Fake news, an internet troll, and a conspiracy theory about 'Wikipedia's Intentional Distortion of the History of the Holocaust'

Abstract

In 2023, an essay alleged Wikipedia's "intentional distortion" of the Holocaust. Subsequently, the Wikipedia community largely dismissed these claims during a formal investigation. The allegations repeated a narrative of a former Wikipedia volunteer banned from all Wikimedia projects for unethical behavior. While Wikipedia undoubtedly contains errors in its coverage of the Holocaust, there is no convincing evidence to prove that most of it is 'intentional', or that it can be attributed to the parties identified by the essay authors. Doing so breaches best practices in ethics and results in the promotion of a conspiracy-theory-like narrative and fake news. With permission of the author, the editors of Holocaust Studies invite reader responses to this article. Please submit your response via the online submission system within six months of the online publication date of the article.