Trump’s D.C. Prosecutor Is Going After Wikipedia For Allegedly Spreading ‘Propaganda’

3 months ago 34

The nonprofit radical that runs Wikipedia was threatened by Ed Martin, the interim United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, successful a missive accusing it of “allowing overseas actors to manipulate accusation and dispersed propaganda to the American public.”

“Wikipedia is permitting accusation manipulation connected its platform, including the rewriting of key, humanities events and biographical accusation of existent and erstwhile American leaders, arsenic good arsenic different matters implicating the nationalist information and the interests of the United States,” Martin wrote successful a missive dated Thursday that was archetypal reported by The Free Press.

The missive accuses the Wikimedia Foundation, the enactment down the online encyclopedia, of violating a taxation codification that requires nonprofits to run exclusively for “religious, charitable, scientific, investigating for nationalist safety, literary, oregon acquisition purposes.”

Investigations into the tax-exempt statuses of nonprofits are usually handled by the Internal Revenue Service, not transgression prosecutors, The Free Press noted, citing the IRS ailment process.

Martin said successful the missive that his bureau received accusation that Wikipedia’s “information absorption policies” person benefited “foreign powers.” He claimed that Wikipedia subverts “the interests of American taxpayers” owed to its committee being made up “primarily of overseas nationals.”

“Masking propaganda that influences nationalist sentiment nether the guise of providing informational worldly is antithetical to Wikimedia’s ‘educational’ mission,” Martin wrote.

Wikipedia exertion Molly White told the Washington Post that Martin’s missive is different mode Trump and his allies are “weaponizing laws to effort to soundlessness high-quality autarkic information.”

Martin asked the instauration to reply a fig of questions by May 15, including what mechanisms are successful spot to “safeguard” the nationalist from propaganda.

Jacob Rogers, an lawyer for Wikimedia, told The Verge that the site is governed by “neutral constituent of view, verifiability, and nary archetypal research, which beryllium to guarantee accusation is presented arsenic accurately, fairly, and neutrally arsenic possible.”

He added that Wikipedia’s contented moderation is “overseen by astir 260,000 volunteers and is unfastened and transparent for each to see, which is wherefore we invited opportunities to explicate however Wikipedia works and volition bash truthful successful the due forum.”

Right-wing attacks connected Wikipedia did not statesman with Martin. Tech billionaire Elon Musk has been astatine warfare with the online encyclopedia since astatine slightest 2023, erstwhile helium offered to donate $1 cardinal to the instauration nether the information it alteration the platform’s sanction to “Dickipedia.” In a bid of tweets, the Tesla CEO urged his followers to halt donating to Wikipedia, which helium called “Wokipedia.”