Billionaire conservative donor Elon Musk called on the public to stop donating to the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that runs Wikipedia, due to the organization’s support for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
“Stop donating to Wokepedia until they restore balance to their editing authority,” Musk wrote on X, responding to a post from the anti-trans account Libs of TikTok noting that the foundation spent $50 million of its $177 million budget on DEI.
A spokesperson for Wikipedia explained to Newsweek that its investment in diversity is meant to make the digital encyclopedia more accurate.
“Wikipedia is built on the premise that it becomes better when more people of different backgrounds—including political persuasions—source, edit, curate, and research content. Our equity goal advances that,” they said.
For years now, particularly in the wake of protests following the murder of George Floyd, conservatives have attacked DEI efforts. The right’s complaints against Wikipedia are also reflective of the longstanding conservative desire to control information.
Comedian Stephen Colbert once mocked the right (and then-President George W. Bush) during a speech at the 2006 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, saying that “reality has a well-known liberal bias.” Conservatives have taken this idea to heart and have tried to bend reality to fit their own worldview.
Musk has been a part of this conservative crusade since spending billions to acquire Twitter, now known as X. Musk removed many of the societal guardrails that had been put in place by Twitter’s previous management, and the site has become arguably the biggest spreader of political misinformation in the world. The lies and false information spread across X contributed to an election win for Musk’s favored candidate, Donald Trump.
X’s role as a disinformation amplifier echoes another, older conservative project: Fox News. The network was created by former Republican operative Roger Ailes and conservative media tycoon Rupert Murdoch to change the narrative and amplify the right’s myths, lies, and political attacks. Fox was at the forefront of misinforming millions of Americans about the outcome of the 2020 election—resulting in a nearly $800 million settlement—as well as the January 6 insurrection in the U.S. Capitol.
Wikipedia’s influence runs counter to the likes of Musk’s X and Fox News. While the encyclopedia has faults, it plays a prominent role in providing accurate, up-to-date information. On Wikipedia, the public can learn about public figures like Musk, including his history of promoting conspiracy theories, racism, and anti-transgender bigotry.
The right has tried to counteract Wikipedia’s influence before. The site Conservapedia was launched in 2006 as a right-wing alternative. The entries on the site are extremely biased and riddled with factual inaccuracies.
For example, this entry on former President Barack Obama claims that “Obama transformed the Bush administration War on Terror from a preventative measure against terrorism to a cry for vengeance, mob bloodlust, and retribution killings which spawned a fresh, new, and larger cycle of violence.” The site never gained popularity.
Conservatives believe that sources of information must reflect a conservative worldview rather than objective reality, which is why Trump has gone after news outlets like ABC News and The New York Times for not repeating right-wing propaganda. Even though many of these outlets have promoted conservative narratives and buckled under right-wing criticism and legal threats, it still isn’t enough for Trump.
Now Wikipedia is under fire for promoting facts instead of right-wing talking points, further proving that conservatives believe everything must bend to their will—even the encyclopedia.
