Wikipedia has recently come under the microscope. I take some credit for this, as the co-founder of Wikipedia and a vocal critic of the knowledge platform for a long time.
In September, I nailed (virtually) “Nine Theses About Wikipedia” to the digital door of Wikipedia and started a round of interviews about it, beginning with Tucker Carlson. This prompted Elon Musk, the very next day, to announce Grokipedia’s impending launch. And a national conversation evolved from there, with left- and right-leaning voices complaining about the platform’s direction (or my critique of it).
As its 25th anniversary approaches, Wikipedia clearly needs reform. Not only does the platform have a long history of left-wing bias, but the purveyors of that bias – administrators, everyday editors, and others – stubbornly cling to their warped worldview and vilify those who dare to contest it.
The “Nine Theses” is the project’s first-ever thoroughgoing reform proposal. Among the ideas:
- Allow multiple, competing articles per topic
- Stop ideological blacklisting of sources
- Restore the original neutrality policy
- Reveal the identities of the most powerful managers
- End unfair, indefinite blocking
- Adopt a formal legislative process
Such ideas were bound to be a hard sell on Wikipedia. It has become institutionally ossified.
Nevertheless, I was delighted that the discussion of the theses has been robust, without very much further prodding from me. Following the launch, Jimmy Wales actually stepped into the fray on the so-called talk page of an article called “Gaza genocide,” chiding the participants for violating Wikipedia’s neutrality policy (“NPOV”). I chimed in as well. But the criticism was thrown back in our faces.
This then brings me to the deeper problem: Wikipedia is stuck in its ways. How can it possibly be reformed when so many of its contributors like the bias, the anonymous leadership, the ease of blocking ideological foes, and other aspects of dysfunction? Reform seems impossible.
Yet there is one realistic way that we can make progress toward reform.
Above all else, those who care should get involved in Wikipedia. The total number of people who are really active on Wikipedia is surprisingly small. The number editing 100 times in any given month is in the low thousands; and this does not amount to that much time (perhaps one or two hours per week). Those who treat it as a part-time or full-time job – and so have real day-to-day influence – number in the hundreds.
In interviews, I have been urging the outcasts to converge on Wikipedia. You might think this is code for saying that conservatives and libertarians should try to stage a coup – but that is not so. Hindus and Israelis, among others, have also complained of being left out in recent years. The problem is an entrenched ruling class. As long as Wikipedia remains open, it is entirely possible for those who think differently to get involved.
If you are a conservative or libertarian who is concerned about the slanted framing of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, get involved. If you are a (classical) liberal who is alarmed by the antisemitism within Wikipedia – like Florida Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz – it is time to make your presence felt. Wherever you may fall on the ideological spectrum, I call on good-faith citizens to become engaged editors who take productive discourse seriously, rather than scapegoating “the other side.”
Even a dozen new editors could make a difference, let alone hundreds or thousands who might be reading this column. Given that Wikipedia attracts billions of readers, in addition to featuring prominently in Google Search, Google Gemini, and elsewhere, improving the platform will strengthen our collective access to high-quality information across the board. It will bring us closer to truth.
So, how do we solve the Wikipedia problem? With you, me, and all of us – individual action at scale.
Larry Sanger is the co-founder of Wikipedia. His “Nine Theses About Wikipedia” can be found at LarrySanger.org.
