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Examples of Bias in Wikipedia

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This list covers a wide range of bias in the English Wikipedia website. Although Wikipedia claims to have credibility because anyone can edit it, in fact the website represents the viewpoint of its most strident and persistent editors. It On [[Christmas]] Day 2016 (NYC time), Wikipedia's entry for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Maryanne Trump Barry prominently and falsely declared: "Her younger brother is loan shark and liar Donald Trump."<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maryanne_Trump_Barry&type=revision&diff=756673396&oldid=756136858</ref> Wikipedia is also heavily influenced by paid public relations professionals who do not disclose their conflicts of interest. This list together with the sublists linked below provide a wide variety of examples of the resulting bias.
[[Image:Jimmy_wales_1.jpg‎|right|250px|thumb|Co-Founder of Wikipedia, the [[atheism|atheist]] Jimmy Wales]]
<blockquote>"Consider Ann Coulter versus Michael Moore​. Coulter’s entry (on August 9, 2011) was 9028 words long.* Of this longer-than-usual entry, 3220 words were devoted to “Controversies and criticism” in which a series of incidents involving Coulter and quotes from her are cited with accompanying condemnations, primarily from her opponents on the Left. That’s 35.6 percent of Coulter’s entry devoted to making her look bad. By contrast, Moore’s entry is 2876 words (the more standard length for entries on political commentators), with 130 devoted to “Controversy.” That’s 4.5% of the word count, a fraction of Coulter’s. Does this mean that an “unbiased” commentator would find Coulter eight times as “controversial” as Moore?"<ref name="frontpagemag.com"/></blockquote>
The project was initiated by [[Atheism|atheist]] and [[entrepreneur]] [[Jimmy Wales]] and the [[agnosticism|agnostic]] [[philosophy]] [[professor]] [[Larry Sanger]] on January 15, 2001.<ref>http://www.nndb.com/lists/288/000092012/</ref> An irony of internet history is that Jimmy Wales, despite being an atheist, refers to himself as Wikipedia's "spiritual leader".<ref>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/09/wikimedia_pron_purge/</ref> Despite its official "neutrality policy," Wikipedia has a strong liberal bias. In his article entitled ''Wikipedia lies, slander continue'' [[journalism|journalist]] [[Joseph Farah]] stated Wikipedia "is not only a provider of inaccuracy and bias. It is wholesale purveyor of lies and slander unlike any other the world has ever known."<ref name="wnd.com">http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83640</ref> Mr. Farah has repeatedly been the victim of defamation at the Wikipedia website.<ref name="wnd.com"/> In December 2010, [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]] [[JP Holding]] called Wikipedia "the abomination that causes misinformation".<ref name="tektonticker.blogspot.com">http://tektonticker.blogspot.com/search/label/Wikipedia</ref> Although Wales "made his original fortune as a pornography trafficker," he has since tried to clean up his image and demands retractions when people report this fact.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|url=http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/heres-your-correction-wikipedia-founder/|title=Here's Your Correction, Wikipedia Founder|date=December 17, 2012|accessdate=December 26, 2012|work=WND}}</ref>
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|bgcolor=yellow|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Most examples have been moved to the sublists. Please visit the sublists to learn about the variety of bias in Wikipedia.
# [[Wikipedia]] has a lengthy entry on "Jesus H. Christ,"<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_H._Christ</ref> a term that is an idiotic mockery of the [[Christian]] [[faith]]. [[Wikipedia]] calls the term "often humorous," "joking" and "comedic", and relishes in repeating disrespectful uses of the term, without admitting that the phrase is an anti-[[Christian]] mockery. Meanwhile, [[Wikipedia]] does not describe mockery of any other religion as "humorous".
# The Wikipedia article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elopement_%28marriage%29&oldid=527790928 elopement] appears to make light of the tradition of marriage and weddings.
# [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Hovind Kent Hovind], a prominent figure in Christianity and specifically, the Creation/Evolution debate, is consistently labeled a tax protester, even though only about 1% of his ministry is about fighting common issues with the Internal Revenue Service in the United States. The Wikipedia page goes on to talk about his ensuing legal battles, even though many Christians regard Kent Hovind first as a figure in the Creation/Evolution debate, and his legal battles are nothing more than an afterthought.
