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He Co-Founded Wikipedia, Now He Says The Site Needs A Radical Change
Epoch Times ^ | 10/20/2025 | Jan Jekielek and Lawrence Wilson

Posted on 10/20/2025 8:32:31 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

Wikipedia, a popular online encyclopedia millions of people treat as an authoritative source of information, is systemically biased against conservative, religious, and other points of view, according to the site’s co-founder, Larry Sanger.

Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia and former philosophy professor, among stacks of reference books at a library in Columbus, Ohio, on March 26, 2007. Kiichiro Sato/AP Photo

Sanger, 57, who now heads the Knowledge Standards Foundation, believes Wikipedia can be salvaged either by a renewed emphasis on free speech within the organization or by a grassroots campaign to make diverse viewpoints heard.

Failing that, Sanger said, government intervention may be required to pierce the shell of anonymity that now protects Wikipedia’s editors from defamation lawsuits by public figures who believe the site portrays them unfairly.

In an Oct. 9 interview with Jan Jekielek, host of EpochTV’s “American Thought Leaders,” Sanger discussed Wikipedia’s derailing and what could get the site back on track.

Systemic Bias

Wikipedia, launched in 2001, was co-opted by a globalist, academic, secular progressive worldview in the early 2000s, Sanger said. He added that the viewpoint monopoly accelerated following the 2016 U.S. presidential election, when many media outlets began to abandon the notion of impartiality.

Though the site is overseen by the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia describes itself as a self-governing project and states “its policies and guidelines are intended to reflect the consensus of the community.”

Sanger said that eventually, the site’s original neutrality rules, which he authored, were rewritten to instead forbid “false balance.”

“Basically, it’s required now, even for the sake of neutrality, that they take a side when [they believe] one side is clearly wrong,” Sanger said. “Pretensions of objectivity are out the window.”

One way this is enforced is through a color-coded rating system that favors or bans certain sources, Sanger said.

“You simply may not cite as sources of Wikipedia articles anything that has been branded as right wing,” he said. “I don’t think that The Epoch Times, for example, is particularly right wing, but it is colored red on this list.”

Information from some “green” sources is taken as fact and repeated without attribution, Sanger said.

Sanger, who has long campaigned for a restoration of free speech and accountability on the platform, said many people continue to think of Wikipedia as neutral and accurate.

“Even now, people are still sort of waking up to the reality that Wikipedia does, on many pages … act as essentially propaganda,” he said.

As evidence, Sanger listed a host of public figures, including novelist Philip Roth, journalist John Seigenthaler Sr., and filmmaker Robby Starbuck, who complained to him that they were misrepresented on Wikipedia.

In 2022, Wikipedia deleted its page on U.S. Senate candidate Kathy Barnette, a Republican, saying she was not a notable person. The page was later restored.

Pennsylvania U.S. Senate Republican candidate Kathy Barnette speaks during a Republican leadership forum at Newtown Athletic Club in Newtown, Pa., on May 11, 2022. In 2022, Wikipedia deleted its page on Barnette, saying she was not a notable person. The page was later restored. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

The same year, editors deleted an entry for Hunter Biden’s investment company, Rosemont Seneca Partners, saying it was not notable. An editor said keeping the page online could turn it into “a magnet for conspiracy theories about Hunter Biden.” That editor didn’t elaborate or provide any evidence.

Sanger likens the intellectual takeover of Wikipedia’s content to the “long march through the institutions,” a communist tactic of taking over a society by gaining control of essential institutions, including media, education, and government.

“Wikipedia is one of the institutions that the left marched through,” Sanger said.

Wikipedia did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.

Lack of Transparency, Accountability

The way Wikipedia is organized creates a self-perpetuating cycle that Sanger described as an “irrational bureaucracy.”

He said the application of Wikipedia’s editorial rules has become a way to enforce ideological conformity and that some rules need to be revived and others abolished.

One problem is the platform’s policy of preferring secondary sources over primary or original sources. This is contrary to the approach of journalists and higher education institutions, who favor original sources, such as direct quotes from public figures, documents written by historical figures, and original research.

Wikipedia, by contrast, favors sources that have already interpreted original sources, such as magazines and newspapers.

“As a former academic, I find that to be absurd,” Sanger said.

He recalled an incident in which Roth told Sanger he asked Wikipedia to correct its page mentioning the origin story of a character in his book “The Human Stain.”

Though Roth told Wikipedia directly how he created the character, the site’s editors refused to update the page, preferring to rely on a speculative account published in The New York Times. Roth then wrote an article about the matter in The New Yorker, Sanger said, giving Wikipedia a secondary source for what the author had told them directly.

“There’s something really ridiculous about that,” Sanger said.

