Wikipedia disrupted by edit wars to manipulate pages on war in Gaza with at least 14 editors banned: report

Tensions are brewing at Wikipedia over the war in Gaza as volunteer editors have launched “edit wars” to manipulate the slant of pages, according to a report.The non-profit encyclopedia has banned at least 14 editors from working on topics related to the Israel-Hamas war as it faces growing accusations of left-leaning bias, according to Bloomberg.Even the site’s founders are at odds over whether to reveal the identities of the Wikipedia contributors, who are typically kept anonymous.Wikipedia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Some volunteer editors have allegedly conspired with other contributors to alter pages on the Middle East conflict to fit their agenda – stoking strong backlash from Jewish organizations.The Heritage Foundation, a conservative DC-based think tank, has reportedly been scheming to “identify and target” the editors responsible for pages deemed antisemitic, the Forward, an American-Jewish news group, reported in January.Co-founder Larry Sanger backed the Heritage Foundation’s alleged plan to reveal and target the Wikipedia editors in question – a sharp reversal from Wikipedia’s tradition of anonymity. “Admins and those with significant authority in the system should be as easily named and shamed as any ordinary journalist,” Sanger, who has been a frequent critic of Wikipedia’s so-called left-leaning bias since leaving the organization in 2002, said in a post on X.Co-founder Jimmy Wales, meanwhile, called the scheme to expose editors “extremely worrisome,” according to Bloomberg.“I agree that for many who are doing it, the motive does appear to be the undermining of civic norms and democracy,” he said.Early last year, Wikipedia’s Arbitration Committee barred three editors from its site for leading a pro-Israel campaign.One of the three editors started emailing other Wikipedia contributors soon after the Oct.7 attacks on Israel, telling their colleagues to make changes to pages on the war in Gaza...