A recent report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) alleges that at least 30 Wikipedia editors worked together to introduce “antisemitic narratives, anti-Israel bias, and misleading content” onto the crowdsourced platform during the Israel-Hamas conflict. The report, published Tuesday by the ADL’s Center for Tech and Society, also claims that “pro-Hamas perspectives” were prevalent in Arabic-language entries on the site.
In response, a spokesperson for the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit responsible for running Wikipedia, told the New York Post, “The values of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation reflect our commitment to integrity and accuracy, and we categorically condemn antisemitism and all forms of hate.” The spokesperson added, “Though our preliminary review of this report finds troubling and flawed conclusions that are not supported by the Anti-Defamation League’s data, we are currently undertaking a more thorough and detailed analysis.” They also noted that it was “unfortunate” the ADL did not reach out to the foundation before publishing the report.
These accusations of antisemitism are part of a broader ongoing conflict between the ADL and Wikimedia. The Washington Post reported that last year, Wikipedia editors labeled the ADL as an “unreliable source of information” concerning the Israel-Hamas war. In mid-January, the ADL praised the action taken by Wikipedia’s arbitration board, which disciplined six “rogue” editors who had allegedly spread “malicious, false and biased information about Zionism and Israel” across the platform.
Although problematic edits reportedly increased after Hamas launched its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, the ADL’s report contends that the anti-Israel editors had been actively working for years to erase references to antisemitism and alter entries related to the Palestinian terror group. According to the ADL’s findings, an NPR story about a young Palestinian flying a kite with a swastika on it was removed from Wikipedia’s Gaza protests page, while editors aligned with the alleged agenda also deleted accounts of sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas. Additionally, “bad-faith editors” reportedly erased mentions of terrorist activities from Hamas-related pages.
The ADL report also points to changes made to Wikipedia’s main Zionism page beginning in 2022, claiming that these edits reframe Israel’s founding in a negative light. The page currently states, “Zionists wanted to create a Jewish state in Palestine with as much land, as many Jews, and as few Palestinian Arabs as possible.”
To address these issues, the ADL suggests that search engines reduce the visibility of Wikipedia pages in their results and that Wikimedia collaborate with experts on Israel to improve content accuracy. The report further recommends that Wikipedia review its policies on sourcing, bias, and harassment.
{Matzav.com}The post ADL Report: Dozens of Wikipedia Editors Pushed Anti-Israel Bias first appeared on Matzav.com.