US House of Representatives investigates Wikipedia for alleged bias and manipulation of information

The investigation is aimed at clarifying allegations that Wikipedia was used as a censorship tool by Big Tech, manipulating content about US President Donald Trump, the Israel-Palestine and Russia-Ukraine conflicts.

Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have launched an investigation into allegations of organized efforts to insert biased opinions into articles on the open encyclopedia Wikipedia, as well as how the Wikimedia Foundation responded to these actions.

Wikipedia has long been seen as a key tool in the “censorship and bias apparatus” of Big Tech companies.

The Hill newspaper reported on August 28 that the investigation was led by Committee Chairman James Comer (Republican-Kentucky) and Representative Nancy Mace (Republican-South Carolina), Chair of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology and Government Innovation.

The goal is to shed light on the extent of organized interference with Wikipedia content and how the Wikimedia Foundation responds to these efforts.

On the same day, the two lawmakers sent a letter to Maryana Iskander, CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation, requesting information. In the letter, the lawmakers said this was part of a broader investigation into “foreign and personal activities at academic institutions funded by U.S. taxpayer dollars to influence U.S. public opinion.”

The committee requested documents and communications related to Wikipedia editors accused of violating platform policies, as well as information about Wikimedia's efforts to prevent organized attempts to manipulate political or sensitive content.

Two Republican lawmakers cited multiple reports of a coordinated campaign to edit articles related to the Israel-Palestine conflict and pro-Russian groups spreading pro-Kremlin, anti-Ukrainian messages on Wikipedia.

A Wikimedia spokesperson confirmed receipt of the request and said: “We welcome the opportunity to answer the Committee's questions and discuss the importance of ensuring the integrity of information on the platform.”

Allegations of political bias against Wikipedia are not new. A 2024 report by the conservative Manhattan Institute found that Wikipedia articles tend to associate more negative sentiment with right-wing terms.

Previously, Senator Ed Markey (Democrat - Massachusetts) accused Wikipedia of allowing foreign powers to spread propaganda to influence American public opinion.

In addition, the US House of Representatives investigation also provided evidence that Wikipedia has had a clear left-wing bias for more than a decade.

A recent example: in the run-up to the 2024 election, editors actively added content describing President Donald Trump as a “fascist dictator.” Articles like “Trumpism,” “Donald Trump and Fascism,” or “Donald Trump’s Extreme Views” demonstrate a pattern of coordinated editing.

The article “Trumpism” alone contains 31 references to fascism, with one editor (JJMesserly) contributing more than 50% of the content.

A closer look at the citations reveals a deliberate selection. For example, a 2016 Scientific American article by professors Stephen Reicher and Alexander Haslam was used by Wikipedia to compare Trump to Nazi Germany, even though the authors themselves stated: “We do not compare Trump, his supporters, or their arguments to Nazi Germany.”

In fact, the original article was written to criticize the media for defaming voters to serve political goals./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/ha-vien-my-dieu-tra-wikipedia-vi-cao-buoc-thien-vi-va-thao-tung-thong-tin-post1058640.vnp