Interview with Maryana Iskander, Wikimedia Foundation's next CEO, on the org's transparency, handling misinformation on Wikipedia pages, and more
Two decades ago, Wikipedia arrived on the scene as a quirky online project that aimed to crowdsource and document all of human knowledge and history in real time. Tweets: @djparekh , @worklifereward , @redtapechron , @toffanin , @carlotresero , @diplokat , @nytimesbusiness , @lsanger , @raju , @davidslindsey , and @privacydigest See also Mediagazer Tweets: Deven Parekh / @djparekh : Couldn't imagine a better leader than @MaryanaIskander for this important role https://twitter.com/... David Griesing / @worklifereward : Looks like Wikipedia should sponsor a workshop for #Facebook on how to reduce false and misleading information on a public platform with a broad range of contributors. https://www.nytimes.com/... Bob Sullivan / @redtapechron : Mis/disinformation is a vexing problem; Wikipedia has been dealing with it longer than most. Perhaps there's much to learn from how Wikipedia handles it. Fascinating Q&A https://www.nytimes.com/... Renato Toffanin / @toffanin : “Wikipedia's next leader on preventing misinformation: ‘Neutrality requires understanding.’” BY DAVEY ALBA | NYT #Technology https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/... Carlo / @carlotresero : Who is looking to govt, media & politicians to prevent misinformation, lies, propaganda, manipulation, alt. reality, conspiracy theories & fake news? They are the ones institutionalizing this, hurting society, & they should be prevented from doing so. https://www.nytimes.com/... Kat Townsend / @diplokat : Great profile by @daveyalba of new @Wikimedia CEO @MaryanaIskander and her commitment to countering #misinformation https://www.nytimes.com/... Cites the success of election monitoring, worked on by @toutlereste @nytimesbusiness : .@daveyalba spoke with the next chief executive of the company that owns Wikipedia about how the organization works to prevent false and misleading information on its sites and around the web. https://www.nytimes.com/... Larry Sanger / @lsanger : “If you take misinformation around Covid, the Wikimedia Foundation entered into a partnership with the World Health Organization.” —Wikipedia's (the WMF's) incoming chief executive, Maryana Iskander https://www.nytimes.com/... | via https://startthis.org/?p=1890 Raju Narisetti / @raju : The @nytimes catches up with @MaryanaIskander, the newly named CEO of @Wikimedia Foundation @Wikipedia's next leader on preventing misinformation: ‘Neutrality requires understanding.’ https://www.nytimes.com/...? David S Lindsey / @davidslindsey : “ ... the online encyclopedia is often cited as a place that, on balance, helps combat false and misleading information spreading elsewhere.” https://www.nytimes.com/... @privacydigest : Maryana Iskander, Wikipedia's Next Leader, on Preventing Misinformation Maryana Iskander, a social entrepreneur in South Africa, will become the chief executive of the foundation that oversees Wikipedia in January. https://www.nytimes.com/... See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
Maryana Iskander takes the Wikimedia Foundation job at a moment when Wikipedia's misinformation defenses are already battle-tested: the expanded protections it used on its main 2020 election page built directly on measures first deployed against COVID-19 misinformation, work reinforced by the foundation's partnership with the World Health Organization. She also inherits a freshly monetized operation — Wikimedia Enterprise launched in March 2021, selling premium content delivery to companies like Google while keeping the free option.
First-order effects
- Iskander assumes the role in January with misinformation prevention as a stated priority, putting her directly over the election-page playbook and the WHO partnership rather than building them from scratch.
- The commercial side lands on her desk too: Enterprise's premium deals with companies like Google now sit alongside the volunteer-driven free product she is promising to keep transparent.
Second-order effects
- Big Tech platforms that consume Wikipedia content through Enterprise become implicit stakeholders in how strictly the foundation polices pages — Google and similar buyers depend on the integrity Iskander is committing to defend.
- The foundation must balance revenue from Enterprise against community trust, a fault line already exposed by the 2019 dispute between administrators and board members over a banned longtime admin.
Third-order effects
- The arc running through this coverage — from the 2019 governance fight through Wales later discussing right-wing attacks and political pressure on volunteers — points toward Wikipedia being treated less as a quirky project and more as contested civic infrastructure whose volunteer editors need explicit institutional protection.
The trend: Nonprofit crowdsourced knowledge bases are hardening into politically contested public infrastructure, with leadership transitions like Iskander's timed to defending editor communities against organized misinformation pressure.