Novelist Philip Roth in 1967. Roth is among a list of public figures that Sanger mentioned who have complained to him that they have been misrepresented on Wikipedia. Bernard Gotfryd/Public Domain

The anonymity of the majority of Wikipedia’s 62 most influential editors perpetuates the problem, Sanger said, noting it creates a situation in which no one is held responsible for the potential harm the site’s content may cause.

“Eighty-five percent of them are anonymous. So you can’t sue them,” Sanger said.

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 shields companies from lawsuits related to user-generated content, meaning the Wikimedia Foundation cannot be sued either.

Ideas for Reform

On his website, Sanger outlines a series of ideas for returning Wikipedia to its original stance on fairness and free speech. A handful of his ideas center on increasing transparency into site management, such as revealing who Wikipedia’s leaders are, allowing the public to rate articles, ending decision-making by consensus, and adopting a legislative process for determining editorial policy.

Wikipedia’s current policies effectively make Wikipedia insular and ideologically exclusive, according to Sanger, who believes determining policies in an open forum could expose the site to other viewpoints.

Sanger’s other suggestions focus on free speech, such as enabling competing articles on the same subject, abolishing source blacklists, reviving the original neutrality policy, and ending the indefinite blocking of some editors.

Sanger also calls on the site to repeal the “ignore all rules” policy, which he created in Wikipedia’s early days. The rule was intended to encourage editors who were nervous about amending articles to simply focus on the task at hand.

“That was since made into a rule that is used by insiders to exert control over the newbies. So it’s, again, entirely inverted,” Sanger said.

A computer screen shows Larry Sanger’s website on Oct. 16, 2025. Sanger said the way Wikipedia is organized creates a self-perpetuating cycle that he described as an “irrational bureaucracy.” Oleksii Pydsosonnii/The Epoch Times

How Change Could Arise

More broadly, Sanger said change could come in one of three ways.

First, the Wikimedia Foundation could voluntarily end the ideological monopoly.

“Centrists and libertarians and Republicans and conservatives, religious people, religious Hindus and Jews and Christians, Falun Gong, they should all be able to participate,” Sanger said.

Failing that, Sanger said a public campaign seeking fairness might move the site to change.

“I’m going to set up a letter of protest,” Sanger said. “I’m going to try to circulate this to a lot of prominent people who have been wronged in various ways by Wikipedia.”

He invites others to contact the Wikimedia Foundation directly to make their feelings known.

As a last resort, Sanger said Congress could intervene by creating an exception to Section 230 that would enable a site to be taken down if it published defamatory material. A precedent exists, according to Sanger, who cited a 2018 law that created a similar exception for websites used to organize human trafficking.

“Even if the people who run the website aren’t doing the human trafficking, if it’s being organized on the website, they can still be sued,” Sanger said.

“Wikipedia really does need some reform,” Sanger said.

Though he’s hopeful the site may adopt his proposals, he acknowledged it may not happen.

“They might find ways that are more palatable to them,” he added. “[If so,] I’d be all in favor of that.”



TOPICS: Books/Literature; Computers/Internet; Education; Society
KEYWORDS: larrysanger; sanger; wikipedia
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1 posted on 10/20/2025 8:32:31 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Wikipedia is good for finding dates of birth, but anything else is suspect


2 posted on 10/20/2025 8:39:39 PM PDT by rlmorel (Factio Communistica Sinensis Delenda Est.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Wikipedia needs a conservative and truthful change. Satan was supposed to be the father of lies.


3 posted on 10/20/2025 9:15:30 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: rlmorel; SeekAndFind
> Wikipedia is good for finding dates of birth, but anything else is suspect

It's not bad on non-politically-charged science and technology. But anything politically relevant is biased to the point of doubtful use.

I was an early contributor to Wikipedia. After a while I became very disillusioned and gave it up, and I wiped all personal information from my user page. It had become a liability.

4 posted on 10/20/2025 9:16:34 PM PDT by dayglored (This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalms 118:24)
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To: dayglored

I can understand that completely. I suspect Wikipedia could’ve been a good idea, but The left used it, like they use all things in that fashion.


5 posted on 10/20/2025 9:25:22 PM PDT by rlmorel (Factio Communistica Sinensis Delenda Est.)
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To: rlmorel

Largely now The Tragedy of the Commons.


6 posted on 10/20/2025 9:59:19 PM PDT by Paladin2 (YMMV)
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To: Paladin2

Excellent reference, Paladin2.


7 posted on 10/20/2025 10:06:03 PM PDT by rlmorel (Factio Communistica Sinensis Delenda Est.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Google is worse. Since Obama, one cannot find basic information a search used to bring.


