Metapedia
Encyclopedia
Metapedia is a white nationalist and white supremacist, extreme right-wing
and multilingual online encyclopedia. It was officially launched on October 26, 2006 with the Swedish-language edition. The English section was launched on April 28, 2007. The Hungarian version is the most developed and has by far the most articles: 101,511 as of October 16, 2011.
, Anti-Defamation League
, Southern Poverty Law Center
, Simon Wiesenthal Centre, and such." The Metapedia logo features the head of a sculpture ("Youth") by the German artist Arno Breker
.
The site has more than 7,000 articles in English and has versions in fifteen European languages. Topics covered include European history, Norse mythology
, and white nationalist music. The Register
states that "a good percentage of Metapedia's content seems to be dedicated to Woden
, the White Order of Thule
, runes, and other subject matter which would undoubtedly have found favour with Aryan hocus-pocus aficionado Heinrich Himmler
." Crítica de la Argentina
says it has glowing descriptions of Adolf Hitler and other Nazi figures. Metapedia's Alexa ranking is 57,309 worldwide.
According to the North Rhine-Westphalia
n Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Metapedia's articles are characterized by historical revisionism
and lauding Nazi Germany
. For this reason, the German Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons (Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien
) started an indexing process — that is, it is considering declaring metapedia "harmful to young people".
In early 2007, within half a year of the launching of the original Swedish version, Metapedia received a lot of Swedish media attention for its similarity to Wikipedia
and some its contents, in particular for its positive characterization of many Nazi German personalities, for cataloguing Jews
in Swedish media, and for characterizing Swedish companies as either "Swedish-owned" or "Jewish-owned". This led to an investigation being initiated in Sweden, in which the Chancellor of Justice
(Justitiekanslern) examined whether the site should be prosecuted for inciting hatred or for violating the Privacy Law
(Personuppgiftslagen). After reviewing the site's contents, the Chancellor of Justice decided to terminate investigations, since nothing had been found that violated the Freedom of Speech Act (Yttrandefrihetsgrundlagen) or the Privacy Law. In January 2009, in a response to further attention given to the site, the Swedish Chancellor of Justice opined that Metapedia presented a positive image of Adolf Hitler
, but decided not to restart an investigation, since this was not illegal.
, a free
and open source wiki software
platform written in PHP
and built upon the MySQL
database.
The project was started by the publisher Anders Lagerström and is headed by him and Lennart Berg. Lennart Berg runs the supporting NFSE Media AB
.
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
and multilingual online encyclopedia. It was officially launched on October 26, 2006 with the Swedish-language edition. The English section was launched on April 28, 2007. The Hungarian version is the most developed and has by far the most articles: 101,511 as of October 16, 2011.
Content
The site's mission statement states one of its goals is "to present a more balanced and fair image of the pro-European struggle for the general public as well as for academics, who until now have been dependent on strongly biased and hostile 'researchers' like SearchlightSearchlight (magazine)
Searchlight is a British anti-fascist magazine, founded in 1975 by Gerry Gable, which publishes exposés about racism, antisemitism, and fascism in the UK....
, Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
, Southern Poverty Law Center
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...
, Simon Wiesenthal Centre, and such." The Metapedia logo features the head of a sculpture ("Youth") by the German artist Arno Breker
Arno Breker
Arno Breker was a German sculptor, best known for his public works in Nazi Germany, which were endorsed by the authorities as the antithesis of degenerate art....
.
The site has more than 7,000 articles in English and has versions in fifteen European languages. Topics covered include European history, Norse mythology
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
, and white nationalist music. The Register
The Register
The Register is a British technology news and opinion website. It was founded by John Lettice, Mike Magee and Ross Alderson in 1994 as a newsletter called "Chip Connection", initially as an email service...
states that "a good percentage of Metapedia's content seems to be dedicated to Woden
Odin
Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....
, the White Order of Thule
White Order of Thule
The White Order of Thule was a loosely organized American society formed in the mid-1990s by federal prisoner Peter Georgacarakos, art school graduate Michael Lujan and New Age occultist, Joseph Kerrick. It described itself as an "esoteric brotherhood working toward the revitalization of the...
