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The perennial sources list (abbreviated as RSP or WP:RSP) is a community-maintained list on
English Wikipedia The English Wikipedia is the primary English-language edition of Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. It was created by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger on 15 January 2001, as Wikipedia's first edition. English Wikipedia is hosted alongside o ...
that classifies sources by degrees of reliability. The ratings, which are determined through public discussion and consensus, have received significant news coverage over the years. RSP ratings are not meant to function as "pre-approved sources that can always be used without regard for the ordinary rules of editing", nor is RSP a "list of banned sources that can never be used or should be removed on sight".


Categorizations

The perennial sources list buckets sources as "generally reliable", defined as "independent, published sources with a reputation for
fact-checking Fact-checking is the process of verifying the factual accuracy of questioned reporting and statements. Fact-checking can be conducted before or after the text or content is published or otherwise disseminated. Internal fact-checking is such che ...
and accuracy"; "marginally reliable", defined as usable only in "certain circumstances"; "generally unreliable", which "should normally not be used"; and "deprecated", which is "generally prohibited". Deprecated sources are of questionable reliability and include sources that are known for promoting unsubstantiated
conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...
. Separately, the list indicates when a source is "blacklisted" on Wikipedia due to "persistent abuse, usually in the form of embedded
external links An internal link is a type of hyperlink on a web page to another page or resource, such as an image or document, on the same website or domain. It is the opposite of an external link, a link that directs a user to content that is outside its d ...
". Reliability discussions are held on the Reliable Sources Noticeboard public forum, where editors discuss how well a source complies with Wikipedia's guideline on reliable sources. Sometimes, debates are held within Wikipedia's Request for Comment (RfC) process. The debates are public and archived, allowing people to see how a reliability assessment was reached. Sources considered reliable differ among language versions; for example, the
Persian Wikipedia Persian Wikipedia () is the Persian language version of Wikipedia. The Persian version of Wikipedia was started in December 2003. As of , it has articles, registered users, and files, and it is the largest edition of Wikipedia by article ...
heavily relies on Iranian
state media State media are typically understood as media outlets that are owned, operated, or significantly influenced by the government. They are distinguished from public service media, which are designed to serve the public interest, operate independent ...
outlets. In 2022, the
East StratCom Task Force The East StratCom Task Force (ESCTF or ESTF) is a part of the European External Action Service, focused on "effective communication" and promotion of European Union activities in Eastern Europe (including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Mol ...
reported that pro-Russian
disinformation Disinformation is misleading content deliberately spread to deceive people, or to secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic dece ...
websites were being cited on the
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
,
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
,
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
, Portuguese, and
Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...
Wikipedias, despite being blacklisted on the
English Wikipedia The English Wikipedia is the primary English-language edition of Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. It was created by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger on 15 January 2001, as Wikipedia's first edition. English Wikipedia is hosted alongside o ...
.


