Elon Musk wants to fight with Wikipedia over a reference to his controversial salute

Call to no longer fund Wikipedia

Wikipedia’s goal is to enable editors to create content that is “clear and recognizes the different points of view that exist” despite “the rise of divisive sentiments, partisanship, culture wars and all that”, a he said in December in an interview with the media Intelligencer.

At the origin of the recent quarrel: a disturbing gesture by Elon Musk on the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration. To greet the crowd, he firmly raised his hand in a manner similar, according to his detractors and historians, to the Nazi salute. Since Wednesday, this gesture, widely commented on in the United States and around the world, has appeared on Elon Musk’s biographical page on Wikipedia as well as on the page devoted to the Nazi salute.

On Elon Musk’s page, Wikipedia specifies that the gesture was “perceived by a certain number of observers as a Nazi salute” but that the billionaire defended himself. This did not prevent the main person concerned from attacking the site, accusing it of repeating the “propaganda” of traditional media, one of its favorite targets. He called on his supporters to stop funding Wikipedia.

“Facts”, not propaganda, replied Jimmy Wales, also on , then Twitter, by the businessman, for 44 billion dollars.

A UFO in the world of tech

Managed by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia is a sort of UFO in the tech world, today dominated by behemoths like Google and Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp). The platform aims to be one of the last symbols of early internet idealism, giving a voice to Internet users around the world.

Founded on January 15, 2001, Wikipedia started in English but quickly expanded across the world with content available in more than 300 languages ​​today.

“The decline in trust in journalism and politics is very strong, which in some cases translates into people feeling angry and lost,” said Jimmy Wales in his interview with Intelligencer. But within the Wikipedia community, he said, “we continue to work, trying to be neutral and clear.”

After Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter in 2022, which he renamed X, the teams responsible for content moderation were replaced by “community notes”, messages posted by users to contradict the veracity of a message or nuance it by adding context.

Elon Musk claims to defend freedom of expression, but specialists believe that the platform has become a paradise for disinformation.