Wikipedia is curated propaganda Wikipedia’s editors are helping Iran rewrite history The Free Press finds “Wikipedia's entry on Ali Khamenei is a masterclass in narrative framing. The all-important opening section of the article makes no mention of the fact that Khamenei's regime was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of its own citizens in mass crackdowns. Instead, readers are introduced to something far more anodyne. He's described as a pragmatic hardliner, and his status as a religious authority is foregrounded. Violent uprisings against his rule are softened into the phrase faced many protests, images to alleged crimes against humanity appear later, and even then, they're framed cautiously attributed to what critics say, rather than presented as established historical claims or legal findings.” “A 2024 investigation by the times reported that entries related to Iran have been repeatedly revised in ways that minimize or contextualize state violence.“ “While Iranian security forces killed thousands of protesters in repeated waves of unrest with the real toll, often obscured by internet blackouts that prevent documentation, another battle has been taking place in the digital realm. Editors sympathetic to the regime or aligned with its perspective have worked to shape how these events are recorded on widely used platforms. Like Wikipedia, the strategy is two-fold. Physical repression constrains, dissent at home, while informational influence shapes understanding abroad. Together, they form what Khamenei himself is described as a kind of soft war in the information space.”1 “A campaign to control interpretation as much as territory. Investigations into Wikipedia, editing suggest this effort has been sustained and coordinated over time.”