Examples

Sources considered generally reliable include news channels such as
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
,
MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...
and
Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...
, traditional newspapers such as ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'', ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' and its
sister paper A sister paper is one of two or more newspapers which share a common owner, but are published with different content, different names, and sometimes (but not necessarily) in different geographical areas. Such an arrangement can offer economies o ...
''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'', ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', and ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...
'', as well as ''
Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
'', ''
BuzzFeed News ''BuzzFeed News'' was an American news website published by BuzzFeed beginning in 2011. It ceased posting new hard news content in May 2023. It published a number of high-profile scoops, including the Steele dossier, for which it was strong ...
'', the
Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...
, and
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
. Sources under the "no consensus, unclear, or additional considerations apply" category include ''
National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...
'', ''
Jezebel Jezebel ()"Jezebel"
(US) and
'' and ''
Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive and liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, includ ...
''. Singaporean newspaper ''
The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...
'' is also in this category; its entry says, "given known practices of
self-censorship Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own discourse, typically out of fear or deference to the perceived preferences, sensibilities, or infallibility of others, and often without overt external pressure. Self-censorship is c ...
and political meddling into coverage, news related to Singapore politics, particularly for contentious claims, should be taken with a grain of salt". Sources considered generally unreliable include ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' on "politically and societally sensitive issues", ''
The Daily Wire The Daily Wire is an American conservative media company founded in 2015 by political commentator Ben Shapiro and film director Jeremy Boreing. The company is a major publisher on Facebook, and produces podcasts such as ''The Ben Shapiro S ...
'', the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...
'', the
Jewish Virtual Library The Jewish Virtual Library (JVL, formerly known as JSOURCE) is an online encyclopedia published by the American foreign policy analyst Mitchell Bard's non-profit organization American–Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE). It is a website cove ...
,
NGO Monitor NGO Monitor is a right-wing organization based in Jerusalem that reports on international NGO (non-governmental organisation) activity from a pro-Israel perspective. The organization was founded in 2001 by Gerald M. Steinberg under the auspic ...
, the
Daily Kos Daily Kos ( ) is a group blog and internet forum focused on the U.S. Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party and Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal American politics. The site publishes blog posts, polls, election and cam ...
, and
BroadwayWorld BroadwayWorld is a theatre news website based in New York City, New York. Launched in 2003, the site covers Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional, and international theater productions, with sections devoted to particular countries, cities, or regi ...
. Sites that incorporate
user-generated content User-generated content (UGC), alternatively known as user-created content (UCC), emerged from the rise of web services which allow a system's User (computing), users to create Content (media), content, such as images, videos, audio, text, testi ...
, including
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
user reviews,
Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...
, and
TV Tropes TV Tropes (also written as TVTropes) is a wiki founded by "Fast Eddie" in 2004 that collects and documents descriptions and examples of plot conventions and devices, which it refers to as tropes. Its contents cover many creative works and non- ...
, are also considered generally unreliable. Deprecated sources include
Occupy Democrats Occupy Democrats is an American Left-wing politics, left-wing media outlet built around a Facebook page and corresponding website. Established in 2012, it publishes hyperpartisan content, clickbait, and Misinformation, false information. In 201 ...
, One America News Network, ''
The Epoch Times ''The Epoch Times'' is a far-right international multi-language newspaper and media company affiliated with the Falun Gong new religious movement. The newspaper, based in New York City, is part of the Epoch Media Group, which also operates N ...
'', ''
The Daily Caller ''The Daily Caller'' is a right-wing news and opinion website based in Washington, D.C. It was founded by political commentator Tucker Carlson and political advisor Neil Patel in 2010. Launched as a "conservative answer to ''The Huffington ...
'', ''
The Gateway Pundit ''The Gateway Pundit'' (TGP) is an American far-right fake news website. The website is known for publishing falsehoods, hoaxes, and conspiracy theories. Founded in 2004 by Jim Hoft, ''The Gateway Pundit'' expanded from a one-person enterpris ...
'', ''
The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
'', ''
The Grayzone ''The Grayzone'' is a far-left fringe American news website and blog. It was founded and is edited by American journalist Max Blumenthal. The website was initially founded as ''The Grayzone Project'' and was affiliated with AlterNet until ea ...
'',
Newsmax Newsmax, Inc. (or Newsmax.com, previously styled NewsMax) is an American cable news, political opinion commentary, and digital media company founded by Christopher Ruddy in 1998. It has been variously described as conservative, right-wing, an ...
, and Russian
state media State media are typically understood as media outlets that are owned, operated, or significantly influenced by the government. They are distinguished from public service media, which are designed to serve the public interest, operate independent ...
outlets RT and
Sputnik Sputnik 1 (, , ''Satellite 1''), sometimes referred to as simply Sputnik, was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space progra ...
. Other deprecated sources include Iranian and Venezuelan media outlets and advocacy organizations that have taken overtly pro-Russia, pro-China or pro-Arab perspectives. Blacklisted sources include the
Hindu nationalist Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of political thought, based on the native social and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" is a simplistic translation of . It is better descri ...
websites OpIndia, '' Swarajya'' and ''TFIPost'', as well as
The Points Guy The Points Guy (TPG) is an American travel website and blog that produces sponsored news and stories on travel, means of accumulating and using airline points and miles, politics, and credit cards - in particular, credit card reviews. The s ...
,
ZoomInfo ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. is an American software and data company which provides data for companies and business individuals. Their main product is a commercial search-engine, specialized in contact and business information. From the intern ...
, '' Natural News,'' and
the Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (or simply Heritage) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1973, it took a leading role in the conservative movement in the 1980s during the Presi ...
. Sources that have been both deprecated and blacklisted include ''
Breitbart News ''Breitbart News Network'' (; known commonly as ''Breitbart News'', ''Breitbart'', or ''Breitbart.com'') is an Radical right (United States), American far-rightMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * syndicated news, opinion, and commentar ...
'', '' Infowars'', and state-sponsored
fake news website Fake news websites (also referred to as hoax news websites) are websites on the Internet that deliberately publish fake news—hoaxes, propaganda, and disinformation purporting to be news, real news—often using social media to drive web traffic ...
s such as '' SouthFront'' and ''NewsFront''.


