Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger published a list of reforms for the heinously biased online encyclopedia, including calling for an end to what amounts to an effective blacklist of right-leaning media, as exposed by MRC Free Speech America. The response was swift.
Sanger posted his “Nine Theses on Wikipedia” on X Sept. 29 and explained them during interviews with independent journalist Tucker Carlson and Just the News founder John Solomon. Sanger denounced Wikipedia’s “perennial sources” list, which MRC Free Speech America exposed for effectively blacklisting right-of-center media sources while greenlighting a majority of left-of-center media sources. In response, pro-free speech advocates joined in condemning Wikipedia. X owner Elon Musk, for his part, praised Sanger’s theses, writing, “Some good suggestions from the co-founder of Wikipedia.”
Others joined Sanger in savaging the website for its reckless bias. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) called Wikipedia “brazen propaganda.” Additionally, Donald Trump Jr. wrote that “Wikipedia regularly defames conservatives with lies and smears, so this explains a lot.”
The reinvigorated fervor surrounding Wikipedia’s ill-treatment of right-leaning media also brought a fresh wave of criticism from those in right-leaning media circles. Newsmax anchor Rob Finnerty, radio host Vince Coglianese and Breitbart editor-in-chief Alex Marlow all went after the so-called online encyclopedia during the Sept. 30 edition of Finnerty.
After Finnerty called out Wikipedia for its treatment of Newsmax and Breitbart, Marlow made clear that on a host of important topics, Wikipedia should be treated as a liberal mouthpiece rather than a neutral encyclopedia. Marlow said, “You gotta treat it like The New York Times.” Wikipedia’s perennial sources list labels Newsmax as “deprecated” and Breitbart as “blacklisted,” crippling labels that restrict how editors can use these media entities as source material on the website.
Coglianese agreed, calling Wikipedia “rigged by the left,” before blaming Wikipedia’s privileged treatment in Google’s search results and AI responses for its widespread influence.
All-In podcast co-host Chamath Palihapitiya recommended that his followers see the evidence for themselves. Palihapitiya wrote, “Do this search for yourself and see the green sources vs the red sources. Now ask yourself if this kind of one-sided censorship is the best way for you to get the unfiltered truth. It may be that Wikipedia is a massive psyop.”
At least one leftist outlet wasn’t going to let the moment go by without voicing its approval of Wikipedia’s work. CNN, which Wikipedia editors listed as “generally reliable,” tried to cover for the so-called online encyclopedia. CNN anchor Sara Sidner complained that X had become “very, very dark” after Musk purchased the platform, before asking CNN Media Correspondent Hadas Gold to discuss Musk’s criticism of and proposal to create a competitor to Wikipedia.
Gold claimed, “Conservatives have long bashed Wikipedia. Part of that reason is because Wikipedia doesn't necessarily want you to cite certain sources. A lot of them can, including well-known conservative news sites like Breitbart. It does the same thing with some left-wing sites. But conservatives say that this means that it is just inherently biased.”
But Gold didn’t tell the full story, which makes the leftist bias of the list incredibly obvious.
Back in February of this year, MRC researchers found that 100 percent of right-of-center sources, as rated by AllSides Media Bias Chart, were labeled “blacklisted,” “deprecated,” “generally unreliable,” or at best put under “no consensus.” This means, Wikipedia dings popular right-leaning publications such as The Daily Wire and the New York Post. By comparison, 84 percent of left-leaning media sources like MSNBC, The New York Times and even radical leftist media site Mother Jones were greenlit as “generally reliable.”
Conservatives are under attack! Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
