$1 billion for a name change: Elon Musk’s new craze with Wikipedia

Elon Musk’s interest in making his mark on another popular website is re-emerging. After his purchase of Twitter, now dubbed X, Musk offered Wikipedia $1 billion if he were allowed to change the site’s name to (drum roll please!)... Dickopedia. Late last week, the billionaire owner of X had made the offer to Wikipedia in 2023 was still on the table.

The 2023 offer was put on the table by Musk on February 17, after photos of the billionaire on the Wikipedia entry for Libertarian authoritarianism began to spread. The viral right-wing social media account, Libs of TikTok, posted a photo of Musk’s mention on the page, which included the caption, “Elon Musk was described by Jacobin as ‘chief amplifier of global authoritarianism,’ combining authoritarian nationalism with postmodern libertarianism.” This text has been removed, but the entry still contains a mention of Musk, along with Peter Thiel and Javier Milei, who Wikipedia claims have “merged their libertarianism with their “authoritarian tendencies.”

Musk’s close relationship with Donald Trump, whose White House posted a photo of the president in a crown last week, and who has on multiple occasions stated that he intends to seek another term in 2028, which the US Constitution prohibits, exemplifies his proximity to authoritarian politics.

Musk’s beef with Wikipedia goes way back

The billionaire’s disdain for the platform stems from what some internet and culture writers have pointed to as his inability to understand how Wikipedia functions. Writer Stephen Harrison explained in a piece about Musk’s relationship to Wikipedia, that around a quarter of his page relates to criticisms of the billionaire, a fact that was mentioned in the entry’s ‘talk page’ where editors can propose and debate changes to an entry. However, other editors, as Harrison notes, believed the criticism to be underrepresented as much of the media coverage of Musk, especially in recent years has been negative and critical. Harrison suggests that the reflection of the media opinion of Musk has led him to become “obsessed with how he is described on the free internet encyclopedia,” and thus encourages his supporters to clean up his image don’t the site.

Millions of editors contribute to the online encyclopedia’s entries without financial compensation—they believe in the project and the idea that information should not be locked up behind a paywall. As fake news has become more pervasive online, Wikipedia has maintained its rigor, with editors challenging one another to ensure it remains a reliable source of information (though fact-checking the site is still recommended, especially for academic or public research). For many researchers, Wikipedia can be an important first step, helping them become acquainted with a subject and exposing them to other sources that can bolster their learning.

However, the decentralized manner in which Wikipedia is run makes it challenging for any one individual to control the site and the narratives within its digital pages. Musk counts himself among those who have tried to use financial power to gain control over Wikipedia. These efforts have failed, with the website uninterested in his charity, which, as the Dickopedia example shows, comes at a high price.

Musk undermines his own argument

Though he may wish to evade the accusations that he is sympathetic to authoritarian political movements, Musk consistently undermines this effort.

For instance, this weekend after President Trump expressed support for Spanish political leader Santiago Abascal, the head of the right-wing party Vox, Musk tweeted that “Vox will win the next elections” in Spain.

Though Abascal often obfuscates the roots of his political project, it is linked to the authoritarian dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who ruled the country ruthlessly from the late 1930s until 1975. As the party becomes more emboldened, in part because of the support it sees in President Trump, the admiration many party members hold for Franco is put on full display. In November, a Vox deputy in the Spanish parliament said that through social media, Spain’s young people were learning that Franco’s authoritarian rule was not a “dark period” but instead one of “progress” to achieve “national unity.” The national unity the politician spoke about was achieved through the curtailing of expressive freedoms, including a prohibition on speaking minority languages, like Basque and Catalan, in public. The dictatorship, which in 2020, Abascal said was a better government than the one led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, sustained its grasp on the Spanish political systems through the widespread use of torture, imprisonment, censorship, and never holding democratic elections.

Musk’s endorsement of Vox’s political movement, which garnered around 12 percent of the vote in the Spanish elections held in 2023, is just another example of him using his platform to elevate political projects aligned with his ideology. However, his issues with Wikipedia will only grow if he claims to reject authoritarianism, yet supports those who are the inheritors of that tradition on the right.

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