Wikipedia, an organized and evolving repository of all human knowledge, relies on an army of anonymous volunteer editors to keep it running. Wiki editors spend hours of their lives editing entries, fighting with each other, and trying to create a clear picture of the truth online. According to leaked documents He got it forwardthe Heritage Foundation plans to “identify and target” these anonymous editors.
The Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank and authors Project 2025. According to Forward, Heritage sent a presentation detailing a plan to correspond with Wikipedia editors with Jewish institutions as part of what it claims is an ongoing effort to combat anti-Semitism.
All three aspects are minor but paint an unpleasant picture. The goal is to “identify and target Wikipedia editors who abuse their positions by analyzing text patterns, usernames, and technical data through data breach analysis, fingerprinting, human intelligence, and technical targeting,” the first slide states.
Heritage’s plan involves using a combination of methods to lure Wikipedia editors so that the research center can discover their true identities. To that end, Heritage will “engage coordinated accounts to uncover patterns, provoke reactions, and uncover information,” and “nudge specific topics to reveal more identity-related details.”
The slides explain how Heritage agents create fake accounts to interact with Wikipedia editors. She also said she would use “neurolinguistic programming” to “identify writing style, recurring phrases and content patterns.” Agents even review the editor’s activities on other sites in an attempt to expose her.
Neither the Heritage Foundation nor the Wikimedia Foundation responded to Gizmodo’s request for comment.
Wikipedia has become a source of conservative concern in recent years, fighting off accusations of anti-Semitism and “hypervigilance.”
Supporters of Israel have been upset by the site’s handling of the Israeli war in Gaza for years, and many Jewish media outlets have accused the site of anti-Semitism. It’s such a complicated topic It goes back yearsBut the latest disagreement concerns the legal definition of “genocide” and how to do it Frames Wikipedia What is Israel doing in Gaza? Wiki editors have also been criticized for describing the Anti-Defamation League as an organization Unreliable source Information about the conflict. Holocaust scholars have since come out to say that the site’s editors were as well Memory distortion Of tragedy.
The Conservative campaign against Wikipedia intensified two days before Christmas when Libs of TikTok I got mad On X the site spent money on “stocks”. Wikipedia is supported by donations and publishes its financial statements every year for the public to view. According to these disclosures, the Foundation spent $31.2 million on “stocks.” This was too much for the Libs of TikTok and Elon Musk, who called people out Stop donating To the site.
What did Wikipedia do with this $31.2 million? He gave as much of it as he did Give money. In the Middle East, it funds Arab Reports for Investigative Journalism, which helps train journalists in Arab countries. In Brazil, it funded InternetLab, which spent money researching racial disparities and Internet access in the country. In North America, it provided money to the Racial Equality in Journalism Fund, which helped fund local news gathering.
Editing Wikipedia is always a battle. Volunteer editors do not walk the walk; they are constantly editing, discussing and arguing about the nature of truth. It’s actually a giant societal memorandum on all human knowledge. We know how much social media CEOs love community feedback.
Wikipedia keeps a record of edits and discussions, in each entry. Discussions are often More wonderful From the entries themselves. Wikipedia’s long history of writing about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has its own history Custom articlecomplete with its complexity and The history is sprawling Of adjustments, discussions and battles.
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