Larry Sanger, a co-founder of Wikipedia and former philosophy professor, is seen, March 9, 2007 in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
The co-founder of Wikipedia, Larry Sanger, is making some serious allegations about the manipulation of information on the platform by intelligence agencies, specifically the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In a Twitter video, Sanger claimed these agencies use Wikipedia as part of an “information battlefield.”
Internet project developer Sanger, 54, and Jimmy Wale, and American-British internet entrepreneur, launched Wikipedia in January 2001.
In the three-minute Twitter video, Sanger insists the U.S. intelligence agencies are shaping content on Wikipedia.
“It’s been known for a long time that the CIA and the FBI edit Wikipedia articles. That’s not in dispute,” he says in the video.
He also said Wikipedia is relying too much on Left-leaning news media outlets.
“One also has to remember is that they declare that 80 percent of the sources of news on the right to be unreliable,” he said. “A lot of people don’t realize that, but they really, really color articles and what articles are allowed to say. I guess I’m going to opt for a conspiracy theory now. I think that the Left…very, very deliberately seeks out to take control, but it isn’t just the Left…It’s the establishment. And they have their own agenda…it’s clear that between 2005 and 2015, Wikipedia was on the establishment’s radar. And we do have evidence that the CIA as early of 2006, the CIA and the FBI computers were used to edit Wikipedia….a great part of intelligence now is information warfare that is conducted online.”
Sprinter, the account that posted the video, is known for sharing information related to intelligence, security, and global affairs.
Sanger’s recent statements regarding the influence of intelligence agencies on Wikipedia highlight concerns that the government may use platforms like Wikipedia to shape public perceptions and promote certain narratives.
This isn’t the first time Larry Sanger has criticized Wikipedia for biases. In the past, he has accused the platform of having a “leftist” bias and has expressed concerns about its lack of neutrality. In 2021, for example, he complained that the platform had departed from its original commitment to providing unbiased information, The Daily Mail reported.
In a February 2021 interview with Fox News, he said, “The days of Wikipedia’s robust commitment to neutrality are long gone.”
Sanger’s critique of Wikipedia’s bias goes back even further. In 2007, he referred to Wikipedia as being “broken beyond repair” and launched his own project, Citizendium, in an attempt to address the flaws he identified on Wikipedia, The New York Post reported.
Sanger, 52, called alleged bias on the site he co-founded in January 2001 with Jimmy Wales ‘disheartening’ in an interview for a Fox News analysis.
Among stacks of reference books, Larry Sanger, a co-founder of Wikipedia and former philosophy professor, is seen, March 9, 2007 in Columbus, Ohio. Sanger started a Wikipedia alternative, Citizendium.com, a go-to destination for general information online. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
