Wikipedia founder Jimbo Wales has entered the Talk page for the Gaza genocide article and says in his opinion calling it genocide is a violation of NPOV (Wikipedia's "neutral point of view" policy)

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3AGaza_genocide&oldid=1320161879#Statement_from_Jimbo_Wales

For those unfamiliar with wikipedia processes, tldr talk pages are where discussion about articles happens. See Help:Talk pages for details.

Link goes to the talk page as of the currently-latest edit by Jimbo; here is the diff showing other edits to it since then.

see also:

111 points · 51 comments · view on lemmy.world

51 Comments

Sanctus@anarchist.nexus · 35 pts · 288d (1 reply)

Sit your ass down in Gaza, Jimbo. Your 'natural point of view' will drastically change.

davel@lemmy.ml · 19 pts · 288d

The oligarchs long ago made Jimmy an honorary member of their club, and there’s nothing neutral about that club. Not that “neutral” even exists outside of the mind palace of radical centrists.

geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml · 24 pts · 288d (6 replies)

Yikes Wikipedia isn't just infiltrated by Zionists but created by one.

idriss@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 287d
[ removed ]
Miro_Collas@masto.ai · 2 pts · 286d (4 replies)

@geneva_convenience Wiipedia's creators have no power over it. Their personal beliefs are irrelevant.

@cypherpunks

geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 286d

No Wikipedia is very influenced by Zionists. This page is proof https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Monitor

BrainInABox@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 286d (2 replies)

False

Miro_Collas@masto.ai · 0 pts · 286d (1 reply)
BrainInABox@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 286d

Sorry for doubting your holy scripture

leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 23 pts · 288d (1 reply)

But not calling the Gaza genocide a genocide is a violation of truth, common sense, and basic decency...

mukt@lemmy.ml · 8 pts · 288d

But is it neutral? /s

BrainInABox@lemmy.ml · 20 pts · 288d

Of course he did. Funny how he had no problem with their being a "Uyghur Genocide" page for multiple years before they eventually had to change it due to lack of evidence

holdenweb@freeradical.zone · 20 pts · 287d

@cypherpunks he is wrong, as many genocide specialist (including those from Israel) will tell him.

He just supports genocide against people of different colour. It’s the American way.

Miro_Collas@masto.ai · 17 pts · 287d (14 replies)

@cypherpunks Wikipedia is human-edited, and humans are flawed. However, the body of editors overall means it is self-correcting, in time. Jimbo may be a founder, but as an editor, his is one voice only. I think it is grossly unfair to condemn the entire thing over one person's views. It is still the best source of info there is - overall. Some of the replies here are... disturbing, frankly.

BrainInABox@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 286d (2 replies)

I don't understand how Wikipedia ended up becoming the literal Holy Scripture for western liberals.

It is still the best source of info there is - overall.

This is a statement of pure religious faith.

Miro_Collas@masto.ai · 2 pts · 286d (1 reply)

@BrainInABox Is there a better one? Note that I said "overall" - meaning it isn't perfect.

BrainInABox@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 286d

A better one what? The best source of information will depend on the topic. The idea that there is a one stop shop for truth is pure religious thinking

Reginald_T_Biter@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 287d (9 replies)

I feel like there is a concerted effort to delegitimise Wikipedia recently. Long live Wikipedia.

MrNobody@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 6 pts · 287d (6 replies)

Knowledge, especially free and easily accessible knowledge is detrimental to elites. Under educated peoples are easy to coerce, control, manipulate, scapegoat, scare, etc. So the easier it is for people to educate themselves, or just be educated the worse it is. Capitalists by default want dumb workers who don't know the meaning of value, it's part of the reason theres been a massive anti-intellectualist push this last decade or so.

BrainInABox@lemmy.ml · 0 pts · 286d (5 replies)

Yeah, I'm sure the elites are terrified at you having access to articles overwhelmingly written by western libertarians that happily and frequently source right wing pundits.

