Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has branded Australia's social media ban for under-16s an 'unmitigated disaster' and an 'embarrassment', arguing it stems from a 'massive moral panic' that is 'really unjustified'. Speaking to Guardian Australia during a visit for writers' festivals, Wales criticised the policy as teaching children to accept surveillance from tech companies.
Internet Toxicity Predates Social Media
Wales, whose online encyclopaedia launched in 2001 before the social media era, noted that many of today's online ills existed earlier. He pointed to Usenet, a giant unmoderated message board, describing it as 'unbelievably toxic' with constant flame wars and personal attacks. 'Humans don't need algorithms to be mean to each other. We can do it on our own,' he said, urging against a rose-tinted view of the past.
Wikipedia's Community Model vs Social Media
Wales outlined the core rule of Wikipedia's community: no personal attacks. This contrasts sharply with social media algorithms that reward outrage. 'If you fly off the handle and start attacking someone, the algorithm notices engagement and promotes you,' he said. He described social media users as 'serfs on the master's estate', subject to rules enforced by anonymous moderators, whereas Wikipedia is community-driven.
Opposition to Government Ban
Despite criticising social media algorithms, Wales opposes Australia's ban, calling it 'madness' and 'really unsafe' when it demands adults prove age with personal ID. He highlighted Roblox's facial age assurance for users as young as five, grouping them by age to reduce grooming risks. 'You're pressuring really bad, unsafe behaviour on kids,' he warned.
Wales believes many supporters of the ban haven't thought through the surveillance implications. He advocates educating parents about existing parental controls on Android and Apple devices, suggesting regulation requiring retailers to sell pre-configured child phones.
Impact of AI on Wikipedia
Since the rise of AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Wikipedia has seen an 8% drop in human traffic, mainly low-engagement queries. However, AI crawlers are 'really hammering' the site, particularly for obscure pages not cached, which are 'disproportionately expensive' to serve. Wales encourages AI companies to use Wikipedia's enterprise product for direct database access. While AI is not allowed to edit Wikipedia directly, Wales notes AI often makes mistakes on obscure topics, unlike Wikipedia's researched content.
