Wikipedia Bans Iskandar323, the Infamous Pro-Hamas Editor Who Weaponized the Platform
Wikipedia bans editor from "Gang of 40" network accused of coordinating hundreds of thousands of edits to systematically distort the portrayal of Jews, Israel, Hamas, and Palestinians
In early January, Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee (ArbCom) unanimously voted to ban Iskandar323, a prominent member with 49,413 documented edits, of what investigators have termed the "Gang of 40," a coordinated network of editors accused of systematically manipulating content related to the Israel-Palestine conflict
The ban, one of Wikipedia’s most severe punishments, includes an indefinite topic ban barring the editor from any content “related to Israel, Israelis, Jews, Judaism, Antisemitism, Palestine, Palestinians, or anything else that is related to the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.”
According to a new investigation by the outlet NPOV, Iskandar323's editing patterns followed a consistent logic: Jewish historical narratives and instances of antisemitism were systematically challenged and delegitimized through selective editing, while Hamas and other Islamist movements received preferential treatment. The decision marks a rare moment of institutional accountability for Wikipedia, yet critics argue the ban addresses only a symptom of a much larger disease.
Systematic Narrative Manipulation
The editing patterns revealed three primary manipulation strategies:
Iranian State Violence: Editors systematically downgraded Iranian state atrocities, changing descriptions of the 1988 mass executions from “extrajudicial killings” to actions “carried out by the judiciary,” effectively removing the unlawful characterization of these human rights violations.
Islamic Terrorism and Hamas: Content was softened to minimize terrorist activities, describing Hamas attacks as “resistance against Israel” and removing references to the group’s 1988 charter containing antisemitic and genocidal language. An entire section documenting the persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt was deleted.
Jewish Identity and Antisemitism: Historical Jewish claims were undermined through strategic renaming, such as changing “Hellenistic Judea” to “Hellenistic Palestine,” imposing later nomenclature on earlier historical periods. Content about antisemitism in the British Labour Party was diluted by shifting focus to procedural disputes rather than antisemitic conduct itself.
A Coordinated Campaign
The scale of the manipulation has shocked observers. Research by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) identified at least 30 editors who appear to coordinate their activities in violation of Wikipedia’s policies. These editors were twice as active as comparable groups, making over 71,855 edits within an hour of each other on the same pages over the past decade. Their communication patterns were equally suspicious, exchanging messages 168 times more frequently than random Wikipedia editors.
Evidence suggests some coordination occurred off-platform through Discord channels, particularly within a group called “Tech for Palestine.” The time intervals between edits, often mere minutes apart, suggest organized efforts that Wikipedia’s decentralized oversight struggled to detect.
Institutional Response and Ongoing Challenges
In late January 2025, Wikipedia’s ArbCom banned eight editors, six from the pro-Palestinian camp and two from the pro-Israel side, from making changes to articles on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The committee also introduced new restrictions requiring editors to have at least 500 contributions over 30 days before editing sensitive pages.
However, concerns persist about Wikipedia’s structural vulnerabilities. With only 840 administrators and 15 arbitrators monitoring millions of articles, the platform lacks the capacity to enforce its “neutral point of view” principle at scale. Even co-founder Jimmy Wales intervened in November 2025, locking the “Gaza genocide” page due to what he called “particularly egregious” anti-Israel bias.
The controversy has attracted government attention. In August 2025, the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform launched an investigation into alleged Wikipedia manipulation by foreign actors and organized groups, citing multiple studies documenting coordinated efforts to push pro-Hamas and antisemitic propaganda.
Global Implications
Wikipedia’s influence extends far beyond its 4.4 billion monthly visitors. The platform serves as the most frequently cited source for ChatGPT (7.8% of all references) and features prominently in Google search results and knowledge panels. This means biased content doesn’t remain confined to Wikipedia, it propagates through AI systems and search engines, shaping global understanding of the conflict.
The Iskandar323 ban represents a significant step toward accountability, but until Wikipedia develops robust mechanisms to detect and prevent coordinated manipulation campaigns, the encyclopedia’s perceived neutrality, and its credibility, will remain compromised on the issues that matter most.
Dayenu
So this person is banned. Whoopee. They need to ban the lot of them and then go into every entry they made and erase these entries.