] and [[R/GenZedong|GenZedong]], and is dependent on these external sites for their recruitment of editors and preservation of the ideological line of the site. ProleWiki often serves as a "gateway" for Communists to be indoctrinated into chauvinistic and [[Revisionism|revisionary]] ideology, with the site actively promoting "[[List of third position ideologies|Patriotic Socialist]]" and other social-chauvinist points of view and allowing users of those persuasions into the project.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220928154210/https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Talk:Patriotic_socialism Shall American communists hate their country?], by ProleWiki administrator Jucheguevara (1 August, 2022) ''ProleWiki''</ref><ref>[https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Essay:The_Mysterious_Destruction_of_Productive_Forces The Mysterious Destruction of Productive Forces] [an essay which promotes the "degrowth" conspiracy, a commonly-held view among the far-right] ''ProleWiki''</ref>
The first goal (one year of hosting) was reached in under 24 hours after comrade [[Comrade:Deogeo|Deogeo]] made a $200 USD donation. Then, with help from Lemmygrad and [[Hexbear]] users, ProleWiki raised their stated goal of $528 USD in just 5 days.
==History ==
The following is a timeline of major events and developments which have taken place on ProleWiki.
===Founding and early development (30 September 2020 – 24 November 2021)===
ProleWiki was founded on 30 September 2022 by [[Brazil|Brazilian]] pro-[[Communist Party of China|CPC]] propaganist Felipe Forte and other users of the internet forum Lemmygrad. The inital concept for ProleWiki likely originated as a reaction to the [[Liberalism|Liberal]] bias found on [[Wikipedia]], with ProleWiki initally attempting to promote itself as "the people's Wikipedia". The then-sole administrator of ProleWiki, Forte, would firstly attempt to attract editors via promoting his project to several pro-China [[Telegram]] channels and to Lemmygrad. He would also attempt to self-promote his site on Wikipedia shortly. Also at this time, the site allowed Marxist-Leninists are many distinct subgroupings to join and freely express their views, a policy likely taken out of pragmatism.<ref>[https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Topic:X5jeo7csdapak0mb Statement on democracy within Prolewiki], by ProleWiki administrator CriticalResist (23 October, 2022) ''ProleWiki''</ref> Forte would also create a number of fake accounts and spambots on the site to boost SEO engagement to make the site more visible to unknowing newcomers, however, when this action fail to be yielding in regard to account creation, Forte would later falsely claim that the spambots he covertly made were unintentional and made a system of "account requests" which, supposedly, was implemented to repel future spam attacks,<ref name=":02" /> but in truth existed as part of Forte's plot to slowly turn ProleWiki into a pro-CPC propaganda outlet via preventing non-revisionist [[Marxists]] from joining.<ref>[https://lemmygrad.ml/post/9176 "Enjoy ProleWiki's first spam attack"] by ProleWiki administrator Forte (16 November, 2020) ''Lemmygrad''</ref>


While the site was able to enjoy a short-lived spike of editors and general activity for the first weeks of its existance, and the sole adminstrator Forte delegated sysop roles to several other people.<ref>[https://en.prolewiki.org/index.php?title=Special:Log&offset=&limit=500&type=rights&user=&page=&wpdate=&tagfilter=&subtype= User rights log] ''ProleWiki''</ref> However, this activity would soon sputter out entirely after the project progressed into early 2021. In response to this setback, Forte would later restrict adminstrator roles to merely two editors who were fully servile to his personal ideological line - CriticalResist and Jucheguevara (who was a known "Patriotic Socialist" and general holder of many reactionary views) - and declare himself "supreme comrade" of ProleWiki,<ref>[https://en.prolewiki.org/index.php?title=Template:Sign&action=edit Template used by "supreme comrade" Forte to indicate his "leadership" over the site.]</ref> claiming that the previous democratized administration was suffering from "absenteeism". However, these adminstrators were greatly commited to their positions, and this action was truly done in order to ensure ProleWiki would become purely a propaganda hub for Dengist revisionism and ruled in a top-down manner by him personally, as the other adminstrators were begining to question the pro-China ideological line of ProleWiki.<ref>[https://en.prolewiki.org/index.php?title=Talk:People%27s_Republic_of_China&diff=8846&oldid=5359 ProleWiki adminstrators voicing their discontent on the talk page of the article on China]</ref>
=== New library ===
===Ideological consolidation and first purge of anti-revisionists (25 November 2021 – 31 July 2022)===
In July 2023, ProleWiki adopted a new library with images of its authors. The [[ProleWiki:Library/Archive|old library]] is still available on an archived page.<ref>{{Web citation|author=@CriticalResist8|newspaper=Lemmygrad|title=ProleWiki is proud to announce our all-new super cool library! (link inside)|date=2023-07-08|url=https://lemmygrad.ml/post/898378|retrieved=2023-07-18}}</ref>
In response to increasing discontentment on the part of the editors concerning the extremely revisionist and anti-Marxist stance Forte had taken towards the People's Republic of China, Forte would initate the first ideologically-motivated purge on ProleWiki on 25 November 2021, banning a total of 12 editors in the span of just 3 hours (which as at the time over 90% of all active editors on ProleWiki). In an attempt to obscure the reasoning behind this mass-banning, Forte would claim that these editors were "Khruschevites", "Trotskyists", and "Radlibs". Following this, Forte and the other administrators would openly state ProleWiki's dogmatic and permanent support for the People's Republic of China and codifed it in their principles.<ref>[https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Talk:People%27s_Republic_of_China WE '''''FULLY SUPPORT''''' CHINA's SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIALISM] by ProleWiki administrator Forte (25 November 2021) ''ProleWiki''</ref><ref name=":12" /> Forte and the others in his clique would proceed to completely discard [[Lenin]]'s scientific theory of [[imperialism]] (calling it "dogmatic" and "outdated") and started embracing anti-[[Stalinist]] ideology, even downplaying [[Stalin]]'s contributions to Marxism.<ref>[https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Comradeship:Forte/Archive#Re:_Stalin_Talk Topic on Comradeship:Forte] ''ProleWiki''</ref> ProleWiki, from this point forth, would consistently deny the account requests of anti-revisionists and generally any Communist who failed to fanatically support China.
===Ideological conflicts and administrative disunity (1 August 2022 – 27 September 2022)===
While the internal condition of ProleWiki would remain relatively stable for most of early-to-mid 2022, with few notable conflicts within the editorship or administration of ProleWiki, This state of internal coherence would all rapidly disintegrate in August of 2022 when, along with others things such as protestations regarding the treatment of China, the inevitable creation of the page on Patriotic Socialism happened. The page noted Patriotic Socialism (with regards to the pseudo-socialist chauvinist ideology found in the United States of America) as being opportunist and revisionist. However, certain members within ProleWiki were Patriotic Socialist, including a then-administrator Jucheguevara, and a conflict would start between Patriotic Socialist and non-Patriotic Socialist (which included two of the three administrators) elements within ProleWiki.


This conflict would result in the non-Patriotic Socialist attaining ideological victory over the Patriotic Socialist elements, with the correct anti-Patriotic Socialist viewpoint of the article persisting. Relative peace would remain in the ProleWiki community, however, this would not be long-lasting. A month after the initial conflict, in September, the before-metioned administrator with Patriotic Socialist views, Jucheguevara would, particularly following the creation of the articles on MAGA Communism and on Infrared, which similar to the one on Patriotic Socialism, made clear that “MAGA Communism” was anti-Marxist and revisionist, and the [[Infrared (media collective)|Infrared collective]] (who are major “theorists” and promoters of “MAGA Communism”) were chauvinist, apparently experience escalating discontent with ProleWiki itself. Jucheguevara would conspire with the Infrared community to effectively infiltrate ProleWiki and force it to adopt Patriotic Socialist ideology, and to enforce a pro-Patriotic Socialist viewpoint onto the previously metioned articles. The then-administrator, Jucheguevara, would be banned on 27 September 2022 upon the discovery of his actions by the other ProleWiki administrators.<ref>[https://lemmygrad.ml/post/391777 "Jucheguevara has been removed from administrative positions"], by ProleWiki administrator Forte (27 September 2022) ''Lemmygrad''</ref>
== Social media ==
* [https://discord.com/invite/ZQTBNRU9v5 Discord]
* [https://www.facebook.com/groups/747910359442297 Facebook]
* [https://lemmygrad.ml/c/prolewiki Lemmygrad]
* [https://matrix.to/#/%23prolewiki:matrix.org Matrix]
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/prolewiki/ Reddit]
* [https://www.tiktok.com/@prolewiki TikTok]
* [https://twitter.com/prolewiki Twitter]
* [https://www.youtube.com/@prolewiki/featured YouTube]


This action, however, was largely done for non-ideological reasons on the part of the other ProleWiki administrators, with it being less the case that they cared about combatting social-chauvinist trends and more simply being the fact that their power within ProleWiki was increasing being compromised.<ref>[https://wisconcom.substack.com/p/on-prolewiki On ProleWiki] (13 November 2022)</ref>
==See also ==
*[[Lemmygrad]]
*[[Friends of Socialist China]]
*[[Conservapedia]]
==Notes==
<references group="note" />
==References==
== References ==
== References ==
<references />
<references />
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[[Category:Wikis]]
[[Category:Wikis]]
[[Category:Online encyclopedias]]
[[Category:Online encyclopedias]]
[[Category:Revisionists]]
[[Category:Socialist media outlets]]
[[Category:Online left]]

Revision as of 08:31, 11 July 2023

This article is about the history and notable events that happened on ProleWiki. For a description of the wiki, see the About page.

ProleWiki
The logo of ProleWiki, a globe featuring a star and wheat emblem, historically communist symbols
Main page of English ProleWiki
TypeOnline encyclopedia
Available in7 languages
Founded30 September, 2020
FounderComrade Forte
Key peopleCriticalResist, MxAsh
Users23 active users
440 registered users
URLprolewiki.org

ProleWiki is a free, collaborative Marxist-Leninist encyclopedia founded in September 2020 aiming to build an anti-imperialist proletarian online collection of pages and essays with information on history, current events, communist parties worldwide, and countries, as well as hosting a library of texts important to the international proletarian movement.

ProleWiki was conceived and created in the community of Lemmygrad, which is a communist community using the open-source software Lemmy. As of October 2022, ProleWiki is available in seven languages and has over 1,700 articles and 530,000 page views.[1]

One goal established for the project at the time of its founding was to make ProleWiki as self-sufficient as early as possible. An influx of new users in late 2022 led to democratic reforms, allowing editors to vote on account requests. Thus the administration is gradually moving closer to a mentor or guidance role, here to guide the editorship towards the goals set out by ProleWiki and measure adherence to the principles, as well as providing help and resources for setting up these editor projects.

Etymology

The name chosen for ProleWiki was based on the term "proletariat", whose root "prole" you may find in common with very different Western languages: proletariat, proletariado, prolétariat, proletariato, proletariaat, et cetera. This linguistic phenomenon reflects the internationalist aim of the encyclopedia.

History

Founding

Old logo of ProleWiki used until February 2022

ProleWiki was created on 30 September 2020 by current ProleWiki administrator Forte. The project began under his sole administration for some time, receiving casual help from several contributors on technical aspects, the most important of which was MxAsh. MxAsh helped with organizing the database, maintaining the server, establishing regular backups and generally helped out with the tech stack.

On 1 November 2020, ex-user Jucheguevara joined ProleWiki and became an administrator that same month until September 2022.

In the month of November, ProleWiki received a mass influx of account creations and spam accounts,[2] prompting the administration to implement an account request system.[3]

On 16 November 2020, current ProleWiki administrator CriticalResist joined the project.[2]

Jucheguevara and CriticalResist became administrators on 30 November 2020 and 5 February 2021 respectively, along with several other members of ProleWiki (as an invitation was extended to all editors at the time), in an effort to diminish the centralization of tasks into a single person.[4] The effort eventually proved ineffective as the administration group suffered with absenteeism, and most of the early administrators would have their functions revoked a some months later.[4] The administrators who remained committed and active on ProleWiki at that time were Jucheguevara, Forte and CriticalResist.

On 29 December 2021, ProleWiki editor Ledlecreeper27 joined the project.[2] He brought the project to new heights through his extremely quality contributions spanning several subjects. As of 2023, he remains the most prolific editor on ProleWiki.[5]

Purge of patriotic socialists

Messages sent by Jucheguevara to Infrared supporters attempting to infiltrate ProleWiki with MAGA communists

In September 2022, Jucheguevara worked with Infrared in an attempt to infiltrate ProleWiki with MAGA communists and patriotic socialists. He was banned on 27 September 2022.[6] Following the purge of two other patriotic socialists, which formed the only presence on ProleWiki, he and followers of Infrared started InfraWiki on 13 October to promote settler colonialism and social conservatism.[7] On 22 October, ProleWiki added opposition to chauvinism and patriotic socialism to its principles, thereby cementing a position of no compromise on such ideologies.[8]

Anti-revisionist subversion attempt

In June 2022, Wisconcom, a self-described Hoxhaist, joined ProleWiki. He was a competent editor and overall improved many articles on ProleWiki, reaching 4th in all time edits in late 2022.[5] In ProleWiki's Discord server, Wisconcom had behavioural and ideological conflicts with other editors, but was allowed to stay due to his prolific editing. For the most part he respected the line of ProleWiki, even though he did not agree with it.

In August 2022, Wisconcom began to oppose ProleWiki's principles in the talk page of the Socialist market economy article.[9] When the discussion was shared in Lemmygrad, Wisconcom argued with others and sometimes insulted them.[10] Because of his behaviour, he was eventually banned from Lemmygrad but later created another account to evade his ban.

After creating the c/Hoxhaism community on Lemmygrad, which he dedicated to anti-China propaganda, Lemmygrad administrators called for a collective debate on the issue in the People's Court of Lemmygrad (a space that the administrators use to poll and audit the community and gather opinions), and it was decided that Wisconcom and his community would be banned for ban-evasion and anti-communist propaganda.[11] Even though Wisconcom was banned from Lemmygrad, he was allowed to continue his work on ProleWiki. What started as honest engagements with ProleWiki editors would gradually devolve to name-calling, bad faith arguments, and generally being disruptive on Wisconcom's part. Wisconcom later edited articles to oppose the consensus of the editors without the consultation of said editors and also engaged in a dishonest manner with others, even resorting to lying and editing or deleting his messages after sending them to make it look like he said something different.

Wisconcom retired on 17 October 2022 after a final struggle session. Three days later, he came back demanding that he be given higher authority over ProleWiki "to ensure that no unfair rejections of anti-revisionists takes place" (referring to ProleWiki's account request system).[12] After arguing with Forte and condemning ProleWiki and Lemmygrad, he was banned on 21 October.[13] Immediately after his ban, he attempted to infiltrate ProleWiki through several means and even managed to deface some ProleWiki articles in the German-language instance (in which he called China a fascist state[14][15], suggests that it is committing a genocide in its westernmost regions,[16] and likens the Chinese economy to that of Nazi Germany[17]). He has denounced ProleWiki as promoting "Dengist revisionist ideology."[14]

Attempted infiltration

Wisconcom used his account on RationalWiki to spread anti-China propaganda and denounce ProleWiki for being "tankie", "pro-CCP [sic]", and "whitewashing Chinese imperialism."[18] This event was shared on Lemmygrad,[19] leading him to create another fake account claiming he didn't make the edits.[20][21][22]

A screen capture of Wisconcom's message to the mods of the ProleWiki subreddit, under the alias ComradeWenger, saying "You have forced me to go THERMONUCLEAR!" as he announces the "Committee to Reconstitute ProleWiki"

This status quo went on for several months: Wisconcom would attempt to make accounts on Lemmygrad or ProleWiki, get found out and banned, and try again after a few days. On 26 January 2022, he changed tactics: he first contacted the moderators of the r/ProleWiki subreddit (at the time, the same administrators of ProleWiki) and left them a message under a known alias of his, ComradeWenger, saying ProleWiki had "left him no choice" and that he would "go THERMONUCLEAR!" (see picture on the right). Secondly, he founded a "committee" on Discord seeking to infiltrate ProleWiki and overthrow its administration.[23]

This prompted the administration of ProleWiki to create an internal security group composed of trusted editors, whose tasks are to audit prospective and established members, monitor ProleWiki's reputation online, help solve conflicts between editors, and generally offer opinions and information on matters of security to the project. This group was formalised on 15 February 2023.

Since early May 2023, Wisconcom has deleted his online presence and has stopped bothering ProleWiki and Lemmygrad. It is unknown what prompted this change of mind.

Democratic reforms

Screenshot of the users who participated in the first ProleWiki book club

Regular backups of the website were quickly established, and a plan to distribute them freely on the Internet (so that ProleWiki could be rehosted in case it went down) was studied but put on hold due to the effort required to enact that plan, which was not deemed urgent.

