Wikipedia just permanently banned its own co-founder from editing the website
Larry Sanger, one of the original co-founders of Wikipedia, has been prohibited from editing any page on the internet's biggest information hub after launching a campaign to restore the website's 'original, firm commitment to intellectual diversity'.
Wikipedia has received notable pushback from figures in right wing political communities online in recent years for its allegedly 'left-leaning' stances, specifically referring to the way that content is presented, edited, and moderated on the site.
Powerful individuals like Elon Musk have even created their own right-wing alternatives to Wikipedia, with an AI powered 'Grokipedia' offering controversial interpretations of history and political concepts, as per NBC News.
While over 270,000 people have voluntarily contributed edits to Wikipedia pages over the last 30 days, Sanger is one of the few who have been blocked from fulfilling such a task despite his influential status in the website's formation.
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As reported by the New York Post, Sanger is the man who came up with the website's name and drafted its original rules and guidelines prior to its 2001 launch, and he has been left shocked after his editing privileges have been taken away by a group of volunteers.
Speaking to the Post, Sanger claimed that he was 'flabbergasted' by the decision, describing the current modern Wikipedia community as being like a "mob or a blob" that are more obligated to each other than any specific set of rules.
He recently launched WikiProject Intellectual Diversity (WID), which aims to 'reinforce' neutrality and transparency by giving space to voices and viewpoints that Sanger believes are underrepresented on Wikipedia, including Hindus and American conservatives.
While the motivation and reason behind the decision to revoke Sanger's ability to edit Wikipedia pages has not been explicitly stated, some might claim the the timing following the launch of WID is not a coincidence.
Additionally, his efforts involving WID have been described by Wikipedia editors as 'canvassing', which relates to the process of alerting people to editors "with the intention of influencing the outcome of a discussion in a particular way."
"There is no due process," Sanger claimed in relation to the decision to block him from editing. "People are being blocked – in other words, disciplined – and yet there is no respect for certain expectations that any other serious disciplinary procedure would be held to."
He also claimed on X that all of his judges for the ban were "self-selected and hated me," and likened a group he refers to as the 'Power 62' – a group of 62 influential and predominantly anonymous Wikipedia editors – as a 'faceless mob'.