8 posted on 10/20/2025 10:21:15 PM PDT by Keyser Soze 84
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To: Keyser Soze 84

“Google is worse.”

Yep, no longer does one get directed to original documents.

Total deprecation.

Sad....


9 posted on 10/20/2025 11:15:27 PM PDT by Paladin2 (YMMV)
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To: dayglored

I expected. Better from wales


10 posted on 10/20/2025 11:16:07 PM PDT by wardaddy (If u hate Trump you’re stupid )
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To: Keyser Soze 84

Dump all the search engines and just use Grok. Give it what you want to know and it will do a great job of finding it, distilling it, analyzing it, and giving you what you were looking for, not a list of useless links. The search engines as we know them will slowly die. Use search engines for only the simplest of queries, and a neutral AI engine for everything else.


11 posted on 10/21/2025 12:22:54 AM PDT by lefty-lie-spy (Stay Metal)
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To: rlmorel

I use it to get background information on old movies and actors. For the most part, there is little political content for that, and the format Wiki uses is more informative than IMBD, which would be the other major source for that type of content.


12 posted on 10/21/2025 12:53:27 AM PDT by Bernard ("Nothing is as expensive as that which the government provides for free." - Ronald Reagan)
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To: SeekAndFind

Wiki is a joke whenever it comes to politics. It’s like trying to get valid info from MSNBC.


13 posted on 10/21/2025 1:46:03 AM PDT by Bullish (My tagline ran off with another man, but it's ok---- I wasn't married to it.)
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To: Paladin2
Wiki is worse than Google in many ways, Benny Johnson's tribute at Charlie's memorial was arguably the best - tried to find out how many years he worked with Charlie at TPUSA. I listen to his podcast most days and is not a mass murderer like the treatment from Wiki would imply. This is a great example on rotten and biased Wiki is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benny_Johnson_(columnist)

14 posted on 10/21/2025 3:32:03 AM PDT by quantim (Victory is not relative, it is absolute.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Liberalpedia...


15 posted on 10/21/2025 4:05:59 AM PDT by maddog55 (The only thing systemic in America is the left's hatred of it!)
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To: Paladin2; Keyser Soze 84

“Google is worse.”

I asked Google for the difference in weight between the 4-cylinder and six-cylinder Porsche 914 models. (Was it just the added weight of a passenger?).

The first answer found the six was lighter. (Obviously wrong).

I reversed the entry and got the right answer; BUT WORSE, Google invented text to justify the wrong answer!


16 posted on 10/21/2025 4:18:35 AM PDT by Does so ("Things will now change in Minneapolis AND AT HOME"....Dem☭¢rat... ∅ ™ ¿ ¡ ☞ ½¼)
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To: SeekAndFind

Wikipedia is NOT a “fair, unbiased” source of information. Whoever said they were?

It’s as if the entirety of The Encyclopedia Brittanica (or Funk and Wagnals back in the day) were co-opted by Marxist-socialist true believers who refused to allow ANY outside editors’ links to fully documented, - i.e., factual - unbiased information which countered their position.

You know, it’s as if Wikipedia is entirely Marxist propaganda.

Well, no, it’s not, not really. It really REALLY is entirely Marxist propaganda run by Marxist historical revisionists and should be trusted less than US waste stream media Jowhorenalists.


17 posted on 10/21/2025 4:35:31 AM PDT by normbal (normbal. Non-native Tennessean.)
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To: SeekAndFind

I’m not sure if there is one person in America that is labeled “far left” by wikipedia. Can anyone find one? There are thousands labeled far right in the the opening sentence. MTG for one.


18 posted on 10/21/2025 4:57:58 AM PDT by darkomilicic
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To: Bernard

Very true-I am a movie buff, and I always use Wikipedia for that because as you accurately state, their format is cleaner.

I always wondered about IMBD, because hell, they should be the go-to. But they designed it very poorly. Every time I use it I think “Good gosh, what is wrong with these people?”

All I can figure is, the founder of it did it that way, and nobody else can change it.


19 posted on 10/21/2025 6:19:06 AM PDT by rlmorel (Factio Communistica Sinensis Delenda Est.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Wikipedia is the government in microcosm. Little special interests have their fiefdoms in the government bureaucracy, little Wikipedia bureaucrats treat their little kingdoms as their personal property. They aren’t going to just let go, all the more so, since they are insecure, petty tyrants. There’s a similarity there to academia.

Philip Roth, though, probably shouldn’t be complaining. Was it because Wikipedia took his ex-wife’s side? For everything false that might have been put into his bio, there was probably a lot of true and damaging stuff that was left out.


20 posted on 10/21/2025 6:31:38 AM PDT by x
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