Miro_Collas@masto.ai · 3 pts · 286d (4 replies)

@BrainInABox Left AND right wing "pundits" are frequently cited. Sometimes there are editing "wars" where the two sides erase each other's edits, but those are swiftly stopped and the issue is debated until a neutral consensus emerges.

The right detest wikipedia because their lies are removed, so they created grokipedia. Some of the left hate it for the same reason. Bizarre

@MrNobody

BrainInABox@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 286d (3 replies)

Right wing pundits are cited overwhelmingly more and given vastly more wait, often being treated as reliable and undisputed sources of truth. If you look at the largest sources of pro-Isreal propaganda over the last two years, there's a good chance you'll find them on Wikipedia's trusted source list.

those are swiftly stopped and the issue is debated until a neutral consensus emerges.

No, what happens is that one side locks down the discussion, reverts all changes, refuses to debate in good faith, calls in sympathetic admins to discipline their opponents, locks the page, and, from personal experience, begins making organised attempts to dox dissenters. This is why dogshit right wing pundits like Anne Applebaum, and literal CIA propaganda outlets like Radio Free Asia, remain up as "reliable" sources permanently.

The right detest wikipedia

The far right detest it, the neoliberal centre right adore it for enshrining western supremacist neo-liberalism as cultural gospel.

Some of the left hate it for the same reason.

No, they hate it because the truth is removed and propaganda from entrenched neoliberal Zionist sources is treated as gospel.

Miro_Collas@masto.ai · 0 pts · 286d (2 replies)

@BrainInABox Sorry but that's simply not true. Spent any time reading the talk pages to see how things work?

Also you didn't answer my question on a better source of info.

[Added: never mind, I see you replied separately.]

BrainInABox@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 286d

Yes, I have spent time reading the talk pages, which is how I know it is true.

BrainInABox@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 286d

Wikipedia has been a great way to launder right wing punditry into a form liberals will accept. People who would never otherwise give credence to people like Anne Applebaum or Thomas Friedman will treat their words as indisputable gospel if they're copy pasted onto Wikipedia.

Miro_Collas@masto.ai · 1 pts · 287d

@Reginald_T_Biter Seems so - by the right (unsurprising) and the left (which does surprise me, to a degree).

biotin7@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 286d

That's what happens when you lack critical thinking.

UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml · 15 pts · 287d

We cant afford to be neutral on a moving train.

Now playing System of a Down - Deer Dance

GiorgioPerlasca@lemmy.ml · 14 pts · 288d

This is not an isolated incident, but a preview: more liberal masks are poised to fall.

davel@lemmy.ml · 12 pts · 288d (3 replies)

English language Wikipedia is a US psyop. I wonder how much Atlanticist propaganda gets stuffed into other languages’ Wikipedias.

ThirdConsul@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 288d (2 replies)

I don't know if what the Grayzone writes is true (well, probably is), but their choice of words reads unhinged. Coterie, cabal, gang, disciple.

But wait, author is Max Bluementhal, isn't he the useful imperialist-owned idiot that's often on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News? Yes he is.

aReallyCrunchyLeaf@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 288d (1 reply)

His reporting on Gaza is pretty good and his record is consistent. What imperialist-owners are you referring to?

ThirdConsul@lemmy.ml · -3 pts · 287d

He's invited to, and used by Tucker on Fox News to push Fox News's views and make them normalized and sound, because TC was saying "oh, and leftists agree with me on that" quoting MB.

PearOfJudes@lemmy.ml · 10 pts · 286d

Isn't the UN like what makes the decision? Like the Geneva convention? Like what body needs to say it's a genocide for it to be a fact? https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/israel-has-committed-genocide-gaza-strip-un-commission-finds

hyacin@lemmy.ml · 10 pts · 288d

Wow, with how much the right hated them I just assumed they were good guys. So much for that idea. Will no longer be supporting financially either.

lemonlolita@calckey.world · 10 pts · 287d

@cypherpunks@lemmy.ml
There is no neutral POV regarding Genocide! Clainlming there is, just means you support genocide!

