The head of X, Elon Musk has spoken out against Wikipedia because the page dedicated to him now includes a reference to the controversial gesture he made at Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony, which was considered by some a “Nazi salute”.
For his part, Jimmy Wales, the founder and CEO of Wikipedia, declares himself an advocate of neutrality and cross-checking evidence, although his platform has repeatedly been accused of controversial practices and bias.
“The goal of Wikipedia is to allow its editors to create content that is clear, that acknowledges existing differing views, rather than the rise of divisive sentiments, fan spirit, culture wars and all that”, he explained in December in an interview with Intelligencer.
As of Wednesday, Musk’s gesture, which has been the subject of commentary in the US and around the world, has been added to Musk’s biography on Wikipedia, as well as the page on the Nazi salute.
His page specifies that the gesture “was considered by a number of observers to be a Nazi salute”, but adds that the billionaire denied it.
That didn’t stop Musk from accusing Wikipedia of repeating the propaganda of the legacy media and he asked his supporters to stop donating to Wikipedia.
“Elon is not happy that Wikipedia is not for sale,” Wales added, referring to the billionaire’s 2022 acquisition of X for $44 billion.
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