When it comes to turning petty grievances into major scandals, there may be no one as dedicated as long-time Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
Over the past few years, Cruz has used his extremely powerful position to platform all kinds of baffling political causes, including Sesame Street’s vaccine literacy program, Sidney Sweeney’s jeans, and of course the pressing threat of space piracy.
Never one to pick an easy battle, Cruz’s latest cause célèbre is a doozy. His target is none other than Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, which has been under siege by various right wing forces since Donald Trump returned to the White House earlier this year. There’s just one problem: Cruz is having a heck of a time understanding what Wikipedia even is.
Speaking to Ars Technica about a confused letter Cruz penned to the Wikimedia Foundation, the organization’s attorney Jacob Rogers said the Senator has some homework to do.
“The foundation is very much taking the approach that Wikipedia is actually pretty great and a lot of what’s in this letter is actually misunderstandings,” Rogers told Ars. He added that the Foundation is “more than happy” to explain how it works.
Cruz’s main concern with Wikipedia is “ideological bias,” a longstanding right wing complaint with limited basis in reality. In his letter, he called on the Foundation to produce “documents sufficient to show what supervision, oversight, or influence, if any, the Wikimedia Foundation has over the editing community.”
He also accused the Foundation of imposing the will of wealthy donors onto its content. Without a hint of irony, Cruz shared his concern about the “influence of large donors on Wikipedia’s content creation or editing practices.”
Of course, Wikipedia is a volunteer project — anyone with an internet connection can sign up to lend a hand. The only caveat for contributors is that they follow the encyclopedia’s editorial guidelines, known as Wikipedia’s “Five Pillars,” which explicitly stipulate that the project retain a neutral point of view based on reliable sources.
Whether being willfully obtuse or just characteristically dense, Cruz is only the latest voice to wade into the fray. Earlier this year, the Heritage Foundation, the extremely powerful think tank behind Project 2025, said it would “identify and target” Wikipedia editors over their perceived political bias.
Despite Republican probes and bizarre accusations by culture warriors, Wikimedia has had no problem weathering the storm. Unless Cruz really steps up his game, that’s unlikely to change.
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