A bipartisan group of 23 members of Congress sent a letter on Thursday to the foundation that oversees Wikipedia, expressing concern about antisemitism and anti-Israel bias on the platform and seeking answers about how the influential online encyclopedia will work to combat prejudice and abuse by editors. 

The letter, authored by Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Don Bacon (R-NE), comes after the Anti-Defamation League published a report in March detailing allegations of Wikipedia editors conspiring to impose an anti-Israel bias across the site. 

“It is clear that more needs to be done to ensure Wikipedia remains free of bias, antisemitism and pro-terrorist content,” the signatories wrote to Maryana Isakander, CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation, the San Francisco-based nonprofit that oversees Wikipedia’s operations. 

Wikimedia’s leadership has generally avoided wading into the issue, asserting that its editors — whose volunteer labor is responsible for revising the hundreds of millions of pages on Wikipedia — operate independently, with limited oversight from the foundation. 

The congressional letter asks Wikimedia to explain its oversight processes “to prevent biased or coordinated manipulation of content,” and to identify whether it takes specific measures to prevent antisemitic bias among its editors. The legislators also ask Wikimedia to take steps to prevent foreign interference “on behalf of adversaries of the United States,” such as Hamas and Iran, and to take steps to increase transparency. The edit history of all pages on Wikipedia is technically public, but the labyrinthine process is nearly impossible to understand for those without deep editing experience.

“Evidence points to a startling lack of enforcement of Wikipedia’s most basic rules and editorial

Safeguards,” Wasserman Schultz said. “Given the immense influence that Wikipedia articles have over our online and real life global conversations, far more editorial responsibility and transparency is needed, immediately.”

“Antisemitism and anti-Israel views have increased on Wikipedia due to their lack of enforcing their own rules and standards and they need to take steps immediately to fix the problem,” Bacon said. 

The letter’s signatories include Reps. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Wesley Bell (D-MO), Buddy Carter (R-GA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Laura Friedman (D-CA), Laura Gillen (D-NY), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Tom Kean (R-NJ), George Latimer (D-NY), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Ted Lieu (D-CA), April McClain Delaney (D-MD), Grace Meng (D-NY), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and Dina Titus (D-NV).