FREE PRESS
I Co-Founded Wikipedia. Now I’m Banned for Life.
Larry Sanger
June 26, 2026

Twenty-five years ago, I co-founded Wikipedia, arguably the most important encyclopedia in human history. On Monday, I was indefinitely banned from the site. The story of what happened to me is, in many ways, the story of our censorious times, in which independent thinking is seen as a threat rather than a virtue, and punished as such….On Monday morning, while I was on a flight to New York City, I was blocked from the site by one Wikipedia admin who declared that the consensus of the mob (the “community”) favored my banning. …Over the past year, I have fought tirelessly to reform Wikipedia because its founding mission is more important today than ever before. Information is the most valuable currency in any society, and the ability of citizens to access, evaluate, and learn from a diversity of viewpoints is essential to a free civilization. Yet Wikipedia’s yearslong shift away from that principle—toward ideological gatekeeping and narrative control—undermines the very purpose for which it was created. READ MORE

NEW YORK POST Left-leaning Wikipedia blocked founder from editing site — after he campaigned to make it more balanced  Left-leaning website Wikipedia has taken the drastic action of permanently blocking one of its founders from editing pages — after he had campaigned to make it more balanced and fair. Last month, Larry Sanger launched WikiProject Intellectual Diversity (WID), a group designed to help reinforce the online encyclopedia’s “original, firm commitment to intellectual diversity,” by emphasizing neutrality and transparency. However, Sanger — who coined the name “Wikipedia,” drafted the site’s foundational set of rules and guidelines, and launched the site alongside Jimmy Wales in 2001 — is now indefinitely blocked from editing, the most drastic action the site can take against an editor.