Wikipedia’s
editors have voted to ban Breitbart as a credible source for entries on its site. The site has also prohibited authors from using InfoWars as a source in articles, reports
Motherboard.In all, the site estimates that over 2,500 links to Breitbartexist among its articles.
Speaking about Breitbart, one editor for the site
stated: “I don't like the use of blanket bans, but Breitbart seems to satisfy the conditions: an obviously unreliable source, with a reputation for inaccurate stories, which a few
users nonetheless insist on trying to use as if it were a reliable news source.”
The Daily Mail was also banned as a citation source in February 2017, due to its sensationalist
content and lack of fact-checking.
Left-leaning sites have also been nixed. Wikipedia voted out progressive website Occupy Democrats' use as a reliable source and a credible citation,
notes Motherboard.
Not all editors were in agreement about banning Breitbart, however, with one stating: “It does seem that some editors have a grudge against
conservative-leading publishers. While we may not agree with the editorial stance (and I certainly don't when it comes to the likes of the Guardian, but I still use them to cite things),
we should not allow any political views we may have to get in the way of being able to use a right-leaning publication to illustrate a right-leading stance on an article.”
In addition,
the editors called InfoWarsa “conspiracy theorist and fake news website. It is a generally unreliable source. The use of InfoWars as a reference should be generally
prohibited, especially when other more reliable sources exist. InfoWars should not be used for determining notability, or used as a secondary source in
articles.”
InfoWars also appears on Wikipedia’s global spam blacklist.
Most recently, the Alex-Jones-led site has been banned across many platforms, including Facebook,
YouTube, Spotify, Twitter, Apple, Snapchat, YouPorn and PayPal, which Jones announced he is suing, among others.
Wikipedia editors involved in the vote did agree that Breitbartcould be used as a source when reporting on the outlet itself or those involved with it.
Following the vote to ban Breitbart, Wikipedia editors began creating a master
list of any opinion-related citations linked to the outlet across its website.
Published comments on the vote
can be found on Wikipedia.