It’s been a while since the most controversial billionaire in the tech world has fired one of his own. With a new post on his X/Twitter, Elon Musk he even targeted Wikipedia. In particular, Musk mocked the requests for donations from the Wikimedia Foundation, the foundation that manages the largest encyclopedia on the web.
“I will give them a billion dollars if they change their name to Dickipedia,” Musk wrote defiantly, adding in another post that it would do so “in the interests of accuracy [d’informazione, ndr]”.
Those who are familiar with it slang americano they certainly understood the irreverent name change proposal. For everyone else, however, unfortunately we cannot translate without lapsing into vulgarity.
Not happy with this first social attack, Musk posted another tweet (or Xeet? What should we call it now?) in which he published a screenshot of the Wikipedia homepage which shows the now traditional writing: “Wikipedia is not for sale”.
“Have you ever wondered why the Wikimedia Foundation wants so much money? They certainly aren’t needed to manage Wikipedia,” Elon Musk wrote in the comments of the post. “You can literally put a copy of all the text on your phone! So, what is the money for? Inquiring minds want to know…”
Have you ever wondered why the Wikimedia Foundation wants so much money?
It certainly isn’t needed to operate Wikipedia. You can literally fit a copy of the entire text on your phone!
So, what’s the money for? Inquiring minds want to know …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 22, 2023
Elon Musk vs Wikipedia? Maybe there’s much more underneath
The double affront to the encyclopedia seems to be Musk’s umpteenth response to those who accuse him of spread misinformation on X/Twitter. After all, the social network, since it was acquired by Elon Musk, is considered one of the largest incubators of fake news on the web.
Wikipedia, on the other hand, markets itself as a bastion of free information with verification of sources. The picture of the battle is evidently much broader than it seems.
However, since it was published, Elon Musk’s post has garnered 9.9 million views and over one hundred thousand likes.