NEW YORK – The World Jewish Congress (WJC) today released a new report exposing systemic bias, extremist propaganda, and governance failures on Arabic-language Wikipedia, raising serious concerns about the integrity of one of the world’s most widely used sources of information.
The report, “Captured Knowledge: Systematic Bias, Hostile Actors, and Governance Failures on Arabic Wikipedia,” finds that key articles related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks repeatedly violate Wikipedia’s core neutrality policies and rely heavily on sources affiliated with terrorist organizations and propaganda outlets.
The findings highlight the growing global risks posed when manipulated information ecosystems feed not only public discourse but also the artificial intelligence systems that millions of people rely on for information.
Among the report’s most alarming findings:
- Extensive use of terrorist and propaganda sources: More than 25% of citations in key articles—and over 50% in some cases—originate from Hamas-, Hezbollah-, or other terrorist propaganda platforms.
- Terrorist organizations framed as “resistance movements”: Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are frequently described as legitimate resistance factions, while attacks on civilians are labeled “martyrdom operations.” Some articles refer to designated terrorists as “martyrs” and celebrate suicide bombings and attacks on civilians as historical “achievements.”
- Systemic governance failures: Influential administrators have publicly rejected Wikipedia’s neutrality principle as a “Western concept,” while editors attempting to introduce neutral language or verified facts have reportedly been blocked or banned.
- Massive downstream impact on global information systems: Wikipedia content is widely used to train AI models and inform search results, meaning biased material can propagate far beyond the platform itself.
“This report demonstrates that one of the world’s most trusted knowledge platforms is being systematically manipulated to promote extremist narratives,” said Yfat Barak-Cheney, Executive Director of the World Jewish Congress’ Institute for Technology and Human Rights (TecHRI).
“When terrorist propaganda and hate-driven narratives are allowed to masquerade as neutral information, the consequences extend far beyond Wikipedia itself. These distortions shape public understanding and views of Jews and Israelis across the Arabic-speaking world.”
The report calls on the Wikimedia Foundation to take urgent action to restore neutrality and accountability on Arabic Wikipedia, including enforcing existing neutrality standards, removing administrators who enable extremist propaganda, and implementing centralized monitoring mechanisms for terrorism-related content.
It also urges technology companies and search engines to apply safeguards when relying on Wikipedia content for AI training and retrieval systems until meaningful reforms are implemented.
“Wikipedia has long presented itself as humanity’s shared knowledge repository,” Barak-Cheney added. “Ensuring that this knowledge remains factual is particularly critical as emerging AI platforms increasingly rely on multilingual information sources to formulate responses to user queries.”
“The World Jewish Congress has engaged with the Wikimedia Foundation on this issue and will continue working to ensure these concerns are addressed.”
For additional information, please contact TecHRI Executive Director Yfat Barak-Cheney at [email protected].
