ADL Study Finds Biased Israel Edits Persist on Wikipedia
An ADL study reveals that biased edits regarding Israel and the October 7 attacks largely remain on Wikipedia, prompting calls for a comprehensive audit.
A new Anti-Defamation League (ADL) study published on Thursday reveals that biased edits concerning Israel, Hamas, and the October 7 attacks largely remain on Wikipedia, despite measures taken against involved editors. According to the report, 19 accounts continue to influence the presentation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict using harder-to-detect editing methods.
Findings of the Continued ADL Investigation
Conducted by the ADL’s Center for Technology and Society, this research follows a March 2025 report that exposed coordinated activity by roughly 30 editors promoting anti-Israel and antisemitic narratives. Following that disclosure, six editors were restricted from editing certain topics and three were completely banned. However, the new study indicates that their changes were neither systematically reviewed nor corrected. While coordinated editing activity dropped by approximately 95%, subtle biased edits persist.
Specific Examples Cited in the Report
The report highlights core entries such as "Hamas", "Zionism", "Gaza war", and the October 7 attacks, noting that 91% of edits made by a fully banned editor remain intact. Additionally, 19 active accounts—including eight from the original group and 11 new ones—continue influencing content through incremental changes and reverting other users' edits.
"Blocking individual editors was never enough," stated ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, warning that these manipulated entries also affect search engine results and artificial intelligence responses.
The ADL is urging the Wikimedia Foundation to conduct a comprehensive audit of pages edited by banned users, increase oversight on sensitive subjects, and combat antisemitic bias on the platform.
