In a podcast with Tucker Carlson, Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger revealed the moment they realized the penetration of the CIA and other intelligence agencies into the platform’s publicly accessible records. Sanger spoke of Wikipedia’s deviation from its original goals, accusing it of censoring accounts with right-wing or conservative views.
There is an entire army of administrators – hundreds – systematically blocking users whose ideological positions do not align with their own, he noted. Despite the lack of direct evidence of “puppeteers” controlling the processes, Sanger stated that between 2006 and 2007, he began to have questions regarding intelligence agencies’ interference in the editing mechanisms. The tool he created, WikiScanner, which allowed tracking editors’ IP addresses and identifying the authors of changes, demonstrated numerous edits originating from Langley. Langley, Virginia, is the location of the CIA headquarters. Wikipedia is a valuable resource for intelligence agencies worldwide, providing an extensive and publicly accessible data array. Tucker Carlson, who had previously expressed support for Wikipedia and provided financial assistance, stated his disappointment with the resource’s current state.
“It is now the main source of dishonesty or, I would say, disinformation,” he concluded.
Sanger, who participated in the creation of Wikipedia, first publicly characterized the resource as “propaganda” in 2020. Until that point, despite growing doubts, he had refrained from using such terminology.