====Islam====
#On November 2, 2006, days before the mid-term Congressional elections, an anonymous IP address traced to the ''[[New York Times]]'' changed [[U.S. House of Representatives]] [[Majority Leader]] [[Tom DeLay]]'s Wikipedia biographical entry from "a prominent member of the [[Republican Party]]" to "Grand Dragon of the Republican Party."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tom_DeLay&diff=prev&oldid=85320018 Wikipedia/Tom DeLay, Revision as of 20:19, 2 November 2006, IP 199.181.174.146]</ref><ref>[http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/name2ip.php?orgname=New+York+Times&location= WikiScanner]</ref><sup>[dead link]</sup>
# Wikipedia has thousands of obscure pages for individuals that the public never heard of or recognize. Conservative undercover journalist [[Hannah Giles]] is not given her own page mostly likely due to the fact she has taken on the liberal establishment and won. A search of Hannah Giles gives her an obscure paragraph in what Wikipedia titles the ''ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy''.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Giles#Hannah_Giles_and_James_O.27Keefe</ref>
# For [[liberal]] politicians, Wikipedia uses flattering photos. But for [[conservative]] politician [[Sally Kern]], about whom [[Homosexuality|homosexual]] activists have had a sissy fit, from 2009 to 2011, Wikipedia used an absurd, uncharacteristic photo.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Files_for_deletion/2011_February_26#File:Sally_Kern_2009.jpg</ref>
===Criminals and mentally ill editors===
=== Internet policies ===
#The [[Wikimedia Foundation]] (WMF) claims to have a policy against internet censorship. Yet, the WMF has entered into a partnership with the [[Saudi Telecom Company]] (STC) to provide Wikipedia to mobile phone subscribers, prompting questions about the potential conflict over censorship.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2012-October/122320.html</ref> Meanwhile, the English Wikipedia has an article entitled "List of Wikipedia articles censored in Saudi Arabia".<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:List_of_Wikipedia_articles_censored_in_Saudi_Arabia&oldid=505551894</ref>
#Wikipedia engages in censorship of points of view that they disapprove of. In February 2017, Wikipedia (supported by Wikimedia) decided it would no longer accept ''[[The Daily Mail]]'', a right-wing newspaper based in the [[United Kingdom]], as a reliable source.<ref>Panis, Thomas (February 17, 2017). [http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/02/the_wikipedia_purge.html The Wikipedia Purge]. ''American Thinker''. Retrieved February 25, 2017.</ref> Wikipedia also discriminates against other conservative or right-wing sources, such as [[Breitbart.com|Breitbart News]], despite allowing [[liberal media]] sources that promote [[fake news]] as sources.
===Journalists===
#BBC presenter Lynn Parsons wrote Wikipedia claiming that her biography was false—including her birth date. Her request to have her article deleted was voted down.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Lynn_Parsons|title=Articles for Deletion|accessdate=November 18, 2012|date=November 10, 2012}}</ref>
# Journalist Violet Blue reported on a Wikipedia paid editing scandal for CNET. In response, " Mr. Wales said on his Wikipedia “Talk” page that I’m not a journalist, or credible. Shortly afterward, everything on the Wikipedia page about me citing and documenting my career as a journalist was removed, as were related links on Wikipedia to stories I broke writing for CBS."<ref>http://violetblue.tumblr.com/journalism</ref>
# The Wikipedia page to do with [[David Seaman (American journalist)]] was locked and setup for deletion in December 2016 due to his investigation into [[PizzaGate]], as indicated on the Wikipedia talk page.<ref>[http://www.oneangrygamer.net/2016/12/youtube-censors-pizzagate-videos-trump-staff-fired-following-pizzagate-tweet/18427/ YouTube Censors PizzaGate Videos; Trump Staff Fired Following PizzaGate Tweet]</ref> Before his page was deleted, some editors such as User:Simtropolitan suggested using more reliable sources, writing, ''“if nothing else his very public firing from the Huffington Post at the height of the election warrants keeping this, but only as a stub if sources like ZeroHedge keep being cited. Reliable sources do exist, he has worked with networks that are not [fringe sources], don’t be a reactionary and cite blogs that have “Tyler Durden” as their author. Even if you want to make a villain out of him for Pizzagate, people much less relevant to current events like David Icke have long, well-cited articles here. I am not saying that Seaman is the same as Icke, but this is relevant to current events. The article can and should be improved upon however.”'' David Seaman's dismissal from [[Huffington Post]] was also covered by [[Real Clear Politics]], along with receiving coverage from [[The Daily Caller]]. However, even those weren’t considered reliable enough for the Wikipedia censors.<ref>[http://www.oneangrygamer.net/2016/12/wikipedia-deletes-david-seaman-entry-following-his-pizzagate-coverage/19050/ Wikipedia Deletes David Seaman Entry Following His PizzaGate Coverage]</ref>
# Various attempts have been made by Wikipedia users to point out the liberal bias of online fact checker [[Snopes]].