Wikipedia under fire: Why Ted Cruz and other conservatives are targeting the online encyclopedia
The Senator is clearly confused at how the site works, and is looking to change things up.
First they came for your healthcare and your childcare, then they tried to take your free speech. Now they’re after your freedom altogether.
In recent months, the spotlight of the GOP has shifted from one tranquil aspect of human life to another, and now they’re onto Wikipedia, calling it out as a site of political conflict. Among those leading the charge is Senator Ted Cruz, who has decided that he can use the platform as a battleground for ideological influence.
It sure seems that he didn’t know how Wikipedia has always worked: an open, volunteer-run encyclopedia: he’s worried that the long-running site may not remain free of bias in the modern world.
It would be funny if the Wikimedia Foundation printed out the talk page of every page mentioned in Cruz's letter and delivered them in big boxes to the senator's office. https://t.co/r3r0M789a1 pic.twitter.com/gUL56z7yLr
— Timothy B. Lee (@binarybits) October 6, 2025
Cruz’s recent whim took the form of a formal letter to the Wikimedia Foundation, in which he demanded details about how the organisation maintains authority over content and editing. In his view that is so ironic it’s almost laughable, the platform may be vulnerable to the sway of powerful donors or entrenched editorial groups. Behind the letter lies a familiar assertion from the right: that “mainstream” knowledge platforms systematically favour left-leaning perspectives.
Yet those arguments rest on some shaky assumptions. Wikipedia is famously curated by volunteers who are subject to communal oversight via editors and policies. The Wikimedia Foundation provides infrastructure and guidelines, but does not itself edit or promote partisan content. The encyclopedia’s editorial doctrine emphasises neutrality, verifiability, and reliance on secondary sources, not ideological agendas. Ted Cruz, give your head a vigorous wobble.
Unsurprisingly, despite his clear lack of knowledge regarding just how this popular website works, Cruz is far from alone in this push. Think tanks and conservative initiatives have recently announced efforts to scrutinise the political orientations of Wikipedia contributors as they try to gain control over the public narrative.
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Either way, it signals a shift in how political groups are engaging with online knowledge production, and is just another step towards Donald Trump’s dreamworld of authoritarian censorship across the country. But remember: we love free speech!
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