The spiked podcast How Wikipedia lies to you | Ashley Rindsberg
9 snips
Nov 12, 2025 
In this engaging discussion, Ashley Rindsberg, founding editor and chief investigative officer of NPOV Media, reveals how Wikipedia has become a playground for ideologues and manipulators. He sheds light on the hidden edit wars and the ideological biases shaping content, particularly during political events like the US elections. Ashley also discusses how Wikipedia influences Google and AI, propagating biased narratives. With insights on the politicization of the platform and potential solutions through competition and scrutiny, Rindsberg's analysis uncovers the complexities of this seemingly neutral resource.
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Surface Calm, Hidden Edit Wars
- Wikipedia's visible interface hides deep edit wars, ideological battles, and state-aligned messaging.
- You must dig into talk pages and editor behaviour to see how articles are actually shaped.
Kamala Harris Edit Battle
- During the US election debate over Kamala Harris's role, editors sided with the Democratic framing despite mixed reporting.
- Ashley describes how reporting from Axios called her a 'border czar' but Wikipedia editors followed the Democratic/media narrative instead.
Unvetted Source Rankings
- Wikipedia's reliability ranking of sources skews toward centre-left outlets and was created ad hoc by a single contributor.
- That unvetted list structurally tilts the platform's sourcing and leaves no community accountability.