In the fall of 2022, the administration started a work group program, which was aimed at delegating some tasks (outside of editing articles) to the editorship. An Agitprop group was created, which editors could join to help create content for social media. Since June 2023, all Trusted editors are opted into the agitprop group. This work group structure lets editors branch out to areas of interest to them and not limit themselves strictly to editing the wiki. Editors are able to propose almost any plan they wish to be involved with that would be beneficial for ProleWiki, and the administrators help them with everything they need to set up these self-governing groups.

Around the same time, editors became more involved in approving account requests. When someone requests an account on Prolewiki, their vetting answers are systematically passed on to the editorship in the Discord server who can vote with a simple yes or no. The administration provides context if necessary, and abides by the results of the vote. This was made possible by the growing interest in ProleWiki that happened in 2022, as the Discord server was mostly inactive until some users joined in September and breathed new life into it.

In January 2023, ProleWiki made great strides in its goal of establishing proper democratic centralism in the project so that it would not depend on a single person for survival. Co-administrator CriticalResist was given access to the entirety of the ProleWiki accounts and started learning how to debug MediaWiki software on a VPS. This meant that in case either of the two administrators was unable to participate on the project in the future, the other could always keep ProleWiki alive.

Around the same time, editor RedCustodian created a book club that was managed entirely by himself,[24] with members of the book club voting on what to read and when.

Fundraiser

In February 2023, ProleWiki began its first ever fundraiser to expand its storage space from 40 to 80 gigabytes. The goal of the fundraiser was $528 USD, enough to cover the hosting costs of this new server for two years.[25] The administration has been completely transparent about where the money is going;[26] it has also decided that, should any excess be raised, the contributors would be allowed to vote on what the surplus is spent on.[25]

The first goal (one year of hosting) was reached in under 24 hours after comrade Deogeo made a $200 USD donation. Then, with help from Lemmygrad and Hexbear users, ProleWiki raised their stated goal of $528 USD in just 5 days.

New library

In July 2023, ProleWiki adopted a new library with images of its authors. The old library is still available on an archived page.[27]

Social media

References

  1. ↑ "Statistics". ProleWiki. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 ProleWiki logs on user creation
  3. ↑ Camarada Forte (2020-11-16). "Enjoy ProleWiki's first spam attack" Lemmygrad.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 ProleWiki logs on user rights
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 ProleWiki contribution scores
  6. ↑ @felipeforte (2022-09-27). "Jucheguevara has been removed from administrative positions" Lemmygrad.
  7. ↑ "InfraWiki" (2022-11-21). InfraWiki. Retrieved 2022-11-25.
  8. ↑ "Principles of ProleWiki" (2022-10-22). ProleWiki. Archived from the original on 2022-11-22. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  9. ↑ Topic on Socialist market economy talk page
  10. ↑ Camarada Forte (2022-08-16). "Discussion about socialist market economy. Does socialism have commodity production? Is China a capitalist country because it has commodity production?" Lemmygrad.
  11. ↑ Black Tulip (2022-08-26). "The Admins want your opinion on the Hoxhaism community. [RESOLVED"] Lemmygrad.
  12. ↑ Topic on the talk page of ProleWiki administrator Forte
  13. ↑ "Blocked users". ProleWiki. Retrieved 2022-11-26.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Wisconcom (2022-11-13). "On ProleWiki" Substack.
  15. ↑

    "Er behauptet zwar, ein sozialistischer Staat zu sein, steht aber in Wirklichkeit unter der Herrschaft einer kapitalistischen und sozialfaschistischen Oligarchie." (It [China] claims to be a socialist state, but in reality is under the leadership of a capitalist and social fascist oligarchy.)

    "China wird von der sogenannten 'Kommunistischen' Partei Chinas regiert, einer sozialfaschistischen und revisionistischen Partei." (China is ruled by the so-called 'Communist' Party of China, a social fascist and revisionist party.)

    "Die Staatsideologie ist der 'Sozialismus chinesischer Prägung' [...]. Diese Ideologie wird durch ihr neofaschistisches korporatistisches Wirtschaftsmodell [...] definiert." (The state ideology is 'Socialism with Chinese characteristics'. This ideology is defined by its neo-fascist corporatist economic model.)

    "China basiert auf einer 'dritten positionistischen' (faschistischen Korporatismus) staatskapitalistischen Wirtschaft." (China is based on a 'third positionist' (fascist corporatism) state capitalist economy.)

