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US Attorney for D.C. Accuses Wikipedia of 'Propaganda', Threatens Nonprofit Status (msn.com) 123

Posted by EditorDavid from the burn-it-to-the-wiki dept.
An anonymous reader shared this report from the Washington Post: The acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia sent a letter to the nonprofit that runs Wikipedia, accusing the tax-exempt organization of "allowing foreign actors to manipulate information and spread propaganda to the American public."

In the letter dated April 24, Ed Martin said he sought to determine whether the Wikimedia Foundation's behavior is in violation of its Section 501(c)(3) status. Martin asked the foundation to provide detailed information about its editorial process, its trust and safety measures, and how it protects its information from foreign actors. "Wikipedia is permitting information manipulation on its platform, including the rewriting of key, historical events and biographical information of current and previous American leaders, as well as other matters implicating the national security and the interests of the United States," Martin wrote. "Masking propaganda that influences public opinion under the guise of providing informational material is antithetical to Wikimedia's 'educational' mission."
Google prioritizes Wikipedia articles, the letter points out, which "will only amplify propaganda" if the content contained in Wikipedia articles "is biased, unreliable, or sourced by entities who wish to do harm to the United States." And as a U.S.-based non-profit, Wikipedia enjoys tax-exempt status while its board "is composed primarily of foreign nationals," the letter argues, "subverting the interests of American taxpayers."

While noting Martin's concerns about "allowing foreign actors to manipulate information and spread propaganda," the Washington Post also notes that before being named U.S. attorney, "Martin appeared on Russia-backed media networks more than 150 times, The Washington Post reported last week...."

Additional articles about the letter here and here.

  • The Truth Hurts (Score:5, Insightful)

    by coopertempleclause( 7262286 ) on Saturday April 26, 2025 @01:38PM (#65332831)
    The truth does tend to be pretty damning for the United States...

    Wikipedia is permitting information manipulation on its platform, including the rewriting of key, historical events

    And this is especially rich given the Trump administration's recent purge of any history that hurt their feelings.

  • Transparency (Score:5, Interesting)

    by bill_mcgonigle( 4333 )* on Saturday April 26, 2025 @01:46PM (#65332849) HomepageJournal

    An anonymous Wikipedian tried to delete Harald Malgram's page as "not notable" when he is credited as being the primary guy who prevented a nuclear WWIII in the 60's.

    As well as being a key mover in the government for decades and the youngest member of the NSC ever.

    All because he said he handled UFO materials a few weeks before he died.

    Jimmy put his foot down but an awful lot of revisionism comes from Langley IP's.

    I use my own name there and don't feel a need to hide. It's a source of truth only if the organizers are trustworthy.

    Apparently this rouge editor has made 60K edits. Who is he or she (or autonomous agent)?

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      You're right, we should absolutely abandon the first amendment because of a "rouge" editor.

    • Re:Transparency (Score:5, Interesting)

      by fahrbot-bot( 874524 ) on Saturday April 26, 2025 @02:09PM (#65332945)

      An anonymous Wikipedian tried to delete Harald Malgram's page as "not notable" when he is credited as being the primary guy who prevented a nuclear WWIII in the 60's.

      What's going on this administration seems worse...

      An anonymous DOGE employee *actually* deleted references to the Enola Gay -- the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan in WW2 -- on DoD systems, presumably because it had the word "gay" in it. Information of notable service people were *actually* deleted, apparently, simply because they were black, women, etc... (basically not white men). Apparently, data was only restored because people noticed and complained, and the news reported it -- well most of them anyway.

    • >Apparently this rouge editor has made 60K edits.

      How does that compare to foundation and mascara editors?

      Probably *way* behind eyeshadow editors, but ahead of lipstick editors.

      But I'm just guessing.

  • Kill the 501(c) and problem solved (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    It will reduce the "money in politics" problem as well.

    The 501(c) is nothing but a handout to the rich, leaving the rest of us to pay their taxes.

