Elon Musk, known for his significant stake in Twitter, which was later rebranded as X, has once again made headlines. Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla, frequently engages with his audience on the microblogging platform, captivating global users. In a recent interaction, Musk humorously expressed his willingness to donate $1 billion to Wikipedia in exchange for a name alteration, proposing the moniker "Dickipedia" for the widely recognised online encyclopedia. Musk justified this playful suggestion by claiming it would be in the "interests of accuracy."
When a Twitter user encouraged Wikipedia to consider Musk's offer, he playfully introduced another condition, stating, "@Wikipedia, Do it! You can always change it back after you collect." To this, Musk responded with a jest, "One year minimum. I mean, I'm not a fool lol."
In a separate post, Musk shared a screenshot of Wikipedia's homepage, which prominently featured the phrases "Wikipedia is not for sale" and "a personal appeal from Jimmy Wales." Musk added an intriguing inquiry, questioning the Wikimedia Foundation's substantial financial requests, given that operating Wikipedia doesn't seem to require such vast sums. He quizzically asked, "So, what's the money for? Inquiring minds want to know..."
In a subsequent post, Musk, ever the enigmatic figure, inquired about the possibility of adding a cow and a poop emoji to his Wikipedia page.
Since Musk's posts went live, they have garnered a remarkable 9.9 million views and over a hundred thousand likes, sparking various responses from the Twitterverse. One user humorously remarked, "They're always asking for donations, so be careful. They might come to collect."
Another user compared Musk's proposal to a "cage match challenge," while a third suggested, "Buy it and put AI in charge of updating it autonomously."
Amidst the reactions, one user couldn't resist quipping, "Typical rich guy... Only willing to donate if the institution names itself after him!"
A separate commentator shared their astonishment at the diverse reactions, stating, "Looking at the replies I just can't imagine these people are walking the same earth as me, lmao."
This exchange revives a previous clash between Elon Musk and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. In May of this year, Wales criticised Musk for restricting content critical of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, a day before the country's hotly contested presidential election. In his post, Wales emphasised that Wikipedia had remained steadfast in support of free speech, even when faced with similar challenges.
Musk's response to this critique was terse but pointed, as he queried, "Did your brain fall out of your head, Yglesias? The choice is to have Twitter throttled in its entirety or limit access to some tweets. Which one do you want?"
Wales countered Musk's argument, noting that Wikipedia had persevered by taking its case to the Supreme Court of Turkey and ultimately winning, highlighting the importance of treating freedom of expression as a principle rather than a mere slogan. Notably, Wikipedia had been banned in Turkey for over two years, citing a law that allowed the telecommunications watchdog to block access to websites deemed obscene or a threat to national security.