Notable ratings


''Daily Mail''

In February 2017, pursuant to a formal community discussion, editors on the
English Wikipedia The English Wikipedia is the primary English-language edition of Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. It was created by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger on 15 January 2001, as Wikipedia's first edition. English Wikipedia is hosted alongside o ...
banned the use of the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
'' as a source in most cases. Its use as a reference is now "generally prohibited, especially when other more reliable sources exist", and it can no longer be used as proof of
notability Notability may refer to: * Notability (application), a note-taking IOS application * ''Notability'', a 1993 album by the Swingles * Notability in the English Wikipedia {{Disambiguation ...
. The ''Daily Mail'' can still be used as a source in an about-self fashion, when the ''Daily Mail'' itself is the subject of discussion. Support for the ban centred on "the ''Daily Mail''s reputation for poor
fact checking A fact is a true datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by experiments or other means. For e ...
,
sensationalism In journalism and mass media, sensationalism is a type of editorial tactic. Events and topics in news stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers. This style of news reporting encourages biased or emoti ...
, and flat-out fabrication". Some users opposed the decision, arguing that it is "actually reliable for some subjects" and "may have been more reliable historically." The ''Daily Mail'' thus became the first deprecated source. Wikipedia's ban of the ''Daily Mail'' generated a significant amount of media attention, especially from the British media. Though the ''Daily Mail'' strongly contested this decision by the community, Wikipedia's co-founder
Jimmy Wales Jimmy Donal Wales (born August 7, 1966), also known as Jimbo Wales, is an American List of Internet entrepreneurs, Internet entrepreneur and former Trader (finance), financial trader. He is a Founders of Wikipedia, co-founder of the non-profi ...
backed the community's choice, saying: "I think what he ''Daily Mail'' hasdone brilliantly in this ad funded world sthey've mastered the art of
clickbait Clickbait (also known as link bait or linkbait) is a text or a thumbnail hyperlink, link that is designed to attract attention and to entice users to follow ("click") that link and view, read, stream or listen to the linked piece of online cont ...
, they've mastered the art of hyped-up headlines. They've also mastered the art of—I'm sad to say—of running stories that simply aren't true. And that's why Wikipedia decided not to accept them as a source anymore. It's very problematic, they get very upset when we say this, but it's just fact." A February 2017 editorial in ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' on the decision said: "Newspapers make errors and have the responsibility to correct them. Wikipedia editors' fastidiousness, however, appears to reflect less a concern for accuracy than dislike of the ''Daily Mail''s opinions." ''Slate'' writer Will Oremus said the decision "should encourage more careful sourcing across Wikipedia while doubling as a richly deserved rebuke to a publication that represents some of the worst forces in online news." In 2018, the
Wikipedia community The Wikipedia community, collectively and individually known as Wikipedians, is an online community of volunteers who create and maintain Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. Wikipedians may or may not consider themselves part of the Wikimedia mo ...
upheld the ''Daily Mail''s deprecation as a source.


Fox News

As of 2022, thousands of articles on Wikipedia use
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
as a source. Since 2010, Fox News has been the subject of numerous debates on Wikipedia about its reliability, with discussions running over hundreds of thousands of words and including the input of over 100 editors. Many conversations have sought to establish or enforce a distinction between bias and reliability, with the latter having more to do with fact-checking and accuracy, though some argued that a consistent amount of errors and retractions in reporting are normal for even a reliable media outlet. In 2010, the
Wikipedia community The Wikipedia community, collectively and individually known as Wikipedians, is an online community of volunteers who create and maintain Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. Wikipedians may or may not consider themselves part of the Wikimedia mo ...
held its first major discussion of Fox News' reliability. The community decided that Fox News was politically biased, but generally reliable. In July 2020, the Wikipedia community announced that Fox News would no longer be considered "generally reliable" in its reporting of science and politics, and that it "should be used with caution to verify contentious claims" about those topics. The decision was made because Fox News downplayed the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, as well as because of allegations that it spread misinformation about climate change and reported on the false concept of " no-go zones" for non-Muslims in British cities. The decision did not affect Fox News' reliability on other topics. In 2022, the Wikipedia community announced that Fox News would now be considered "marginally reliable" in its reporting on science and politics, that it cannot be used as a source for "exceptional claims", and that its reliability would be decided on a case-by-case basis for other scientific and political claims. The decision applies only to articles on Fox News' website and not to Fox News articles about topics that are not scientific or political. As of June 2024, Fox News and its talk shows are considered generally unreliable sources for scientific and political coverage. The assessments do not apply to local affiliates owned by Fox.


