The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has released a report alleging that over 30 Wikipedia editors collaborated to inject anti-Israel bias and antisemitic narratives into the platform’s content. The ADL’s Center for Tech and Society claims these editors promoted pro-Hamas perspectives, particularly within Arabic-language articles.
The report details instances where editors removed references to antisemitism and downplayed terrorist activities associated with Hamas. For example, mentions of Hamas’s designation as a terrorist organization by multiple governments, including the U.S., were demoted within articles.
Additionally, edits to the Wikipedia page for Samir Kuntar—a Lebanese-Palestinian Liberation Front member involved in a deadly 1979 attack in Israel—omitted his murder conviction on terrorism charges.
In response, a spokesperson for the Wikimedia Foundation, which oversees Wikipedia, stated that while they condemn antisemitism and all forms of hate, their preliminary review found the ADL’s conclusions troubling and unsupported by the data. “The values of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation reflect our commitment to integrity and accuracy, and we categorically condemn antisemitism and all forms of hate,” their spokesperson said in a statement.
This development follows a June 2024 decision by Wikipedia editors to classify the ADL as “generally unreliable” concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The editors cited concerns over the ADL’s perceived pro-Israel advocacy and instances of conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism. However, the ADL remains a generally reliable source on topics unrelated to Israel and Zionism.
The ADL is urging search engines to deprioritize certain Wikipedia pages and recommends that Wikipedia collaborate with subject matter experts to address bias and harassment. They also call for a review of Wikipedia’s sourcing standards to ensure content integrity.