<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Snopes.com&oldid=755626326</ref> User:Boab added a sentence to the Accuracy section of the article suggesting that Snopes has been accused of liberal bias. In support of this claim, User:Boab provided the following 2016 references:<ref>http://dailycaller.com/2016/06/17/fact-checking-snopes-websites-political-fact-checker-is-just-a-failed-liberal-blogger/</ref><ref>https://ethicsalarms.com/2016/07/31/bye-bye-snopes-youre-dead-to-me-now/</ref><ref>http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/262720/snopes-attack-front-page-shows-how-incompetent-it-daniel-greenfield</ref><ref>http://mynewsla.com/hollywood/2016/06/20/snopes-vs-daily-caller-fact-checker-hit-as-hillary-backer/</ref> <ref>https://jdlong.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/snopes-com-exposed-left-wing-website-not-quite-the-impartial-arbiter-of-truth/</ref><ref>http://www.angrypatriotmovement.com/who-is-behind-snopes/</ref><ref>[http://www.fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/snopes-got-snoped/60681 Snopes Got Snoped]</ref>
::Despite the large number of references provided (some of which were from non-conservative sources), a cabal of administrators on the site insisted that none of them were valid and/or that they had to be deleted from the page. Although User:Boab also provided the list of references under the talk page of the site, this list of references was archived away into obscurity due to complaints by User:Dbrodbeck <ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Dbrodbeck</ref> that the references were cluttering up the talk page.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents&oldid=755716965 (See discussion #27: "Boab: InfoWars is reliable, Snopes isn't")</ref>
=== Liberal Politicians ===
# Wikipedia now promotes the late [[liberal]] icon [[Ted Kennedy]] as the leader of ... "progressivism": "By the time of his death, he had come to be viewed as a major figure and spokesman for American progressivism."<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kennedy</ref>
# Wikipedia's article on [[Jimmy Carter]]'s Presidency is clearly biased in favor of the failed politician.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Jimmy_Carter#Budget</ref>
# Various attempts have been made on Wikipedia to emphasize the controversial fact that [[Elizabeth Warren]]<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elizabeth_Warren&oldid=755585604</ref> claimed on many occasions to be a Native American and a "person of color" despite a lack of documented evidence. Due to the revival of this controversy by Donald Trump in the 2016 election, attempts were made to create a separate paragraph about the issue. However, a cabal of administrators instead insisted that the controversy remain buried in the bottom of a section about her 2012 campaign where many readers said they were unable to find it.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Elizabeth_Warren&oldid=755040824 This, for example ("Controversies"), where an editor did not know it was already in the article.</ref>
 
===Mathematics and Engineering ===
See [[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia: Mathematics and Engineering]]
#The Wikipedia article "[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_conspiracy_theories&oldid=504359758 List of consipracy theories]" ridicules and dismisses as "conspiracy theories" more hypotheses advanced by conservative thinkers than hypotheses advanced by left wing thinkers. The editor(s) of this page have an obvious liberal bias that hold in disfavor a number of ideas advanced by conservatives. For example, [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_conspiracy_theories&oldid=504359758#Water_fluoridation Water Fluoridation] has been opposed by many conservative groups due to concerns about health impacts as well as a question of personal freedom and limits on the proper scope of government. Yet, the Wikipedia list dismisses these views as a "conspiracy theory" that draws on "distrust of experts and unease about medicine and science". In another example, [[peak oil]] is a theory advanced by many conservatives including geologist [[T. Boone Pickens]]. Yet, the page dismisses it, noting "There are theories that the 'peak oil' concept is a fraud concocted by the oil industries to increase prices amid concerns about future supplies."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_conspiracy_theories&oldid=504359758|title=List of conspiracy theories#Peak oil|date=July 28, 2012|accessdate=July 28, 2012}}</ref>
#The Wikipedia article "[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Plan_%28Washington,_D.C.%29&oldid=478678893 The Plan (Washington, D.C.)]" is one of the conspiracy theories included on the official Wikipedia conspiracy list. However, the article cites few sources supporting the existence of the conspiracy to replace black residents with whites in Washington DC and no sources that refute the existence of the conspiracy.
#The Wikipedia article of [[Alex Jones]]<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alex_Jones_(radio_host)&oldid=755574598</ref> describes the InfoWars host as follows (as of December 18, 2016): "Alexander Emerick "Alex" Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American radio show host, documentary filmmaker, writer, and conspiracy theorist. He hosts The Alex Jones Show from Austin, Texas, which airs on the Genesis Communications Network and shortwave radio station WWCR across the United States and online. His website, InfoWars.com, has been labelled a fake news website."
