The Wikimedia Foundation, owners of Wikipedia, formed a working group focused on neutrality policy at the end of March with site co-founder Jimmy Wales as chair. Its objective will be to study the neutrality policies in place on different-language Wikipedias and other Foundation-owned sites to develop a global standard. Although citing various left-wing concerns about neutrality, the Foundation omitted any reference to the site’s own leftist political bias.
Creation of the working group was first announced in an official Wikimedia Foundation blog post titled “Strengthening Wikipedia’s neutral point of view” on March 27. The post cited discussion about the truthfulness of information online and general trust as a recent trend this year with “threats to neutrality” claimed to be rising. Arguing different communities at Foundation-owned sites such as Wikipedia should learn from each other, the post stated the Foundation was forming the working group consisting of “active editors, Trustees, researchers, and advisors to explore recommendations for common standards” for neutrality policies. Some standards for content policies are already included in a left-wing “code of conduct” the Foundation imposed on its sites in 2021, suggesting the planned standards would be more comprehensive.
In the post, the Foundation cited a community workshop that month “revealed variations, inconsistencies, and many opportunities for the different Wikimedia projects to learn from each other” regarding neutrality policy and that editors with special privileges such as administrators occasionally faced challenges with enforcing the policy. Noting the declining trust in news media, the Foundation stated Wikipedia editors face challenges in “representing views from reliable sources fairly, proportionately, and without editorial bias” with this especially the case on “fast-moving and contentious topics.”
However, while citing recent concerns about antisemitism due to coverage of Wikipedia’s handling of articles related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the neutrality concerns cited in the post focused on classic left-wing talking points regarding the site’s content about women and non-Westerners along with coronavirus coverage. No mention was made of criticism regarding Wikipedia’s left-wing bias. Despite mentioning other bias concerns, the post nonetheless avers that its users “have a strong track record of successfully managing neutrality on contentious subjects” due to “robust community governance processes . . . that prioritize a fair and balanced approach . . . specifically designed to prevent undue influence” on content.
The Foundation invited contributors to Wikipedia and other Foundation-owned sites to comment on the discussion page for “Common global standards for NPOV policies” at the Meta Wikimedia site. On that page, more details have been disclosed about the neutrality working group with its current members stated to include Wales as Chair alongside the current and incoming chairs of the Foundation board with two others being regular community members who have held high-level privileges or positions. Foundation staff are said on the page to be supporting the working group led by Foundation CEO Maryana Iskander and General Counsel Stephen LaPorte along with any necessary researchers or experts.
According to a section regarding the working group’s activities, the group will be “inviting community contributions on these topics within and beyond the Wikimedia movement” to help focus on four “workstreams” or tasks. Such tasks would entail analyzing neutrality policies on various Foundation-owned sites, examining how controversial issues are covered outside Wikipedia relative to on Wikipedia, and gathering suggestions from admins and others with advanced privileges on enforcement. The last “workstream” listed is just reflections and perspectives on neutrality from Wales. Initial recommendations are slated to be presented at the Foundation’s June board meeting with more slated for the August meeting during the annual Wikimania global conference and afterwards.
Contributors to Wikipedia and related sites provided varying perspectives on the issue at the discussion page. One user mentioned Portuguese Wikipedia took a zero-tolerance policy on unsourced material in 2013 and saw significant improvements, but argued English Wikipedia standards on sourcing and “original research” made things difficult due to discouraging use of primary sources even when used to support what the original source stated. This prompted varying points of agreement and disapproval, along with discussion about other sourcing standards contributors deemed too strict. Others questioned the need and reason for the focus on global standards for neutrality or even whether it was practical to implement.
English Wikipedia bureaucrat “WereSpielChequers,” a user with more advanced privileges than admins, argued for any non-English Wikipedia sites to create noticeboards for discussing sourcing reliability if they do not have them, claiming it “works well” for English Wikipedia. The aforementioned noticeboard on English Wikipedia is the main vehicle that has been used for purging conservative media on the site.
Wikipedia editor Tim Davenport commented to accuse the Foundation of “being played by the quasi-fascist movement that has taken over the Republican Party and the government of the United States” before insisting there was nothing wrong with Wikipedia’s policies and encouraging the Foundation to drop the issue. Several contributors objected to the claim of their being no issues, though a Foundation staffer suggested neutrality concerns may not be with English Wikipedia. One contributor to the Swedish Wikipedia favorably noted the site avoided contentious news topics and have barely any content about Elon Musk’s arm gesture hoax, which was the subject of negatively-slanted editing on the English Wikipedia and prompted criticism from Musk who has frequently criticized the site’s political bias.
Despite its left-wing bias being a long-standing issue for Wikipedia, including criticism from co-founder Larry Sanger, the Foundation has frequently leaned into left-wing ideology. Amid the Black Lives Matter protests and riots, the Foundation at the time expressed support for the movement and declared there was “no neutral stance” on the subject with the Foundation then making commitments to support policies aimed at diversity, equity, and inclusion in its operations. It has also supported feminist edit-a-thons and other events to address a claimed gender gap in its contributions, which one study suggests has led to a bias towards women. Promoting Wikipedia as a solution to “fake news” was itself a strategy devised by the firm of the Clinton Foundation’s PR head.
Recent concerns that Wikipedia’s political bias has included anti-Israel editing and, ultimately, antisemitism has prompted more intense scrutiny of the site’s neutrality problems. This recently resulted in Acting U.S. Attorney for D.C. Ed Martin sending a letter to the Foundation inquiring about their policies and enforcement to address bias, particularly from foreign actors, in light of their status as a tax-exempt educational non-profit. Wikipedia editors responded to the letter by smearing and attacking Martin and other critics with Wales and the Foundation stating they would “uphold” the neutrality policy in the face of external pressure.
T. D. Adler edited Wikipedia as The Devil’s Advocate. He was banned after privately reporting conflict of interest editing by one of the site’s administrators. Due to previous witch-hunts led by mainstream Wikipedians against their critics, Adler writes under an alias.
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