Elon Musk Takes Aim at Wikipedia

What's New

Elon Musk has urged his followers not to donate to Wikipedia, which he branded "Wokepedia," until "they restore balance to their editing authority."

The tech billionaire made the claim on X (formerly Twitter), which he owns, in response to another user who shared a graph from the online encyclopedia's 2023-4 annual report that showed 29 percent of its budget had been spent on "equity" and "safety & inclusion."

Newsweek contacted Musk, via the Tesla and SpaceX press offices, by email on Tuesday for comment.

Why It Matters

According to data from digital marketing platform Semrush, in November Wikipedia was the fourth-most-visited website in the world, with monthly traffic of around 6.7 billion visits.

Wikipedia's popularity, combined with the fact it provides information about notable political figures and events, make it highly influential. The platform can be edited by anybody, meaning the pages of controversial individuals are often fought over by multiple users with different views about the content.

What To Know

On X in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Musk shared a post by influential conservative leaning account "Libs of TikTok," adding: "Stop donating to Wokepedia until they restore balance to their editing authority."

In its initial post, the Libs of TikTok account, which is run by activist Chaya Raichik and has over 3.9 million followers, said: "Wikipedia's annual budget report from 2023—2024 reveals that they spent over $50 million of their total $177 million budget on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Stop donating to Wokepedia."

They accompanied this with a graph screenshotted from Wikipedia's 2023-4 budget report, which breaks down its total $177 million spending between $86.1 million on infrastructure, $31.2 million on equity, $20.5 million on safety and inclusion and $39.2 million on effectiveness.

A Wikimedia Foundation spokesperson told Newsweek in an email that the chart's equity section "refers to making it possible for more people to share reliable knowledge on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects."

The email continues: "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. The 'Safety & Inclusion' goal (now titled 'Safety & Integrity' in our 2024-2025 plan) is focused on ensuring that people are able to freely access and safely contribute to knowledge on Wikipedia in a changing legal and policy environment globally."

The spokesperson continued: "The goal centers on legal efforts that protect free expression, prevent censorship and advocate for laws and regulations that keep Wikipedia accessible for all to use."

Wikipedia has long faced accusations of bias from both sides of the political spectrum. A July 2018 article in The Guardian accused Wikipedia of having a "male-dominated, pro-western worldview," pointing to research that just 16 percent of its editors were women.

In January 2024, David Rozado, an associate professor in computational science at New Zealand's Otago Polytechnic, published a study that found: "Wikipedia was more likely to portray right-leaning figures negatively than their left-leaning counterparts."

For his research Rozardo reviewed Wikipedia's "mentions of hundreds of politicians, journalists, and more" while examining "the average sentiment...associated with 1,628 politically charged terms" on the platform.

In a 2023 interview with The Telegraph, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales denied the website was "woke," commenting: "We do have a very long tradition of, you know, having respect for freedom of expression."

What People Are Saying

Responding to the Libs of TikTok post about Wikipedia spending on X, Alex Günsberg, a doctoral researcher in Finland, wrote: "I used to believe that Wikipedia was biased due to leftist activists editing articles in a coordinated fashion, and I often joked about it being Wokepedia. However, with the recent budget figures, it's clear that the notion of Wokepedia is not just a joke—it's a reality."

However, in a post on X rival Bluesky, one self-identified behavioral psychologist wrote: "The claim that Wikipedia has become 'Wokepedia' fails to stand up to scrutiny—it's all anecdotes, but too few to be significant on the vast scale of Wikipedia."

The Wikipedia Foundation spokesperson told Newsweek: "Every day, Wikipedia is viewed by millions of people around the world seeking information on topics that affect their lives and shape their decisions. Thanks to the contributions of a global community of hundreds of thousands of volunteer editors, Wikipedia continues to be a reliable, trusted resource for all."

What Happens Next

Musk was an active supporter of Donald Trump's 2024 election campaign and has been appointed to co-head the newly created Department of Government Efficiency by the president-elect.

It's unclear what impact Musk's latest comments will have on Wikipedia's fundraising. The website is run by the Wikimedia Foundation, a San Francisco–based nonprofit.

Update 12/25/24, 12:15 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comments from a Wikimedia Foundation spokesperson.