    "Informationen aus der Volksrepublik China angesichts ihrer faschistischen Politik der Autarkie und ihrer quasi-dystopischen Überlebenssysteme [...] knapp sind." ([In reference to trade unions] Information about the People's Republic of China is scarce given its fascist politics of autarchy and its quasi-dystopian systems of survival.)

    "1989 protestierte eine große Anzahl von Studentenprotestierenden, [...], gegen die kapitalistisch-faschistische und revisionistische Diktatur von Deng Xiaoping" (In 1989, a large number of student protestors protested against the capitalist-fascist and revisionist dictator Deng Xiaoping.)

    "Die sozialfaschistische dengistische Regierung unterdrückte die prosozialistischen Proteste [...] bald mit brutaler Gewalt." (The social-fascist Dengist government quickly suppresses pro-socialist protests with brutal force.)

    "Nach 1989 wurde in China eine definitive faschistische Diktatur geschaffen." (After 1989, a definite fascist dictatorship was established.)

    Wisconcom (2022).: Volksrepublik China. (in German). ProleWiki. Archived from the original on 2023-01-03. Retrieved 2022-10-29.

  16. ↑

    "Es begeht derzeit zahlreiche Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit und soll in seinem östlichen Land sogar Völkermord begehen." (It [China] is committing numerous crimes against humanity at this time and is even said to be committing genocide in its eastern territory.)

    "Bild, das die chinesische revisionistische Unterdrückung und den Völkermord in Tibet darstellt." (Image depicting the revisionist Chinese repression and the genocide in Tibet.)

    Wisconcom (2022).: Volksrepublik China. (in German). ProleWiki. Archived from the original on 2023-01-03. Retrieved 2022-10-29.

  17. ↑

    "...die einzige erlaubte 'Gewerkschaft' ist eine einzige staatliche Institution namens 'Gesamtchinesischer Gewerkschaftsbund' [...], ähnlich der 'Gewerkschaft' in Nazideutschland." (The only 'trade union' allowed is a state-owned institution called the 'All-China Federation of Trade Unions', similar to the 'trade union' in Nazi Germany.)

    Wisconcom (2022).: Volksrepublik China. (in German). ProleWiki. Archived from the original on 2023-01-03. Retrieved 2022-10-29.

  18. ↑ Wisconcom (2022-11-03). "Revision of the page "Wiki" as of 02:08, 3 November 2022" RationalWiki. Archived from the original on 2023-02-15.
  19. ↑ @felipeforte (2022-11-13). "Wisconcom has made edits on RationalWiki claiming we are "pro-CCP" propaganda" Lemmygrad. Retrieved 2022-11-26.
  20. ↑
    “I request to have my username changed to "Fiscornus", [my] present username just doesn't feel right for me.”

    Wisconcom (2022-11-03). "Revision of the page "RationalWiki:Requests to change username" as of 20:20, 13 November 2022" RationalWiki.
  21. ↑ @Leninimusundthings (Wisconcom) (2022-11-13). "Comment on "Wisconcom has made edits on RationalWiki claiming we are "pro-CCP" propaganda"" Lemmygrad. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
  22. ↑
    “I temporally changed my username due to security reasons, however, those reasons no longer exist. I request my username be changed back to Wisconcom, sorry for the confusion.”

    Wisconcom (2022-11-20). "Revision of the page "RationalWiki:Requests to change username" as of 03:44, 20 November 2022" RationalWiki.
  23. ↑ Wisconcom (2023-01-26). "Announcement on the creation of the Committee to Reconstitute ProleWiki" Archived from the original on 2023-01-27. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  24. ↑ @felipeforte (2023-02-13). "Follow-up post about ProleWiki’s book club" Lemmygrad. Retrieved 2023-02-18.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 @CriticalResist8 (2023-02-18). "Comrade, ProleWiki has big plans and needs your donation!" Lemmygrad. Retrieved 2023-02-18.
  26. ↑ CriticalResist, Forte (2023-02-21).: ProleWiki:Donate. ProleWiki. Archived from the original on 2023-02-21. Retrieved on 2023-02-21.
  27. ↑ @CriticalResist8 (2023-07-08). "ProleWiki is proud to announce our all-new super cool library! (link inside)" Lemmygrad. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
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