Red Ventures

In February 2023, Wikipedia editors downgraded the reliability rating of CNET, a technology website owned at the time by
Red Ventures Red Ventures is an American media company that owns and operates brands such as Lonely Planet, The Points Guy, Healthline, and Bankrate. Red Ventures focuses on news, advice, and review websites. The company's corporate headquarters is locate ...
, to "generally unreliable" after it was revealed that CNET was publishing content generated by
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
. CNET's reliability rating is broken into three time periods: pre-October 2020 (generally reliable prior to the acquisition), October 2020–October 2022 (no consensus on reliability following the acquisition by Red Ventures, "leading to a deterioration in editorial standards") and November 2022–present (generally unreliable, after CNET began using AI "to rapidly generate articles riddled with factual inaccuracies and affiliate links"). The CNET incident resulted in editors expressing concern about the reliability of Red Ventures–owned websites, such as
Bankrate Bankrate, LLC is a consumer financial services company based in New York City. Bankrate.com, perhaps its best-known brand, is a personal finance website. As of November 8, 2017, it became a subsidiary of Red Ventures through an acquisition. His ...
and CreditCards.com, which also published AI-generated content around the same time. In 2024, following a discussion on the state of Red Ventures–owned tech website ZDNET, a discussion was initiated with regard to the reliability of all Red Ventures websites. Red Ventures websites
The Points Guy The Points Guy (TPG) is an American travel website and blog that produces sponsored news and stories on travel, means of accumulating and using airline points and miles, politics, and credit cards - in particular, credit card reviews. The s ...
(TPG) and
Healthline The HealthLine, formerly known as the Silver Line, or as the Euclid Corridor Transportation Project, is a bus rapid transit (BRT) line run by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority in Cleveland and East Cleveland, Ohio, United Stat ...
are on the spam blacklist, due to TPG having questionable relationships with credit card companies it covers and Healthline publishing
misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Misinformation and disinformation are not interchangeable terms: misinformation can exist with or without specific malicious intent, whereas disinformation is distinct in that the information ...
.


Anti-Defamation League

In April 2024, a discussion was initiated about the reliability of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in three areas: one on its reliability on the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...
; one on
antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
more broadly; and one on the ADL's hate symbols database. The discussion engaged 120 editors over two months and included a wide range of perspectives, summarized by editors as "ranging from those who enthusiastically defended the ADL in all contexts, to those who viewed it as categorically unreliable". In June 2024, the discussion led to the ADL being downgraded to a "generally unreliable" source on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, including "the intersection of antisemitism and the sraeli–Palestinianconflict, such as labeling pro-Palestinian activists as antisemitic". An English Wikipedia administrator who evaluated the community's consensus for this discussion said there was substantial evidence that the ADL acted as a "pro-Israeli advocacy group" that has published unretracted
misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Misinformation and disinformation are not interchangeable terms: misinformation can exist with or without specific malicious intent, whereas disinformation is distinct in that the information ...
"to the point that it taints their reputation for accuracy and fact checking regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict", as well as that it has a habit "of conflating criticism of the Israeli government's actions with antisemitism". The editors cited the ADL updating its methodology to classify pro-Palestinian protests as antisemitic, controversial statements made by ADL CEO
Jonathan Greenblatt Jonathan Greenblatt (born November 21, 1970) is an American entrepreneur, corporate executive, and the sixth national director and CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Prior to heading the ADL, Greenblatt served in the White House as Speci ...
that were criticized by the ADL's own staff, and its reliance on the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which critics have said is too broad and can be used to suppress pro-Palestinian speech. The editors reached a consensus that "the ADL can roughly be taken as reliable on the topic of antisemitism when Israel and
Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
are not concerned". Of the ADL's hate symbol database, editors determined that "the rough consensus here is that the database is reliable for the existence of a symbol and for straightforward facts about it, but not reliable for more complex details, such as symbols' history". The RSP listing for the ADL was updated to read "that outside of the topic of the Israel/Palestine conflict, the ADL is a generally reliable source, including for topics related to hate groups and extremism in the U.S." The ADL condemned the downgrade, alleging it was part of a "campaign to delegitimize" the organization. The decision was also criticized by over 40 Jewish organizations, including
Jewish Federations of North America The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), formerly the United Jewish Communities (UJC), is an American Jewish umbrella organization for the Jewish Federations system, representing over 350 independent Jewish communities across North Ameri ...
,
B'nai B'rith International B'nai B'rith International ( ; from ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit Jewish service organization and was formerly a cultural association for German Jewish immigrants to the United States. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the sec ...
and
HIAS HIAS, founded as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, is a Jewish American nonprofit that provides humanitarian aid and assistance to refugees. It was established on in 1881 to help Russian Jewish immigrants to the United States escaping antisemi ...
. The
Wikimedia Foundation The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (WMF) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, and registered there as foundation (United States law), a charitable foundation. It is the host of Wikipedia, th ...
said in response, "The Foundation has not, and does not, intervene in decisions made by the community about the classification of a source". James Loeffler, a professor of modern Jewish history at
Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
, said the English Wikipedia's decision was a "significant hit" to the ADL's credibility. Dov Waxman, professor of Israel Studies at the
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...
, said that if "Wikipedia and other sources and the journalists start ignoring the ADL's data, it becomes a real issue for Jewish Americans who are understandably concerned about the rise of antisemitism". Mira Sucharov, a professor of political science at
Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...
, said the decision was "a sign that the Jewish community needs better institutions".


