After years of criticism and complaints about the direction of the site, Larry Sanger, one of Wikipedia’s cofounders, has been banned from editing articles.
Sanger was indefinitely blocked from editing privileges on Wikipedia after volunteer editors accused him of violating the site’s rules by trying to get his online followers to influence an internal discussion on the platform.
A Wikipedia page showing Sanger’s contributions says he is currently blocked, with the expiration set to indefinite. That page links to a discussion over whether Sanger committed what is known as off-wiki canvassing, which broadly refers to trying to bring people from outside Wikipedia into an internal discussion to influence its outcome.
The page includes a note posted on Monday stating that there was a clear consensus to block Sanger.
“There is general agreement among participants that he has engaged in off-wiki canvassing and is not here to constructively build the encyclopedia,” the note says. “There is also a significant concern shared by many editors that his actions constitute calls for outing.”
The discussion focused on Sanger’s efforts to get his WikiProject on intellectual diversity officially recognized. WikiProjects are groups of volunteer editors who work together around specific topics or issues on Wikipedia. Sanger’s proposed group purportedly aimed to bring more viewpoints to the encyclopedia, particularly perspectives he argues have been pushed out by what he sees as Wikipedia’s left-leaning bias.
But what appears to have triggered the ban was a post on X.
“Wikipedians are now debating whether my proposed WikiProject Intellectual Diversity should be permitted to become an official WikiProject (club/group of editors),” Sanger wrote on X on Friday, linking to a Wikipedia page discussing the project. “Lots opposed. Also lots in favor.”
Sanger seemed to acknowledge that he was walking a fine line.
When asked by a user on X if they could join his movement, he wrote back, “Let’s just say that if I answer that question one way or another, the playground moms who rule Wikipedia might block me.”
404 Media reports that discussions about potential user bans are typically supposed to stay open for 72 hours, but Sanger was blocked briefly before that deadline, reinstated until the original deadline passed, and then blocked again
“Wikipedia is governed by a community of volunteer editors around the world who develop and enforce policies through open, transparent discussions and consensus-based decision-making,” a Wikimedia spokesperson told Gizmodo in an emailed statement. “The Wikimedia Foundation does not make editorial or content decisions on Wikipedia.”
For his part, Sanger has taken to social media to rail against the decision.
In a statement to Gizmodo, Sanger criticized the process that led to the ban, calling it a “kangaroo court” and accused Wikipedia administrators of failing to provide formal charges, due process, or neutral adjudication.
“Wikipedia has become more of a mob-rule anarchy than ever,” Sanger said in an emailed statement. “Now that same mob has blocked me for trying to bring an intellectually diverse group of thinkers and editors to the site. Subscribing to their groupthink is now an official requirement for being a member in good standing. Something must change, and now.”
This isn’t Sanger’s first beef with Wikipedia. He left the site in 2002 and has since tried to launch several competing projects. Sanger, a longtime critic of Wikipedia from the right, has previously said that Wikipedia has become too globalist, academic, secular, and progressive.
Last year, Sanger posted on X “Nine Theses on Wikipedia,” a list of proposals he said would improve the site, including ending decision-making by consensus, allowing competing articles, and letting the public rate articles.
Elon Musk, who later launched his own Wikipedia competitor, Grokipedia, called the proposals “good suggestions” at the time.
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