    • I'm not arguing against your claim that it is a handout to the rich and that it leaves the rest of us to pay their taxes, but 501(3)(c) status does have its upside for society:

      Many local help-the-poor charities are 501(3)(c) organizations. They run soup kitchens, literacy programs, and more. Many run on all-volunteer labor. If they had to pay taxes "like a business" they wouldn't be able to function. In the cases of charities that have significant expenses, such as renting space for a food pantry with re

    • Getting rid of non-profits entirely is a dipshit move. No wonder you posted as an anonymous coward.

    • Re:Kill the 501(c) and problem solved (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Arrogant-Bastard( 141720 ) on Saturday April 26, 2025 @05:58PM (#65333557)
      I'm on the board of a 501(c)3. it's second one I've served on. And everyone involved in this one has been working for free for six years, trying to accomplish something good for society. Nobody's getting rich. Nobody's ever going to get rich. Nobody's even getting reimbursed for (most) expenses, because we can't afford it -- we board members pay for our own travel, for example. And all of this is true so that what little money we've raised goes directly to our mission -- every penny.

      This is how most 501(c)3's operate. Very few manage to ever raise enough money to do otherwise, and very few of those manage to pay personnel well. What all of them do is put themselves under an IRS microscope, so they are definitely not the operations of choice if you're trying to play financial games -- if that's your goal, then it's far, FAR better to set up an LLC in a state with lax regulations and take it from there.

      I get up at 4 AM every day to work on this project, stopping around 8 or 9 AM to do my "real" job 4-6 days a week, continuing until 5-6 PM on other days -- so this is essentially my second full-time job. Given that i'm one of the most senior Internet engineers on this planet, I could make a lot money if I instead spent that time consulting. But I've chosen to do this instead because I'm trying, along with my colleagues, to do something good in the world, and I'm working hard on it because that's what's required. There are a lot of other people out there doing similar things, sacrificing their time and income and goals so that they can try to make the world a better place.

      Which it 's why it's not only idiotic, but despicably hateful and utterly vile to suggest doing away with 501(c03's. It's sociopathic.

  • Process? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by fluffernutter( 1411889 ) on Saturday April 26, 2025 @01:57PM (#65332901)
    Isn't there a process for requesting changes for Wikipedia? Why make threats, just submit your findings and ask for a correction if they aren't true.

    • Re:Process? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Tablizer( 95088 ) on Saturday April 26, 2025 @02:08PM (#65332943) Journal

      It's not about rational solutions to better moderation, but intimidation to encourage Wikipedia staff to promote MAGA perspectives.

      Ironically Don's staff closed many foreign investigation offices. So on one had they say keeping foreign influence out is important, on the other they cancel Federal offices that investigate foreign influence, especially of Russia.

      • Re:Process? (Score:5, Informative)

        by fluffernutter( 1411889 ) on Saturday April 26, 2025 @02:13PM (#65332967)
        Almost all highly manipulative people complain when others do the very things they do and want to slide under the radar.
        • You shouldn't have to say these things. Anyone who doesn't realize this by now is 5 years old or wilfully ignorant about it (wink wink). And I'm not sure about the 5 year olds.

      • It's not about rational solutions to better moderation, but intimidation to encourage Wikipedia staff to promote MAGA

        What intimidation? The US Attorney has no power or authority to decide whether Wikipedia meets the requirement for a 501c3 or not.

        Their only power is to attempt to investigate and charge them with an offense if they believe Wikipedia has fraudulently claimed 501c status. Which is an extremely tall order, and unlikely to get anywhere.

        The requirement for 501c3 status is about the Organizatio

    • Everyone can edit almost all articles*, so just go ahead and make changes. Offer sources for specific information you are including. Add an explanation on the 'talk' page of the article. I've tweaked the contents of many articles to make them more accurate. Just don't expect someone else to do it!

      * A few very contentious ones need long term involvement with Wikipedia

    • That's the problem. Wikipedia contains too many inconvenient truths and tends to weed out the administration's attempts to cram it with propaganda.

  • Remember the so-called Twitter files? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by maladroit( 71511 ) on Saturday April 26, 2025 @01:59PM (#65332913) Homepage

    The Twitter files
        Biden campaign: please take down these private images that violate your own TOS.
        MAGAland: Government overreach!