Mubelotix@jlai.lu · 3 pts · 287d

I can't even talk on that page. This is how wikipedia dies

vega@veganism.social · 3 pts · 288d
[ removed ]
TacoButtPlug@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 287d (1 reply)

I stopped giving a shit about and even using Wikipedia back in 2019 when they locked everybody in Southern California using a certain major service out of making edits to any article. I was trying to edit an article on carbon because they had an isotope incorrectly labeled and I was told multiple times by Wikipedia volunteers and their staff that there is some dog joke bot that made it really impossible for them to control ... so they locked millions of people out of making any kind of edits because dog jokes. So the infactual science stayed in the carbon article and that's when I realized Wikipedia is just controlled by a handful of assholes. I stopped donating then. When I asked them who gets to make edits they said they're not really sure who the volunteers are but they trust them and when I asked Wikipedia staff how they account for the trustworthiness of who their editors are and what their intentions are, staff had no answer. But I can't make an edit to a carbon article but anon can ... even if they have some sort of agreement behind the scenes about controlling the information on Wikipedia. That's no problem. Just, you know, infactual information about a carbon isotope that's the problem. Fuck Wikipedia. Encyclopedia Britannica still rules and is worth the money.

cypherpunks@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 287d

in 2019 when they locked everybody in Southern California using a certain major service out of making edits

I assume that block is not still in effect?

I was trying to edit an article on carbon because they had an isotope incorrectly labeled

Out of curiosity, was this error eventually corrected, or is it still wrong today?

Encyclopedia Britannica still rules and is worth the money

I just looked for the first time in years and it appears you can read it for free... What do you get by paying for it besides disabling the ads (which my ad blocker already does)?

I see they have a list of changes to articles now, but they don't show the old versions or diffs between them.

Also I see there are "Quick summary" and "Ask the chatbot a question" buttons on every page 🤡

TwentyEight@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 285d
[ removed ]
DrMartinu@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 0 pts · 288d
[ removed ]
myszka@lemmy.ml · -2 pts · 287d (12 replies)
[ removed ]
KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 287d (3 replies)

Value judgements? Genocide is an objective thing. It’s clearly defined, with zero “good vs evil” involved in its definition.

myszka@lemmy.ml · -3 pts · 286d (2 replies)

It is clearly defined, but deciding what fits that definition and what doesn't is not at all objective, it totally depends on which side you're on. And since accusing somebody of something implies you're yourself innocent, accusing of genocide is saying "they bad we good", thus dehumanizing "them" as irrational "bad" and rejecting the attempt to understand the conflict in its entirety and in its controversial nature.

KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 286d

Apart from the fact that virtually every genocide expert has declared this a genocide. Including those from Israel.

BrainInABox@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 286d

Genocide is bad, genocide denialism and apologia is bad. Fuck off

BrainInABox@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 286d (3 replies)

Take this Holocaust denial apologia and fuck off.

myszka@lemmy.ml · 0 pts · 286d (2 replies)

I appreciate you taking time to reply!

BrainInABox@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 286d (1 reply)

Fuck off, holocaust denier

myszka@lemmy.ml · 0 pts · 286d
[ removed ]
lemonwood@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 287d (2 replies)

All ethical systems rely on example applications. Israel's morality can not be measured by any moral system. Rather, it's actions are so abhorrent, that any moral systems merit will in the future be measured by whether it judges Israel's actions as bad.

myszka@lemmy.ml · -2 pts · 286d (1 reply)

Ethics shouldn't be used in this context in the first place, because ethics is about defining what's good and what's bad for you and not about trying to apprehend the manifoldness of things

BrainInABox@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 286d

What a fucking stupid thing to say

leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 287d

I mean, genocide is pretty objectively bad.

Core_of_Arden@lemmy.ml · -3 pts · 287d

And just like that, Wiki made itself useless in this world...