Wikipedia Editors Denigrate Henry Kissinger, Celebrate Death
After learning of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s death, numerous editors on the online encyclopedia Wikipedia celebrated his passing and made denigrating comments about him. The editor who made the first edit confirming his death received praise from other editors, including prolific veteran editors, and the media.
On Wikipedia, the first edit on Kissinger’s article making note of his death was editor “Asticky” changing “is” to “was” in the first sentence. The edit did not actually cite a source for the claim as site policy requires, though one was added minutes later by another editor. Shortly after making the edit, Asticky edited her profile page to boast “I’m now forever the girl who changed ‘is’ to ‘was’ on Henry Kissinger’s Wikipedia article.” The edit included “Lmao” meaning “laughing my ass off” in the “summary” description. An account on X, formerly Twitter, called “depths of wikipedia” then made a viral post about the edit:
The editor’s discussion page was then used to leave numerous messages applauding her for making the edit noting Kissinger’s death. Editors praised Asticky for “winning the race” with Eric Connor, known as “Pericles of Athens” on the site, stating he had “never been to a Wikipedia user talk page party before” and congratulating the editor for “becoming an instant legend overnight.” Connor has contributed over two dozen featured articles, the highest quality ranking given on Wikipedia, mainly about Ancient Macedonia and China. Another editor called Asticky’s edit a “certified gore moment.”
Many editors commenting only specifically commented on the achievement of making the first edit about Kissinger’s death, though some were clearer in expressing feelings about Kissinger directly. Editor “Sock” gave Asticky a “barnstar” award and thanked her for “delivering us the good news!” An organizer for “Queering Wikipedia” who also supported feminist editing campaigns on the site left a similar message. One editor left a message stating “thank you for changing the devil to past tense!!”
Left-wing news outlets subsequently picked up the story with Vice News repeating the “instant legend” comment, referring to Kissinger as the “widely-hated American statesman and war criminal” in the opening line, and blithely noting jokes from people eagerly longing for Kissinger’s death in recent years. In the Daily Dot, social media praise for the edit was also blithely noted, including a comment from someone claiming to have made a similar change to Queen Elizabeth’s Wikipedia page after her death and never being able to “forget that high.”
Some editors expressed concern about the jubilant atmosphere on the page, given it appeared to be celebrating a person’s death, which would also create issues with Wikipedia policy on edits about the recently-deceased. In the discussion, Asticky was contrite about the matter, stating she had not expected the flurry of attention it received and had not wanted to invite any uncivil comments. Admins with special privileges on Wikipedia subsequently removed the comments, left a notice warning against further comments and temporarily locked the page to prevent further edits.
This provoked further conflict as some editors and administrators objected to removing the praise and restored them without the comments most blatantly celebrating Kissinger’s death, though the users responsible for those comments received no warnings for their behavior and some borderline comments remained. Editors began edit-warring over the comments until finally they were kept up. One of the more active campaigners in favor of the comments was “Parabolist” who originally began editing Wikipedia solely to aid other left-wing editors smearing the GamerGate anti-corruption movement in gaming.
Other discussions on Wikipedia similarly contained callous or degrading commentary celebrating Kissinger’s death. When his death was nominated to appear on Wikipedia’s front page “in the news” section, the editor doing so commented, “Been waiting for this day.” The same user had previously stated “This year is cruel” when a similar nomination was made for radically pro-choice Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Responding to the editor’s comment about Kissinger, editor “nableezy” reprimanded him by saying Wikipedia was not “a place where we celebrate somebody’s death” before adding “We can do that in the privacy of our own homes.”
Wikipedia is increasingly notorious for its left-wing bias with co-founder Larry Sanger calling it propaganda and “an opponent of vigorous democracy.” Studies have identified a left-wing bias in the online encyclopedia’s content, userbase, and enforcement mechanisms. X owner Elon Musk has actively argued with co-founder Jimmy Wales over the problems with the site, such as efforts to delete Wikipedia’s page on the “Twitter Files” that show how the previous owners of Twitter censored the Hunter Biden corruption story. Despite this, media and academia routinely copy off Wikipedia, shaping scientific literature and spreading hoaxes.
(Disclosure: The author has previously been involved in disputes on Wikipedia with some parties referenced in this article)
