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Draft:Nine Theses

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nine Theses
The lead section of the Nine Theses essay
AuthorLarry Sanger
LanguageEnglish
SubjectWikipedia
PublishedSanger's Blog and his Wikipedia user page
Publication dateSeptember 29, 2025

The Nine Theses[a] is a 2025 essay discussing a reform proposal for the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia. It was created by it's co-founder Larry Sanger. In it, Sanger outlined nine suggestions for strengthening the project's neutrality. It's named after Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses. It was published on his blog and his Wikipedia user page in 2025, and was promoted on the Tucker Carlson podcast. Critics viewed Nine Theses as aligning with broader political criticisms of Wikipedia, although it has been poorly received by the Wikipedia community.

Background

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Larry Sanger is an American Internet project developer and philosopher who co-founded Wikipedia co-founded the online encyclopedia Wikipedia in 2001. Since his departure in 2002, Sanger has been critical of Wikipedia, its policies and administrators, and the Wikimedia Foundation.[1][2] Sanger would becoming one of Wikipedia most outspoken critics.[3] His criticisms of the reliability of Wikipedia led him to launch a peer review-based wiki Citizendium in 2007.[4]

Contents

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The Nine Theses discuss a reform proposal for Wikipedia. Sanger wrote 37,000 word document,[2] that outlined nine suggestions for strengthening the project's neutrality.[5][6] It's named after Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses.[3] The proposal is part of his broader effort to address what Sanger perceives as systemic issues within Wikipedia, which includes, ideological bias, lack of transparency in the editor hierarchies and an ineffective consensus decision-making procedure.[7]

Sanger’s nine-point plan includes:[8]

  1. End decision-making by "consensus".
  2. Enable competing articles.
  3. Abolish source blacklists.[9]
  4. Revive the original neutrality policy.
  5. Repeal “ignore all rules.”
  6. Reveal who Wikipedia’s leaders are.[9]
  7. Let the public rate articles.
  8. End indefinite blocking.
  9. Adopt a legislative process.

Some other ideas in Nine Theses are to reveal the identity of 62 Wikipedia editors which Sanger calls the "Power 62".[10] Another is to get rid of "GASP" editors, an acronym made by Sanger, that stands for Globalist, Academic, Secular, and Progressive.[10][11][12] And an idea to allow competing articles instead of seeking a false consensus on a single definitive entry.[10] Another is to add features allowing the public to rate articles, be able to post fact-checking in the style of X's community notes.[13] Sanger argues that right-wing[14] sources like Fox News, the New York Post, the Anti-Defamation League,[11] and Breitbart News should be as equal to other sources like The New York Times.[2] Sanger calls his "early joke rule" ignore all rules to be repealed, and that "the most powerful users" must requiring to show their full names.[12]

Release

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Larry Sanger (left) promoted his essay on the Tucker Carlson podcast (right)

The Nine Theses was published on his Wikipedia user page and on his blog in September 2025.[10] Sanger promoted his essay on the Tucker Carlson podcast on September 29, 2025, in which commenting on what he regards as the problems with the state of Wikipedia. Sanger commented on what he saw as the degrading of neutrality policies and the "blacklisting" of certain conservative sources on Wikipedia's perennial sources list. He also claimed that intelligence agencies like the CIA may have influenced some direction or content on Wikipedia.[1][2] Also in the podcast, Carlson said that "activists and intel agencies" had turned Wikipedia into "the most comprehensive propaganda op in human history."[12]

Sanger agreed with a plan by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation to dox Wikipedia editors, saying, "Admins and those with significant authority in the system should be as easily named and shamed as any ordinary journalist".[15] In an interview with PCMag, Sanger said that he didn't want Wikipedia to be "more conservative" and instead his concern has been "quite sincerely, neutrality."[3]

Reception

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Critics viewed Nine Theses as aligning with broader political criticisms of Wikipedia.[1] The Reason compered it to the spirit of Martin Luther,[10] while The Observer said it's "like a cut-price Martin Luther."[16] Politico said Sangers proposals would "partly make Wikipedia more like a freewheeling social media site."[2] Sanger's proposals were received well by members of the Republican party and second Trump administration, including David Sacks and Elon Musk, with the latter announcing Grokipedia the same day he shared and praised Sanger's proposals.[1]

