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A Wikipedia cofounder is fueling the right’s campaign against it

The Washington Post · Will Oremus · last updated

For years, Wikipedia’s lesser-known co-founder has decried what he sees as the site’s liberal bias. Suddenly, some of the country’s most powerful people are listening.

Larry Sanger, ousted from the online encyclopedia by co-founder Jimmy Wales a year after he helped launch it in 2001, argues that Wikipedia has strayed from its commitment to neutrality. He says the site is mismanaged and has a penchant for defaming people. And he sees in its coverage of hot-button issues such as crime, religion and climate change a leftward slant that he believes is contrary to its founding principles.

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