{"id":1604,"date":"2025-11-04T21:55:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T17:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.actutech.app\/wikipedia-co-founder-joins-editing-conflict-over-the-gaza-genocide-page\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T21:55:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T17:55:10","slug":"wikipedia-co-founder-joins-editing-conflict-over-the-gaza-genocide-page","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wikipedia-co-founder-joins-editing-conflict-over-the-gaza-genocide-page\/","title":{"rendered":"Wikipedia co-founder joins editing conflict over the Gaza genocide page"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has jumped into a conflict over the online encyclopedia\u2019s page on \u201cGaza genocide.\u201d Just days after a Wikipedia editor froze changes<\/a> to the article, Wales posted a statement<\/a> on a page dedicated to discussing edits, saying the article \u201crequires immediate correction\u201d and is part of a broader neutrality problem on the site, where \u201cthere is much more work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

On October 28th, a Wikipedia editor changed the status of the \u201cGaza genocide\u201d page to \u201cprotected,\u201d meaning editors can\u2019t make changes to the article until November 4th, or until \u201cediting disputes have been resolved,\u201d according to a notice at the top of the article<\/a>. As noted by Wikipedia<\/a>, editors typically protect pages to prevent vandalism or \u201cedit wars,\u201d<\/a> when multiple editors disagree about an article and continuously revert each other\u2019s changes \u2014\u00a0which some editors mentioned happening recently<\/a> on the Gaza page.<\/p>\n

Wales joined discussions about the article on November 2nd. He wrote that he has been \u201cstudying the issue of neutrality\u201d across Wikipedia and that the Gaza genocide article \u201cis a particularly egregious\u201d example of the problem. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt present, the lede and the overall presentation state, in Wikipedia\u2019s voice, that Israel is committing genocide, although that claim is highly contested,\u201d Wales said. He added that a \u201cneutral approach would begin with a formulation such as: \u2018Multiple governments, NGOs, and legal bodies have described or rejected the characterization of Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza as genocide.\u2019\u201d Currently, the article bases its position that a genocide exists on conclusions from United Nations<\/a> investigations<\/a>, the International Association of Genocide Scholars<\/a>, and \u201cmultiple human rights groups,\u201d among others.<\/p>\n

Wales referenced a recent interview with CNN, where Walter Isaacson asked him about Wikipedia\u2019s \u201cGaza genocide\u201d article. During the interview<\/a>, Wales called it \u201cone of the worst Wikipedia entries I\u2019ve seen in a very long time\u201d and said it \u201cdoesn\u2019t live up to our standards of neutrality.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement to The Verge<\/em>, Wikimedia Foundation spokesperson Lauren Dickinson said it\u2019s not unusual for Wales to comment on Wikipedia entries. \u201cIn his personal capacity during interviews about his new book, Jimmy Wales has discussed multiple Wikipedia articles and topics, expressing his own perspectives and reflections,\u201d Dickinson said. \u201cEven as the founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy is one of hundreds of thousands of editors, all striving to present information, including on contentious topics, in line with Wikipedia\u2019s policies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wales is calling on editors to \u201cmove from debate to concrete improvements immediately.\u201d He did not provide specific examples of what changes they should make, but referenced several Wikipedia policies, including that articles \u201cmust not declare a legal conclusion,\u201d and should include \u201csignificant, high-quality sources from all sides,\u201d including governments, courts, non-governmental organizations, and commentators. \u201cNo side should speak in Wikipedia\u2019s own voice,\u201d Wales said.<\/p>\n

Contrary to reporting from the New York Post<\/em><\/a>, however, the Wikimedia Foundation confirmed that Wales didn\u2019t lock the article himself or direct it to be locked. \u201cOn occasion, a page can be placed under protection by volunteer editors to limit editing to the article for a period of time,\u201d Dickinson said. \u201cThis can happen when a topic is suddenly in the news, for example, and attracts negative editing. Protecting a page can only be done by volunteer Wikipedia administrators, who are more senior, trusted volunteer editors who have been selected by the broader editor community.\u201d<\/p>\n

In recent months, Wikipedia has become the subject of repeated attacks from Republican lawmakers and conservatives who accuse it of having a left-wing bias. After a March report<\/a> from the Anti-Defamation League found \u201cextensive issues with antisemitic and anti-Israel bias\u201d on Wikipedia, lawmakers sought more information<\/a> from the site on how it plans to \u201ccurb editor bias.\u201d More recently, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) sent a letter to the Wikimedia Foundation<\/a> last month, questioning Wikipedia\u2019s alleged \u201cideological bias.\u201d Elon Musk, who has also been a vocal critic of Wikipedia, also launched a non-\u201dwoke\u201d alternative called Grokipedia that adapts Wikipedia articles with \u2014\u00a0among other changes \u2014 additional racist and transphobic contents<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many members of Wikipedia\u2019s community pushed back on Wales\u2019 statement. One editor said it\u2019s<\/a> \u201ca bad faith read of the community when suggesting that among the most read and debated articles on the community is poorly done,\u201d adding that \u201cthere has been dozens of hours of discussions\u201d and requests for comments when creating the article. Another editor<\/a> says that Wikipedia \u201cshould not be sending anyone the message that they can change article content from above by pressuring the foundation,\u201d while someone else calls<\/a> Wales\u2019 involvement an \u201cappalling overreach.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to another comment<\/a>, which asked why Wikipedia should equally weigh the opinions of the \u201clargely impartial\u201d United Nations and human rights scholars to \u201cthe obviously partisan opinions of commentators and governors,\u201d Wales said<\/a> that the job of a Wikipedian \u201cis not to take sides in that debate but to carefully and neutrally document it.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has jumped into a conflict over the online encyclopedia\u2019s page on \u201cGaza genocide.\u201d Just days after […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-classe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1604\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}