    Now:
      Martin: (overt threats in direct contradiction to the first amendment).
      MAGAs: ok.

    • Re:Remember the so-called Twitter files? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Mr. Dollar Ton( 5495648 ) on Saturday April 26, 2025 @02:04PM (#65332931)

      Putinization is in full swing in the US, and it looks like nobody cares too much.

      • Re:Remember the so-called Twitter files? (Score:5, Interesting)

        by caseih( 160668 ) on Saturday April 26, 2025 @03:06PM (#65333117)

        Probably more correct to say Orbanization, because Trump is following Orban's blueprint for democracy to dictatorship to a tee. And he's managed to do in three months what took Orban many years. In the United States of America no less.

        • Orban is a fat putin wannabe, who's been repeating the milder parts of putin's playbook from the early 2000s in post-2010 Hungary. He's "milder" only because he started a decade later and because he needs the EU money that's flowing into Budapest, and these will stop if his opponents start falling out of windows. But the playbook isn't Orban's or Putin's - most of the "let's convert our communist regime into a fascist private enterprise" playbook was written in the very late 80s by US think tanks that the E

      • I think it has been for a while now.
        Donny was always a Putin, just with smaller balls and a bigger gut.

        Worse- the people who latched onto his cult of personality, they didn't pop out of the aether in 2016. They were always there.

        • I agree, all this isn't a new thing, maintaining democracy has always been a hard work, but the speed with which stuff that has taken decades to build is being dismantled this time and in the US itself, is unusual.

          What's worse, legitimizing the rejection of the basic principles of a modern democracy will have a strong impact worldwide on places that have little resilience to it. They will suffer more. Shitting on alliances that have worked well for decades and listening to your enemy is also not very sharp.

    • But you see, DEI the woke mind virus and transgenderism, because immigrants in Biden crime family, and therefore Trump is correct and this is perfectly fine and making us great again!

  • Honestly (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Bahbus( 1180627 ) on Saturday April 26, 2025 @02:00PM (#65332917) Homepage

    Wikipedia has more solid checks and balances in place than the US government.

  • Speech (Score:5, Insightful)

    by fluffernutter( 1411889 ) on Saturday April 26, 2025 @02:02PM (#65332923)
    Republicans believe in freedom of speech right up until the point that they disagree with that speech.

    • In 1930's Germany, you could say anything you want about the Führer, as long as it was pleasant.

      And closing libraries and burning books is only done in the best interest of the public.

      • In 1930's Germany, you could say anything you want about the Führer, as long as it was pleasant.

        Even then could still say anything no matter what, so long as you did it quick, but there might be consequences. If you took too much time saying unpleasant things, there would be a chance of being cut off abruptly.

    • I'm not clear on how that distinguishes them from progressives democrats, and third parties.

  • It's Israel / Gaza AGAIN (Score:4, Informative)

    by oumuamua( 6173784 ) on Saturday April 26, 2025 @02:08PM (#65332941)
    In the Israel-US relationship one begins to wonder who is the subordinate nation. From the linked article:

    a person close to Martin said he is concerned about “edits on Wikipedia as they relate to the Israel-Hamas conflict that are clearly targeted against Israel to benefit other countries.”
    The Anti-Defamation League published a report in March that claimed “at least 30 Wikipedia editors acted in concert to circumvent Wikipedia’s policies to introduce antisemitic narratives, anti-Israel bias, and misleading information.”
    According to previous reporting by Pirate Wires, anti-Israel editors on Wikipedia have “hijacked the Israel-Palestine narrative” on the site by erasing key facts and pushing pro-Hamas propaganda.

    What's happening in Gaza today: Thirteen killed, dozens under rubble as Israel bombs Gaza amid food crisis https://www.aljazeera.com/news... [aljazeera.com]

    • My taxes pay for Israeli munitions to blow up poor brown people. ‘Murica!

    • go back to the beginning of this whole mess, ask Israel what did they do in 1948 to anger the Palestinians so much that they have a multi-generational grudge against Israel, and i bet Israel wont have an honest answer

      • You have to go back further than that, to the British Mandate after the fall of the Ottoman empire. The British government of that era has a lot to answer for.