, runes, and other subject matter which would undoubtedly have found favour with Aryan hocus-pocus aficionado Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
." Crítica de la Argentina
Crítica de la Argentina
- Origin :The name was a throwback to a Crítica originally published between 1913 and 1962, which, during the 1920s, was the most widely-circulated in Latin America.- History :...
says it has glowing descriptions of Adolf Hitler and other Nazi figures. Metapedia's Alexa ranking is 57,309 worldwide.
According to the North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
n Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Metapedia's articles are characterized by historical revisionism
Historical revisionism
In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of orthodox views on evidence, motivations, and decision-making processes surrounding a historical event...
and lauding Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. For this reason, the German Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons (Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien
Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien
The Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons is an upper-level German federal agency subordinate to the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. It is responsible for examining media works allegedly harmful to young people and entering these onto an...
) started an indexing process — that is, it is considering declaring metapedia "harmful to young people".
In early 2007, within half a year of the launching of the original Swedish version, Metapedia received a lot of Swedish media attention for its similarity to Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
and some its contents, in particular for its positive characterization of many Nazi German personalities, for cataloguing Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
in Swedish media, and for characterizing Swedish companies as either "Swedish-owned" or "Jewish-owned". This led to an investigation being initiated in Sweden, in which the Chancellor of Justice
Chancellor of Justice
In some countries, the Chancellor of Justice is a government official responsible for supervising the lawfulness of government actions. The Chancellor does not have the power to strike down laws In some countries, the Chancellor of Justice is a government official responsible for supervising the...
(Justitiekanslern) examined whether the site should be prosecuted for inciting hatred or for violating the Privacy Law
Privacy law
Privacy law refers to the laws which deal with the regulation of personal information about individuals which can be collected by governments and other public as well as private organizations and its storage and use....
(Personuppgiftslagen). After reviewing the site's contents, the Chancellor of Justice decided to terminate investigations, since nothing had been found that violated the Freedom of Speech Act (Yttrandefrihetsgrundlagen) or the Privacy Law. In January 2009, in a response to further attention given to the site, the Swedish Chancellor of Justice opined that Metapedia presented a positive image of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, but decided not to restart an investigation, since this was not illegal.
Operation
The operation of Metapedia depends on MediaWikiMediaWiki
MediaWiki is a popular free web-based wiki software application. Developed by the Wikimedia Foundation, it is used to run all of its projects, including Wikipedia, Wiktionary and Wikinews. Numerous other wikis around the world also use it to power their websites...
, a free
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
and open source wiki software
Wiki software
Wiki software is collaborative software that runs a wiki, i.e., a website that allows users to create and collaboratively edit web pages via a web browser. A wiki system is usually a web application that runs on one or more web servers...
platform written in PHP
PHP
PHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...
and built upon the MySQL
MySQL
MySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...
database.
The project was started by the publisher Anders Lagerström and is headed by him and Lennart Berg. Lennart Berg runs the supporting NFSE Media AB
Aktiebolag
Aktiebolag is the Swedish term for "limited company" or "corporation". When used in company names, it is abbreviated "AB" or "Ab"...
.
See also
- Far-right politics
- Neo-fascismNeo-FascismNeo-fascism is a post–World War II ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. The term neo-fascist may apply to groups that express a specific admiration for Benito Mussolini and Italian Fascism or any other fascist leader/state...
- Neo-NazismNeo-NazismNeo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or some variant thereof.The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements....
- Right-wing populismRight-wing populismRight-wing populism is a political ideology that rejects existing political consensus and combines laissez-faire liberalism and anti-elitism. It is considered "right-wing" because of its rejection of social equality and government programs to achieve it, its opposition to social integration, and...
- White nationalismWhite nationalismWhite nationalism is a political ideology which advocates a racial definition of national identity for white people. White separatism and white supremacism are subgroups within white nationalism. The former seek a separate white nation state, while the latter add ideas from social Darwinism and...