Claim: Wikipedia Editors tried to take down an article about a stabbing because incident was "not notable"

Question

WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is raising concern about the impact of Wikipedia's partisan bias on AI systems. The letter comes at a time when the public is becoming more aware about ideological bias within Wikipedia entries.

“Another stark example of bias emerged last month after the horrific murder of Iryna Zarutska on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina, which became a cause célèbre. Police arrested a 34-year-old man, Decarlos Brown, Jr., who was seen on video footage sitting behind Zarutska before suddenly stabbing her. Yet when a Wikipedia article about the incident was created, editors tried to take down the page, claiming the incident was not notable. Others attempted to scrub details about Brown, such as his name and criminal record."

Answer 1

Senator Ted Cruz, the chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, voiced skepticism about perceived ideological bias on Wikipedia. He had cautioned in a recent press release that this bias would play a role in teaching artificial intelligence algorithms how to learn from Wikipedia data. Cruz cited examples where he thinks Wikipedia editors have tried to suppress or delete information that clashes with some politically sensitive topics (for instance, the alleged murder of Iryna Zarutska in North Carolina). Wikipedia’s commitment to a “neutral point of view,” he said, is being undercut by its dependence on left-leaning outlets. But it’s worth noting that Cruz’s assertions are mostly of personal origin, and there have been no independent corroborations. Big news outlets, including The Verge, have reported that his claims are based on selective examples and studies by think tanks that have faced backlash for the way in which they research them. Others make claims about systematized bias, saying Wikipedia’s open-edit model and consensus-based practice of sourcing make it difficult to substantiate those allegations. They say issues over page edits and deletions are standard fare and don’t necessarily suggest ideological manipulation or censorship. This point illustrates a wide-range political conflict over the role of online news media platforms in shaping public perceptions, amid increasing political division in this regard. Cruz’s letter conveys, to a great extent, the anxiety that a lot of politicians have about bias in digital media and artificial intelligence systems. But almost all of the evidence supported to him is not based on fact-checking or objective sources of information. This ongoing dialogue underlines the importance of distinguishing between political rhetoric and verified facts in judging media bias. As we navigate these debates, it’s crucial to wait for independent investigations to confirm or refute the claims of misconduct that Cruz has raised.

https://www.theverge.com/policy/794429/ted-cruz-accuses-wikipedia-of-bias-citing-dubious-sources?utm

https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2025/10/chairman-cruz-sounds-alarm-over-left-wing-ideological-bias-on-wikipedia?utm

Comments

Senator Ted Cruz recently alleged that Wikipedia’s editors show ideological bias and that this bias could influence how artificial-intelligence systems trained on Wikipedia data interpret information. In his October 2025 press release from the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Cruz argued that editors had “suppressed” or deleted material about politically sensitive topics, claiming this undermines Wikipedia’s promise of neutrality (U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, 2025). However, these assertions are largely Cruz’s personal opinions and have not been independently verified. In its coverage, The Verge reported that the senator’s examples rely on “selective readings and studies from partisan think tanks that have faced criticism for their research methods” (The Verge, 2025). Technology journalists and digital-media experts note that Wikipedia’s open-edit model and consensus-based sourcing often lead to disagreements over pages, but those disputes are part of its normal editorial process and do not necessarily show systematic political manipulation. Overall, there is no credible evidence supporting Cruz’s claim that Wikipedia engages in coordinated ideological censorship. The controversy instead highlights a broader political tension about media bias and AI training data, underscoring the need to separate political rhetoric from verified fact before drawing conclusions.
Sources:
U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation. “Chairman Cruz Sounds Alarm over Left-Wing Ideological Bias on Wikipedia.” Oct. 2025. https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2025/10/chairman-cruz-sounds-alarm-over-left-wing-ideological-bias-on-wikipedia
Vincent, James. “Ted Cruz Accuses Wikipedia of Bias, Citing Dubious Sources.” The Verge, Oct. 2025. https://www.theverge.com/policy/794429/ted-cruz-accuses-wikipedia-of-bias-citing-dubious-sources

Answer 2

The statement about the Wikipedia editors citing it as "not notable" is true. Wikipedia has guidelines that dictate what subjects warrant a dedicated page on the website. It also requires incidents to be covered by multiple reliable sources, which at the time of the editors objections, it wasn't. The main argument seems to be that people getting stabbed by other mentally ill people is not as notable as other situations regarding murder, as the attack wasn't enacted by a sound line of reasoning. When his sister asked him why he did it after the arrest, he said it was “because she was reading my mind,” which leads to the argument of him just being severely mentally ill.

The statement that there were attempts to scrub Decarlos Brown's records is not something I could find any information on. Decarlos Brown is not yet considered someone notable enough to warrant having his own Wikipedia page, so there wouldn't be anything to delete from the website, other than the murder case. On the Wikipedia page for the Killing of Iryna Zarutska, it does clearly state that "Brown pulled a pocketknife from his hoodie and stabbed Zarutska three times from behind, including at least once in the neck," which doesn't line up with the statement you have provided either. Half of this is correct, the other seems to be either made up, unreported, or exaggerated.

(Side Note: I tried to get sources from both sides of the political spectrum to find the best possible medium for this fact check. This is why I am citing both CNN and the New York Post.)

The Killing of Iryna Zarutska Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Iryna_Zarutska

Decarlos's Reasoning: https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/08/us/iryna-zarutska-murder-ukraine-refugee

The Lack of a Decarlos Brown Wikipedia Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?fulltext=1&search=Decarlos+Brown&title=Special%3ASearch&ns0=1

The Killing Being "Not Notable": https://nypost.com/2025/09/10/opinion/explaining-away-irynas-murder-charlotte-exposes-wikipedia-bias-and-other-commentary/

Original Post About The Debate: https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2025/10/chairman-cruz-sounds-alarm-over-left-wing-ideological-bias-on-wikipedia#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Manhattan%20Institute,'