Wikipedia Considering Removing Entries on Mass Killings under Communism Due to 'Bias'
Article faced accusations of pushing a biased 'anti-Communist' viewpoint
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Wikipedia's entry for “mass killings under Communist regimes” is set to be removed due to claims of "bias."
The platform's entry which details the genocide could be deleted, accoridng to reports.
The page that details millions of people killed under one-party Communist regimes like China and the Soviet Union is now flagged for deletion.
But some Wikipedia editors do not agree that Communist ideology was to blame for mass genocide.
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The entry lists Communist figures such as:
- Chairman Mao
- Stalin
- Pol Pot
- Kim Jong Il
The article faced accusations of pushing a biased “anti-Communist” viewpoint.
A headline on the article currently states:
“The neutrality of this article is disputed,” and “this article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedia’s deletion policy.”
A debate between Wikipedia editors can be found here.
One editor criticized he discussion as catering to pro-communist editors:
"Wikipedia is protecting this section to allow obvious abuse and manipulation by a handful of partisans pushing to rewrite history to cover atrocities by citing other partisan academics."
"The effort to derail this into the realm of opinion, while calling those opinions fact, is as blatant as it is absurd.
"If this is allowed to continue, this entire project has failed, and Wikipedia should just close up shop."
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Cambridge historian Professor Robert Tombs said that downplaying the connection could see the crimes of fascism disregarded.
Tombs stated:
“This is morally indefensible, at least as bad as Holocaust denial, because ‘linking ideology and killing’ is the very core of why these things are important.
"I have read the Wikipedia page, and it seems to me careful and balanced.
"Therefore attempts to remove it can only be ideologically motivated – to whitewash Communism.”
He added:
“Already, this appalling history is downplayed: in Britain, schoolchildren are much more likely to study the Third Reich than the Soviet Union.”
