What Is Elon Musk’s Wikipedia Controversy All About?

Published:

Oct 23, 2023 03:51 PM

HKT | 4 min read

Elon Musk is not new to making controversial statements or criticising liberal media, especially since his takeover of Twitter (now rebranded as X). From Joe Biden and TikTok to Mark Zuckerberg and the New York Times, everyone has been on Musk’s hitlist lately. In fact, it won’t be wrong to say that Musk has become the kind of Twitter troll his site has become infamous for. Nowadays, Musk’s trolling gaze seems to be fixated on Wikipedia. This isn’t surprising since, in the past, he has alleged that Wikipedia exhibits a leftist bias and engages in information manipulation (claims that have no credible sources).

In a recent tweet, he extended an offer to donate USD 1 billion to Wikipedia, under a truly bizarre condition – the platform will have to undergo a name change to ‘D*ckipedia.’

In case you are curious as to what happened next, here’s the detailed lowdown of the Elon Musk vs Wikipedia controversy.

More about Elon Musk’s Wikipedia controversy

Picture credits: Courtesy Wikipedia Commons/The Royal Society/CC BY-SA 3.0

You might be wondering why Musk suggested such a ridiculous name change for Wikipedia. Well, Musk’s suggestion has largely to do with his perception of the online encyclopaedia. Time and again, Musk has hinted at Wikipedia harbouring a left-wing bias and has clubbed it with other media outlets like The Washington Post, New York Times, CNN and MSNBC. Of course, there is no credible evidence to justify Musk’s claims, but the former Twitter (now rebranded as X) CEO has never really cited any sources or evidence to justify most of his attacks or accusations.

The second reason for Musk’s suggestion of a name change has to do with the Wikimedia Foundation’s constant requests for monetary donations from the general public.

He questioned the necessity for such a large amount of money by tweeting, “It certainly isn’t needed to operate Wikipedia. You can literally fit a copy of the entire text on your phone!”

He further added, “So, what’s the money for? Inquiring minds want to know.” Furthermore, he also requested that the information about the name change be included on his Wikipedia page.

As soon as Musk tweeted his name-change suggestion, Twitter users started replying with hilarious comments and suggestions. When journalist Ed Krassenstein suggested that Wikipedia should accept the offer and then revert the name change after receiving the money, Musk responded that the new name would need to remain in place for at least one year.

It is uncertain whether Wikipedia will consider the Tesla founder’s offer, but the situation, once again, shows Musk’s readiness to challenge and question well-established institutions.

As mentioned above, this isn’t the first time Musk and Wikipedia are having a beef. Earlier in May 2023, the co-founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, criticised Musk for suppressing critics of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey just one day before the country’s presidential election.

Image credits: Courtesy X (formerly Twitter)

Wales went on to accuse the billionaire of failing to uphold the principles of free speech that he so vehemently vouches for by yielding to Turkey’s requests to limit content. Wales also mentioned that when he encountered a comparable situation, Wikipedia resisted such demands.

(Hero image credits: Courtesy X/Elon Musk)
(Feature image credits: Courtesy Wikipedia Commons/The Royal Society/CC BY-SA 3.0)

Note:

The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.

Sanika lives for fashion and skincare. She enjoys writing about style, beauty, and lifestyle. She worked as a fashion writer for Man's World India magazine. When not writing about designers and trends, she likes to shop, travel, try new Sushi restaurants, practise pilates and rewatch her comfort shows.

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