Impact

RSP affects whether sources are cited and how they are summarized in Wikipedia articles. According to political scientist Sverrir Steinsson, by classifying the reliability of news sources, "Wikipedia has accepted the use of contested labels and taken sides on contested subjects, ultimately producing a type of content that is distinctly anti-
pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...
and anti–
conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...
, and which has the perception of a liberal bent in U.S. politics". This led to discontent and departures among the "Pro-Fringe camp" of Wikipedia editors, which Steinsson defined as "Editors who were more supportive of conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, and
conservatism Conservatism is a Philosophy of culture, cultural, Social philosophy, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, Convention (norm), customs, and Value (ethics and social science ...
". A 2023 Association of Computing Machinery conference paper found that the median lifespan of a source citation on English Wikipedia decreased by over two-thirds after the source was designated as deprecated or blacklisted on RSP. Wikipedia editors who are
pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...
fans have created lists of sources that are structured similarly to RSP but focus on specific topic areas, such as
video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
. These topic-focused lists are maintained by WikiProjects that evaluate sources using both Wikipedia's reliability guidelines and supplemental subject-related criteria created by the WikiProjects themselves. When a niche source that is designated as "reliable" in a topic-focused list receives sufficient attention, the source is added to RSP and listed alongside mainstream generalist sources.


Reception

While the debates are public and archived, critics have said it is not clear who the volunteer editors are and how they are vetted. In 2020, Omer Benjakob of ''
Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...
'' stated that with RSP, "Wikipedia offers greater transparency and a much better model for fighting
disinformation Disinformation is misleading content deliberately spread to deceive people, or to secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic dece ...
than any
social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
platform has yet to do, simply by building a community of fact-checkers dedicated to keeping the site accurate". In 2025, Stephen Harrison of ''Slate'' said, "Contrary to sensationalist media coverage, decisions made by the Wikipedia community tend to be carefully considered... While headlines suggested that Wikipedia had completely banned the ADL, the actual decision makes clear that the organization can still be used as a source in certain contexts outside the Israeli–Palestinian conflict." He added, "To be fair, the Wikipedia community could do a better job of explaining ''why'' advocacy organizations are not always considered reliable sources based on the context; however, that is a complex discussion that’s not easily contained within a tweet." In 2019, the decision by editors to deprecate pro–
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
outlets such as ''The Epoch Times'', One America News Network, ''The Daily Caller'', and ''The Gateway Pundit'' led the American right to claim that Wikipedia has a liberal bias. In 2025, the list was criticized by American conservative group
Media Research Center The Media Research Center (MRC) is an American conservative content analysis and media watchdog group based in Herndon, Virginia, and founded in 1987 by L. Brent Bozell III. The nonprofit MRC has received financial support primarily from R ...
(MRC) as a blacklist with a bias against conservative outlets; the MRC was cited in a ''New York Post'' editorial titled "
Big Tech Big Tech, also referred to as the Tech Giants or Tech Titans, is a collective term for the largest and most influential technology companies in the world. The label draws a parallel to similar classifications in other industries, such as "Big Oi ...
must block Wikipedia until it stops censoring and pushing disinformation". Ari Paul of '' ScheerPost'' commented, "the fact that the ''Post'' implies only right-wing sources are listed is an indication that its reputation as 'generally unreliable for factual reporting' is well-deserved."


See also

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Ideological bias on Wikipedia On Wikipedia, ideological bias, especially in its English-language edition, has been the subject of academic analysis and public criticism of the project. Wikipedia has an internal policy which states that articles must be written from a neut ...
*
Reliability of Wikipedia The reliability of Wikipedia and its volunteer-driven and community-regulated editing model, particularly its English-language edition, has been questioned and tested. Wikipedia is written and edited by volunteer editors (known as Wikipedi ...


Notes


References

{{Wikipedia Wikipedia reliability Sources (journalism) Media analysis organizations and websites Wikipedia content