“The days of Wikipedia's robust commitment to neutrality are long gone.”
~ Larry Sanger Larry Sanger created Nupedia and Wikipedia while working for Jimmy Wales. Sanger invented the name, "Wikipedia." He left Wikipedia after Wales cut his salary by 50% and founded Citizendium. Since 2020, Sanger began organizing a wiki-based encyclopedia known as Encyclosphere.
Sanger's role in the founding of Wikipedia is a matter of dispute. Although Sanger came up with the idea of using wiki software to host their encyclopedia, Wales claims to be the sole "founder" of Wikipedia. Citizendium,[1] presumably speaking for Sanger, describes him as a "Wikipedia co-founder." Digital Universe says, "He was the chief organizer of Wikipedia in its first year and played a key role in its creation."[2]
Wired says:
Wales started an Internet company called Bomis, a search engine and Web directory. He began hearing about the fledgling open source movement and wondered whether volunteers could create something besides software. So he recruited Larry Sanger, then an Ohio State University doctoral student in philosophy, whom he'd encountered on some listservs. He put Sanger on the Bomis payroll, and together they launched a free online encyclopedia called Nupedia.[3]
In May 2020, Larry Sanger made a post on his blog about Wikipedia's left wing bias. It opens with an image of the Uncyclopedia logo, which Sanger deems more appropriate for Wikipedia. The post mentions that Wikipedia's article on Barack Obama makes no mention of several scandals during his administration. Contrarily, Wikipedia's article on Donald Trump is rife with criticisms, and information on investigations and controversies involving Trump are nearly as long as information directly pertaining to his presidency.[4]
In February 2021, Larry Sanger openly condemned Wikipedia for its bias again. One prominent example he cited was the Wikipedia's socialism and communism articles having zero mention of the genocides, forced labor, and man-made famines caused by socialist and communist regimes.[5][6]