KeyWiki

About

KeyWiki is an online database, similar to Wikipedia focusing on documenting political adversaries to right-wing causes, policies and organizations.

Online History

On April 7th, 2010, Trevor Loudon, a New Zealand-based right-wing political activist, launched KeyWiki.^[1] In a statement that day, he announced that the website has already documented more than 35,000 people in the United States as well as organizations such as the Democratic Socialists of America and the Center for American Progress. He describes them as "all the people who are dragging America down."

The website claims to be "bipartisan" but "particular interest is taken in the left" to "expose cover politics on both the life and right of the political spectrum."^[2]

As of March 2018, the website has more than 105,000 articles.

Features

KeyWiki's set up is very similar to "Wikipedia." The main page (shown below) features various links to various articles, centering on a "Weekly Featured Profile" and "Recent Posts from the New Zeal Blog." Users can click links to go to a variety of articles.

The site also lists a number of categories from which users can search through pages. These allow users to filter people and organizations by place.

Main article pages feature party affiliation, Facebook and political action memberships.

Reception

Online, people have reacted in a variety of ways to KeyWiki. Some have noted that they have used it as a database of other activists. Twitter^[4] user @AliMoretelli tweeted (shown below, left), "I literally just found out this weekend that Key Wiki is supposed to be a bad thing lol. It comes across as a super cool resource for connecting with other activists and profiling their work! Pretty sure that's not what the founder intended 🤣"

Others were proud of their inclusion. Twitter^[5] user @SeanOmarRivera tweeted (shown below, center), "Sofia Sepulveda and I both show up on KeyWiki (right wing watch page). As of this moment, I am finally complete #justice #OurRevolution #blacklivesmatter."

However, some were alarmed by the site. Twitter^[6] user @InternetEh tweeted (shown below, right), "We all like to joke about Kèÿwîkî, but keep your Facebook settings tight too. Be careful what you leave public."

On March 8th, 2018, The Daily Dot ^[3] published a profile on the website and accused the site of bias and possibly doxxing. The post states:

"Though KeyWiki’s own Wiki page claims it 'does not support any political party,' the majority of entries are biased in tone and border on doxing. Oddly though, some, like Black Lives Matter organizer Deray McKesson’s profile, include positive accounts of activist behavior. KeyWiki also dredges up the present day locations of elderly people, who once had ties to radical movements in the 60s or participated in Civil Rights demonstrations. If your grandpa or grandma was loosely involved with a protest group sixty years ago, you may find them featured as the 'Weekly Featured Profile' on KeyWiki. It’s pretty sickening to think older people who marched for equal rights may face modern stalker behavior from trolls who find them on KeyWiki."

Search Interest

External References