Wikipedia’s Anti-Israel Editors Unmasked

[Valin]

Washington Free Beacon

Group launches effort to combat anti-Israel bias on internet's largest encyclopedia

Adam Kredo

November 20, 2019

A pro-Israel organization has exposed the identities of top Wikipedia editors who use the online encyclopedia to promote anti-Israel bias and causes, a first-of-its-kind effort that is unmasking a global online network of Israel critics.

(Snip)

Already, the Israel Group has listed the details of the top five editors it deems leaders of the anti-Israel effort.

The number one anti-Israel leader, according to the Israel Group, is an Australian computer scientist named Brendan McKay.

"Brendan McKay, who goes by the Wikipedia username ‘Zero0000,' is the Godfather, the unofficial leader of the entire cabal of anti-Israel Wikipedia editors," the Israel Group wrote in a post about McKay. "Although he is not the most prolific or skilled editor among them, one thing separates him from the others: he's a Wikipedia administrator. This means that he has vast powers that regular editors don't have, such as the ability to block and ban regular editors and to delete edits and articles from the historical record. Moreover, administrators are greatly respected, so when they accuse general editors of editing with a pro-Israel point of view—as McKay repeatedly does—other administrators side with him, often blocking or banning pro-Israel editors."

The Israel Group goes on to list as its second leading anti-Israel editor another Australian named Peter Nicholas Dale.

Dale "is undoubtedly the most prolific and proficient of the bunch," according to the Israel Group. "He is an erudite, skilled blowhard who employs his expert Wikipedia editing proficiency to derail and obfuscate discussions."

He has performed more than 60,000 Wikipedia edits and has "never once benefited Israel," the group claims.

When the initiative launches in 2020, the Israel Group will begin posting a more complete list of the editors it claims are responsible for Wikipedia's anti-Israel bias.