DOJ Under Trump Probes Wikipedia for Alleged Anti-Israel Bias & Foreign Propaganda

By: Fern Sidman

The Justice Department under President Donald Trump has launched a formal investigation into the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia, amid growing concerns that the globally popular online encyclopedia has become a conduit for anti-American and anti-Israel propaganda. According to a report that appeared on Monday in The Algemeiner, federal prosecutors have warned that the platform’s tax-exempt status may be at risk due to alleged violations of legal obligations and fiduciary responsibilities under U.S. law.

The investigation was initiated after Edward Martin, interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, sent a strongly worded letter to Wikimedia on Thursday. As reported by The Algemeiner, Martin’s letter accuses the foundation of permitting foreign actors to manipulate content on Wikipedia, spreading ideologically driven misinformation under the guise of educational material.

“Wikipedia is permitting information manipulation on its platform, including the rewriting of key historical events and biographical information of current and previous American leaders, as well as other matters implicating the national security and the interests of the United States,” Martin stated. “Masking propaganda that influences public opinion under the guise of providing informational material is antithetical to Wikimedia’s ‘educational’ mission.”

Martin emphasized that Wikipedia’s influence on public discourse is magnified by the fact that top search engines like Google prioritize its content, and that Wikipedia’s databases are used to train artificial intelligence systems. As The Algemeiner report explained, this makes any ideological slant or disinformation campaign embedded in the site exponentially more harmful and far-reaching.

Of particular concern to investigators and Jewish advocacy groups are Wikipedia’s alleged editorial biases concerning Israel and Zionism. The Algemeiner reported that multiple investigative outlets, including Pirate Wires and the Jewish Journal, have uncovered evidence of a coordinated effort by senior Wikipedia editors to portray Israel in a consistently negative light while minimizing or whitewashing the actions of groups like Hamas.

For example, editors have allegedly removed references to Hamas’ 1988 charter, which openly calls for the extermination of Jews and the elimination of Israel. Instead, new articles and edits have emphasized narratives accusing Israel of systemic oppression and war crimes. One such entry, titled “Gaza Genocide,” introduced in November 2024—weeks after the October 7 Hamas massacre—claims that “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people” and references statements from Amnesty International and United Nations bodies to bolster its claims. The article remains live, as The Algemeiner report noted, and is shielded from editing by general users under Wikipedia’s “extended confirmed protection” policy.

Another highly controversial entry titled “Israeli Apartheid” asserts that Israel has created “a system of institutionalized segregation and discrimination in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories and to a lesser extent in Israel proper,” echoing rhetoric commonly associated with anti-Israel activist groups.

An article on “Zionism” was also revised to describe the Jewish national movement as “an ethnocultural nationalist movement… pursued through the colonization of Palestine,” further reinforcing accusations that Wikipedia’s editorial line crosses into territory historically weaponized by anti-Zionist ideologues.

These findings were echoed in a comprehensive report released last month by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), titled “Editing for Hate: How Anti-Israel and Anti-Jewish Bias Undermines Wikipedia’s Neutrality.” As The Algemeiner report recounted, the ADL report accuses a cadre of “malicious” Wikipedia editors of undermining the platform’s credibility by consistently introducing anti-Israel bias and violating Wikipedia’s own policies on neutrality and verifiability.

“Most readers assume Wikipedia is a reliable online encyclopedia, but in reality, it has become a biased platform manipulated by agenda-driven editors on many topics,” said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, as quoted in The Algemeiner report.

The Wikimedia Foundation pushed back on the ADL’s claims, issuing a statement that downplayed the severity of the accusations. “Though our preliminary review of this report finds troubling and flawed conclusions that are not supported by the Anti-Defamation League’s data, we are currently undertaking a more thorough and detailed analysis,” a Wikimedia spokesperson said.

Nonetheless, the Justice Department is not waiting. Martin’s letter, according to the  information provided in The Algemeiner report, formally requests documents and records from the Wikimedia Foundation as part of a broader inquiry into whether the organization is in breach of U.S. nonprofit and disclosure laws. This includes probing potential violations tied to foreign influence operations, alleged efforts to manipulate American public opinion, and failures to maintain political neutrality.

The probe comes amid broader concerns about the role of tech platforms and digital knowledge repositories in shaping public discourse. With Wikipedia serving as the default source of information for millions, any suggestion of ideological bias or foreign interference poses not just ethical, but national security concerns.

As The Algemeiner report indicated, the investigation is likely to have significant implications—not only for Wikipedia’s editorial practices but also for how digital educational nonprofits are held accountable in the age of disinformation.

If substantiated, the Justice Department’s case could trigger a reevaluation of Wikimedia’s tax-exempt status, and potentially open the door to civil or criminal penalties, depending on the outcome of the investigation.

At a time when misinformation is increasingly seen as a tool of geopolitical warfare, the Trump administration’s Justice Department appears poised to make Wikipedia the latest battleground in a growing campaign to safeguard the informational integrity of American institutions.