Wikipedia faces Trump appointee scrutiny over foreign propaganda allegations

A Trump-appointed U.S. attorney is challenging Wikipedia over potential foreign influence and information manipulation, raising concerns about its impact on historical records and AI training data. This accusation comes amidst a broader pattern of right-leaning figures questioning the platform’s neutrality, highlighting the growing politicization of information sources that serve both human readers and artificial intelligence systems.

The big picture: Ed Martin, interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, has accused the Wikimedia Foundation of “allowing foreign actors to manipulate information and spread propaganda to the American public.”

• In a leaked letter, Martin claimed the online encyclopedia permits “information manipulation,” including “the rewriting of key historical events and biographical information of current and previous American leaders.”
• Martin set a May 15, 2025, deadline for Wikipedia to explain steps it’s taking to counter foreign influence on the platform.

Why this matters: Wikipedia serves as a major source of training data for large language models, giving the platform what Martin describes as “the potential to launder information on behalf of foreign actors.”

• The accusations highlight growing concerns about how misinformation on widely-used platforms could propagate through AI systems at scale.
• Wikipedia has previously struggled with performance issues due to the volume of AI bots scraping data from the platform.

The context: Martin was appointed to his position in January 2025 following President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

• The attorney has recently sent similar letters to medical journals, accusing them of partisan political bias on certain issues.
• His letter to Wikipedia cites the Foundation’s tax-exempt status, arguing it must conform to a “reasonable expectation of neutrality, transparency, and accountability.”

What they’re saying: Wikipedia editors have quickly pushed back against Martin’s allegations.

• Molly White, a journalist and Wikipedia editor, characterized the letter as an example of the Trump administration “weaponizing laws to try to silence high-quality independent information.”

The broader pattern: This represents the latest in a series of challenges to Wikipedia from conservative figures.

• Elon Musk shared a post in late 2024 urging users to “Stop donating to Wokepedia,” specifically criticizing the Wikimedia Foundation’s spending on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives.