Sandi Toksvig has publicly criticised Wikipedia for what she describes as systemic bias, particularly regarding the underrepresentation of women in its content. Toksvig, known for her work as a writer and broadcaster, argues that despite Wikipedia’s vast size—with over 65 million articles in more than 300 languages—the platform does not adequately reflect the contributions and histories of women.

During a recent appearance at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, Toksvig highlighted that only about 19% of biographies on Wikipedia focus on women, a figure corroborated by the Wikimedia Foundation’s own estimates. She attributes this imbalance to the demographic makeup of Wikipedia’s volunteer editors, who she says are predominantly “white, middle-aged, European men” with the time and technology to contribute. This skew, she suggests, results in a content bias favoring wealthy countries and male figures.

To address these shortcomings, Toksvig has partnered with the University of Cambridge to develop a new project called Mappa Mundi. The initiative aims to create an interactive digital atlas that provides a platform for knowledge currently overlooked or removed from Wikipedia. A notable example cited by Toksvig is the early rejection of draft biographies for Donna Strickland, a Canadian physicist who was repeatedly excluded until she won a Nobel Prize.

The discussion around Wikipedia's bias has been further complicated by criticisms from other figures. Elon Musk, for instance, has accused Wikipedia of a left-wing slant, coining the term “Wokepedia” to describe what he perceives as ideological influence on the platform. In response, Musk launched an alternative called Grokipedia, an AI-driven encyclopedia. However, a paper published in November 2025 raised concerns about Grokipedia’s reliability, noting that its articles were significantly more likely to cite sources blacklisted by Wikipedia’s editorial community, including problematic sites such as the neo-Nazi Stormfront.

While Toksvig’s Mappa Mundi project is still in development, it represents an effort to provide a more inclusive knowledge repository by highlighting marginalized voices and expanding the representation of women in digital reference materials. The conversation around digital knowledge platforms continues to reflect broader debates about content neutrality, editorial control, and the challenges of building comprehensive—and equitable—online resources.