Elon Musk and other reactionary liars hate the “last good website” because it won’t go along with their distortions

Elon Musk is attacking Wikipedia, calling it “Wokepedia” and urging people not to donate “until they restore balance” (by which he means be biased in favor of his views). It’s not the first time he’s denounced the online encyclopedia, and it’s not surprising he and his allies hate it. Wikipedia is a bastion of truth, one they can’t buy or bully, where reality is what the facts are, not whatever some rich reactionaries wish it were. Everyone who prizes finding reliable information on the internet, and values truth more broadly, should defend it.

Wikipedia is the “last good website,” the one online staple that hasn’t gone through the process of “enshittification.” It’s not profit-seeking or publicly traded, so it doesn’t try to monetize the massive number of eyeballs it attracts. It isn’t full of ads, and doesn’t elevate sponsored content. It doesn’t incentivize sensationalism and conflict like algorithmic social media. It isn’t full of slop generated by software the tech industry overhypes as “AI.” It’s the last big website from the early internet that still does the good thing it set out to do; the thing that appealled to so many users and made it part of the wider culture.

We’re in a grand information war, whether we want to be or not, and the liars have been winning. Many of the biggest websites and governments have given up on fighting misinformation under pressure, or become purveyors of disinformation themselves. Wikipedia is a fortress that anchors truth’s broader defense, and we must not let it fall.