President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, March 3, 2025 (Pool via AP).
The top prosecutor in Washington, D.C., appointed by President Donald Trump, has written a letter to the organization that operates Wikipedia. In the letter, he accuses the free online encyclopedia, known for being open to edits from anyone, of spreading propaganda and allowing information manipulation that benefits foreign powers.
Ed Martin, who is nominated by the president to supervise the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, expressed concerns about potential content manipulation by the Wikimedia Foundation. He stated that the Justice Department will investigate whether the organization is violating its obligations under the tax-exempt status provided by Section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code.
Martin claimed that Wikipedia is facilitating information manipulation on its platform, which includes altering crucial historical events, biographical details of current and past American leaders, and other subjects related to national security and U.S. interests.
“Masking propaganda that influences public opinion under the guise of providing informational material is antithetical to Wikimedia’s ‘educational’ mission,” the interim U.S. attorney said. “In addition, Wikipedia’s operations are directed by its board that is composed primarily of foreign nationals, subverting the interests of American taxpayers. Again, educational content is directionally neutral; but information received by my Office demonstrates that Wikipedia’s informational management policies benefit foreign powers.”
The letter, which was first reported by The Free Press on Friday, brought up issues that have been raised recently by other organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, which accused Wikipedia of being an online channel for “widespread antisemitic and anti-Israel bias” in March.
“Wikipedia is one of the last places online that shows the promise of the internet, housing more than 65 million articles written to inform, not persuade,” the Wikimedia Foundation told The Washington Post in a statement Friday, declining to address the Martin letter specifically. “Our vision is a world in which every single human can freely share in the sum of all knowledge,” the nonprofit added.
Wikipedia has been criticized by people — including Trump ally and unofficial DOGE leader Elon Musk — as of late for allowing what many have perceived to be “woke” information about current events and topics to be edited in.
“Stop donating to Wokepedia,” Musk posted on X in December 2024.
Wikipedia editor Molly White told The Post she viewed Martin’s letter as the Trump administration “weaponizing laws to try to silence high-quality independent information.”
White wrote on X, “Not to tell anyone how to do their jobs or anything but if i was a US attorney i might not write whole letters laying out how i was targeting nonprofits specifically for first amendment protected activities.”
Attempts by Law&Crime to reach the DOJ and Wikimedia Foundation for comment on Sunday were not immediately successful.
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