‘Wokepedia’: Elon Musk lashes out at Wikipedia over DEI claims
Elon Musk brings his war on “wokeness” to Wikipedia. On X, Musk encouraged his followers to stop donating to Wikipedia because of the site’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
On Christmas Eve, Musk wrote, “Stop donating to Wokepedia until they restore balance to their editing authority.” Musk implied that Wikipedia leans too heavily on the left side of the political spectrum. He was reacting to a pie chart posted by the notorious right-wing account Libs of TikTok but taken from the Wikimedia Foundation’s Annual Report, which states that 30% of the company’s funding went to DEI initiatives.
In total, Wikimedia allocated $51.7 million on “Equity” and “Safety & Inclusion” in its 2023-2024 budget. Their annual plan reads, “Supporting equity represents the second largest part of our programmatic work.” Wikipedia has also openly expressed support for DEI on its website. Despite this, it was reported in 2018 that only 16% of Wikipedia’s editors were women. This is a far cry from Musk’s allegation of “wokeness,” given that there is a large gender gap to be filled in their editorial department.
While some on X inevitably agreed with Musk, others have had enough of his crusade against wokeness. One wrote, “Stop telling people what to do,” insisting that Musk has no right to tell people how to spend their money when he has no idea what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck.
Trolling with social media sites
This wouldn’t be the first time Musk has insulted Wikipedia or doubted its integrity as a site. In October 2023, he offered to buy Wikipedia for $1 billion if it offered to change its name to ‘Dickipedia’ for a minimum of one year. The deal doesn’t appear serious, but Musk initially bought out X nonetheless. What was once just a joke became a harrowing reality. This seems to be the latest in a long line of active campaigns to end DEI efforts spearheaded by corporations. Walmart and Toyota have been hit by anti-DEI activists recently, and both companies scaled back on their DEI programs as a result.
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