Newsweek - Elon Musk Takes Aim at Wikipedia

Published Dec 24, 2024 at 12:53 PM EST

Updated Dec 25, 2024 at 12:26 PM EST

By James Bickerton

US News Reporter

What's New

Elon Musk has urged his followers not to donate to Wikipedia, which he branded "Wokepedia," until "they restore balance to their editing authority."

The tech billionaire made the claim on X (formerly Twitter), which he owns, in response to another user who shared a graph from the online encyclopedia's 2023-4 annual report that showed 29 percent of its budget had been spent on "equity" and "safety & inclusion."

Newsweek contacted Musk, via the Tesla and SpaceX press offices, by email on Tuesday for comment.

Why It Matters

According to data from digital marketing platform Semrush, in November Wikipedia was the fourth-most-visited website in the world, with monthly traffic of around 6.7 billion visits.

Wikipedia's popularity, combined with the fact it provides information about notable political figures and events, make it highly influential. The platform can be edited by anybody, meaning the pages of controversial individuals are often fought over by multiple users with different views about the content.

What To Know

On X in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Musk shared a post by influential conservative leaning account "Libs of TikTok," adding: "Stop donating to Wokepedia until they restore balance to their editing authority."

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