 
::Although InfoWars has over 3 million subscribers and was more accurate that the New York Times (currently on the verge of bankruptcy) in predicting the outcome of the 2016 election, InfoWars has been irrevocably labeled as a "fake news website" in the introductory paragraph about Alex Jones. Any attempts to alter this description on Wikipedia will be met with swift resistance from a cabal of left-wing administrators whose goal it is to paint Jones as an illegitimate crackpot. While attempting to challenge the claim of InfoWars as a "fake news website," User:Boab was banned indefinitely from Wikipedia (by User:The Blade of the Northern Lights <ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:The_Blade_of_the_Northern_Lights</ref> and User:Ian.thomson<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Ian.thomson</ref>) for "Disruptive editing: Pushing fringe theories and displaying a belligerent BATTLEGROUND approach to disputes."<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Boab&oldid=755441776</ref>
=== Naziism, Socialism, Communism ===
#Wikipedia appeals to a dumbed-down culture of users that appreciate obscenity instead of education. The vulgar swear word referring to sex, F---, is mentioned in nearly 7,000 articles. [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Search] Most recently, it is used in an article about Republican Senate candidate [[Michael Baumgartner]] when the article's sources did not spell out that word.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Baumgartner&oldid=509330054|title=Michael Baumgartner|accessdate=August 27, 2012}}</ref>
#Wikipedia does its best to cover-up crimes and lewd behavior coming from left leaning [[Occupy Wall Street]] crowd. Assault emphasized, rape is minimized by the terms omission. Rape is not used in the article and can only be found in a reference title at the end of the page.<ref>Occupy_Wall_Street&oldid=466639949 Cover-up at Wikipedia,lewd acts downplayed</ref>
# Wikipedia does not mention until after 600 words that [[Jared Loughner]], like many Wikipedia editors, is an [[atheist]], and its entry initially failed to admit that he is also a [[nihilist]], an extreme form of atheism.<ref>When Wikipedia eventually added mention of Loughner's nihilism, its edit summary omitted reference to the term. [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jared_Lee_Loughner&action=historysubmit&diff=407362660&oldid=407358740].</ref>
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Wikipedia relies upon volunteer administrators to maintain the accountability of the website and enforce its rules. The number of administrators continues to shrink. In January 2008, there were 1,011 administrators, but the number dropped to 661 in November 2012, and as of June 2016, the number stands at 539.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_administrators/stat_table|title=Wikipedia:List of administrators/stat table|accessdate=July 27, 2016}}</ref> The number drops because the process of selecting new administrators subjects each candidate to extensive abuse. If the action of Wikipedia administrators appear very odd, perhaps it is because the actions are the product of anonymous, very young people or, in some cases, of mentally ill people. For example, sysop Altenmann was desysopped and community-banned in April 2010 for sockpuppeting and improper closure of deletion discussions over a period of several years. He admitted mental illness and has been unbanned.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia_talk:Arbitration_Committee/Noticeboard&oldid=491693521</ref>
FundametallyFundamentally, the owner of a website is accountable for its governance and contents. To qualify for a tax exemption, Wikipedia is owned by the [[Wikimedia Foundation]] (WMF) that has a Board of Directors and a paid professional staff of 146.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/FAQ/en|title=Frequently asked questions|accessdate=February 7, 2013}}</ref> However, the WMF, its Board and Staff disavow any accountability for the Wikipedia encyclopedia. Instead, co-founder Jimmy Wales claims ultimate authority for it, and acts as the executive/monarch on whatever he chooses. For example, although the Wikipedia Arbitration Committee is selected in an election, Wales accepts the election results and appoints the new members. As recently as September 2013, Wales claims to have the right to overturn Arbitration Committee decisions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&diff=571759721&oldid=571756060If|title=User Talk:Jimbo Wales|date=September 6, 2013}}</ref> If a person has a complaint about being falsely libled by Wikipedia, the WMF disavows any control of the matter and hides behind Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. So, the WMF has a legal incentive to maintain a "hands off" approach to content disputes. Its Board and Staff collect the charitable donations and meet IRS requirements, but Wales and the volunteer editors maintain the biased, defamatory site.
There have been lawsuits against Wikipedia and its editors. For example, Theodore Katsanevas, a Greek politician sued a Wikipedia editor and the WMF to seek removal of allegedly defamatory materials from the Greek Wikipedia. A Greek Court granted a preliminary injunction requiring the removal of material, but other editors have added it back in and have translated the biography with the offending material into 20 other languages. A full trial is expected in 2016, and the WMF has promised to pay all of the defendants' legal fees.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/02/14/wikimedia-foundation-supports-wikipedia-user-subject-to-defamation-lawsuit-in-greece/|title=Wikimedia Foundation supports Wikipedia user subject to defamation lawsuit in Greece|work=Wikimedia Blog|date=February 14, 2014|accessdate=March 20, 2014}}</ref>
*[http://www.paulbogdanor.com/200chomskylies.pdf The Top 200 Chomsky Lies]—Comprehensively debunks the claims of the [[Noam Chomsky|cult leader]] behind the radical left's talking points.
*[http://wikipediabias.com/ Wikipedia Bias blog]
*[http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/07/05/wikipedias-seven-worst-moments/ Wikipedia’s Seven Worst Moments] by Charlie Nash, ''Breitbart News'', July 5, 2016.
==References==