        • Keep going back. The Roman Empire in ~135ad changed the name from Judea to Palestine as part of their punishment of the Jews second insurrection "to obliterate the link between the Jews and the province".

          • That's a convenient narrative, but not very factual.
            Factually, it's not really known whether Judaea was renamed to Syria Palaestina before or after the second Jewish revolt.
            What is certain, is that the renamed province was a superset of the original province of Judea.

            It seems that a fair analysis would describe what happened as, Judea was subsumed into a province including Syria and all of Palestine, where previously it was named for the Kingdom of Judaea which was conquered by the Romans.
            The name Pale

          • No that's not at all what I was getting at at all, sorry.

      • Lack of an honest answer is a bit grosser than what you actually get, which is a denial that the Palestinians are even a people who could have been ethnically cleansed from their land.
  • Did he also twirl his mustache while saying this?

  • The acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia sent a letter to the nonprofit that runs Wikipedia, accusing the tax-exempt organization of "allowing foreign actors to manipulate information and spread propaganda to the American public."

    Isn't this precisely what the NRA has done? I'm not even kidding.

  • First they came (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    First they came for the Communists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Communist

    Then they came for the Socialists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Socialist

    Then they came for the trade unionists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a trade unionist

    Then they came for the Jews
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Jew

    Then they came for me
    And there was no one left
    To speak out for me

  • Well, I accuse the MAGAnites of propaganda and threaten them with the truth. Just because the fools you indoctrinate don’t understand how citations and bibliography works does not mean many of the rest us don’t. Pound sand jerks.

  • There's a very simple procedure... subtract 94 years from today's date and shift your view about 6700km east north-east of Washington DC.

  • 200 million dollars (Score:3)

    by Voice of satan( 1553177 ) on Saturday April 26, 2025 @03:09PM (#65333131)

    They have net assets of more than 200 million dollars. Plus some endowments. And an awful lot of people all around the world who use and like wikipedia and are out of reach of the orangutan and his army of inbred brownshirts. So, if the need arises, i guess they can move their infrastructure outside the USA after at worse a donation campaign.

    And the MAGA who do not like how wikipedia covers their repulsive movement will go back to pounding sand or making another child with eleven toes to their sisters.

  • ...are those that are not protected from editing.

    Those that are protected from editing always end up being the right side of history ones, which might not be to your liking if you are on the wrong side of history.

  • He's trying to pry loose information from the wikimedia foundation in order to find something to get them on. However, he provides no details whatsoever on the reasons why he started this "investigation".

    It's just an intimidation tactic.

  • I wonder if they will go after satirical sites or the kiwi farms. They have pages and threads on MAGA people including Trump and they are not flattering.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      It helps not to quote the fucking Daily Mail if you want to make a point about bias. Especially as it's obvious bullshit wheh you look at the content. There's a complain that the page on communism "contain[s] no discussion of the genocides committed by socialist and communist regimes, in which tens of millions of people were murdered and starved". This is just bollocks. There's an extensive discussion of this exact topic. Frankly, more than there is on the page about fascism.

      It's just right wing cunts compl

  • One thousand, three hundred, and sixty four more days of this this. Have they no shame?

  • Conservapedia (Score:3)

    by pipatron( 966506 ) <pipatron@gmail.com> on Saturday April 26, 2025 @06:21PM (#65333583) Homepage
    There's always Conservapedia for those who want "A conservative, pro-American, pro-Christian wiki" https://www.conservapedia.com/... [conservapedia.com]

  • Just another one of MAGATRON'S Deceptikons, just Blind Obedience... to a man living in his own delusion.
    Donald has ALWAYS been "the Boss", He's never been an Employee,Doesn't know how to be one.
    He's trying to run the country like a corporation where he would hire and fire at will.
    Donald, you are just another federal employee, YOU are the only federal employee that should be fired.
    Using private prisons to hold deportees so you feel that you have washed your hands of your responsibilty?
    Turning DOJ,ICE,FBI,DHS

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