Neal S. Greenfield, Esq.
35 West 35th Street, 12th floor New York, NY 10018
(646) 926-5453
May 31, 2019
Wikimedia Foundation
1 Montgomery Street
Suite 1600
San Francisco, California 94104
Re: Removal of Biography of Gary Null This letter is a final demand for the immediate removal of the Biography of a Living Person entry of Dr. Gary Null from Wikipedia (“Null BLP”). Our earlier requests have been repeatedly ignored, starting with my initial letter on March 14, 2018. In our final legal analysis, it is irrefutable that not only is the Null BLP grossly inaccurate but also defamatory by malice of intent. Wikipedia’s refusal to act upon our earlier requests provides further evidence to authenticate the illegal nature ofWikipedia’s operations per its mission and 501(c)(3) registered status. The Foundation therefore forgoes any protection it may try to rely upon under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and violates its legal obligations as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The Null BLP is a glaring example of everything that independent scholars and journalists have identified as the broken and highly unethical nature ofWikipedia. The animus behind the Null BLP is not an anomaly. It is characteristic of the manner in which Wikipedia operates with regard to permitting individuals with a clandestine stake to promulgate their opposition and aspersion towards persons and fields of knowledge they disapprove. Through its preferred or entrenched editors and administrators, with documented support from Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia creates content and therefore it is legally responsible for content that harms individuals’ reputations, denigrates entire professions, corrupts the body of knowledge in critical areas such as health, medicine and politics, and engages in favored and pay-for-play content creation.
Dr. Null was unaware of the existence of his Wikipedia biography until a major publisher cancelled a pending book contract based upon its reading of the Null BLP. The Null BLP was written without the knowledge or prior consultation with Dr. Null nor properly vetted for
fact-checking by Wikipedia’s editors to assure the accuracy of the statements therein. This includes content that is defamatory, defamatory per se or defamatory by implication. The same pattern is true for other living persons, many internationally recognized and respected, who are experiencing similar obstacles to correct their biographies that have been dominated by the same faction of Wikipedia editors who control the Null BLP. The consequences ofWikipedia’s negligence have had enormous adverse impact on the livelihood and careers of Dr. Null and other living persons we are in consultation with.
Every attempt made by in-house attorneys, staff and contracted agents to correct false and derogatory statements have been unsuccessful since 2010. By following Wikipedia’s rules of engagement and its protocols for editorial activities and etiquette, all efforts to communicate with the Wikipedia editorial community through its recommended channels for engagement have been met with hostility. On some instances, Wikipedia editors aggressively assailed themselves upon our fact-checkers or had their editorial privileges banned. Consequently, over the years, Dr. Null, along with other living persons who have been unlawfully targeted by the Wikipedia communiy, have continued to suffer wrongful financial and reputational damage. For the past two years, our in-house and outside attorneys, researchers, IT personnel and interviews with former and current Wikipedia employees and editors, and other notable individuals who have also been victimized by Wikipedia editors have been collected into an enormous amount of data, internal correspondence and other forms of evidence that we now believe may warrant legal action against the Foundation.
Attached is a document outlining and summarizing our grievances and rationale thereof per the Null BLP. The document follows the outline below:
1. Wikipedia’s Violation of Its Editorial Standards
2. Conflicts with Its Rules on Biographies of Living Persons (BLP)
3. Ideological and Unwarranted Source Referencing: Stephen Barrett
4. Biased and Preferential Treatment to Skeptic Organizations
5. Culture of Information Terrorism
6. Jimmy Wales’ Complicity with Skeptical Ideology
7. Violations of Tax-Exempt Non-Profit Status
8. Violation of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act
Therefore, we are making a final demand for the immediate removal of Null BLP from Wikipedia without delay. Maintaining this BLP on Wikipedia in view of its documented defamatory and malicious nature, in violation of every standard that Wikipedia claims to uphold, will only increase the damages to Dr. Null and further prove that the motive for creating and retaining the Null BLP is to cause intentional harm. If Dr. Null elects to take legal action he shall seek all legal remedies available to him, including punitive damages.
I await your reply. Please contact me with any questions.