Response from Wikimedia community members

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Nine Theses has been poorly received by the English Wikipedia community, particularly towards Sanger's proposal to require editors with advanced permissions to reveal their real life identities.[2] Wikipedians criticized Sanger’s calls to end user anonymity in certain cases while discouraging doxing such as the "Power 62". Sverrir Steinsson, a University of Toronto policy professor who studies Wikipedia said “I don’t think they’re going to seriously evaluate his proposals.” He added that they see Sanger “as more of a fringe figure who has abandoned the Wikipedia community a long time ago.”[2]

The other Wikipedia co-fonder Jimmy Wales, said "The idea that we have become some crazy left-wing activists is simply wrong - in fact, incorrect."[13] Wikimedia Foundation responded to the essay, reiterating its support for open knowledge and referring to its existing moderation principles:[14]

The values of the Wikimedia Foundation reflect our unwavering commitment to reliable knowledge, neutrality, and constant improvement. Wikipedia informs; it does not persuade. Some recent commentary overlooks the constant, high-quality volunteer oversight and strong safeguards already in place on Wikipedia. These protections allow volunteer editors to exercise their right to free expression, while upholding knowledge integrity. The site’s rigorous policies, high editorial standards, protection of user privacy, and transparent processes have empowered 260,000 volunteers to create more than 65 million articles across 300 languages. Wikipedia is a living encyclopedia that is always improving.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ The full title of the page is "User:Larry Sanger/Nine Theses".

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 Oremus, Will (2025-10-24). "A Wikipedia cofounder is fueling the right's campaign against it". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mak, Aaron (2025-10-02). "The speech wars come for Wikipedia". POLITICO. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  3. 1 2 3 Forlini, Emily (2025-11-04). "Wikipedia's Most Outspoken Critic Says Grokipedia Is Full of AI 'Bullshittery'". PCMAG. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
  4. ↑ McCarthy, Caroline (2007-01-23). "Citizendium: Wikipedia co-founder Sanger's Wikipedia rival". CNET News. Archived from the original on 2009-07-30. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  5. ↑ "Wikipedia is 25, but some old fights are still going". ABC News. 2026-01-15. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  6. ↑ Brooks, Emily (2025-09-30). "The Movement: Conservatives warn against ObamaCare compromise in shutdown fight". The Hill. Archived from the original on 2025-09-30. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  7. ↑ "Wikipedia Co-Founder Unveils Plan To Fix Website's Biased 'Engine of Defamation'". The New York Sun. 2025-10-04. Retrieved 2026-01-08.
  8. ↑ Press, The Free. "'I Founded Wikipedia. Here's How to Fix It.' Plus. . ". www.thefp.com. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
  9. 1 2 Garcia-Navarro, Lulu (2025-10-18). "The Culture Wars Came for Wikipedia. Jimmy Wales Is Staying the Course". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-02-27.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Weissmueller, Zach (2026-02-23). "Can you trust Wikipedia?". Reason.com. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  11. 1 2 DiResta, Renée (2025-11-11). "The Right-Wing Attack on Wikipedia". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2026-05-31.
  12. 1 2 3 "Wikipedia cofounder seeks to unmask its deep state, strip legal immunity if it resists reform | Just The News". justthenews.com. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  13. 1 2 "Grokipedia Elona Muska má být „AI encyklopedie pravdy" | WIRED". WIRED CZ (in Czech). 2025-10-29. Retrieved 2026-03-23.
  14. 1 2 Lynch, James (2025-10-03). "Wikipedia Bias Thrust into Public View with Cofounder's Manifesto, Congressional Scrutiny". National Review. Retrieved 2026-03-03.
  15. ↑ "'Edit Wars' on Middle East Page Raise Tensions on Wikipedia". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 2025-05-25. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  16. ↑ Naughton, John. "Musk's war on Wikipedia is a fight for a future without fact-checking". The Observer. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
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