Wikipedia nixes Miami-Dade mayoral candidate Manny Cid’s page: ‘Political censorship’
MIAMI – Following a political ad against Democratic Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid’s Wikipedia page was flagged and then taken down.
Cid is running for Cava’s seat.
Shortly after Cid released a video about the incumbent Miami-Dade mayor, an anonymous Wikipedia editor nominated his Wikipedia page for deletion.
Political Activist in Miami-Dade Carolina Castillo said “political censorship by the leftists tech companies are a threat to our democracy.”
“WIKIPEDIA IS FOR HIRE like what Facebook and Twitter have been historically,” Castillo said. “Wikipedia is especially dangerous because a lot of our citizens, and in particular our youth rely on it as a source for research. WIKIPEDIA has up to now stayed under the radar disguised by its independent editors, but the truth is that these independent editors are being weaponized to promote their leftist agenda.”
“They have never been a reliable source for different reasons but now they need to be exposed for purposeful indoctrination under the guise of an independent source,” she continued.
Cid told Florida’s Voice that he “can’t point fingers” at who the anonymous user was, but the “timing is definitely interesting.”
“One day, I come out with a contrast piece, just on policy, and then the next day, I get an email, you know, and I get an alert that my page is being deleted,” Cid said. “So it’s one of those things that it’s hard to tell, I can’t start accusing people because I don’t have the proof, but it’s definitely interesting.”
The anonymous Wikipedia user called Cid a “non-notable mayor” and he or she doesn’t see “any reason to justify him having a Wikipedia page.”
Shortly after, Cid’s page was removed.
“It was one of those things that kind of shocked me,” Cid said. “You know, in terms of what Wikipedia has always stood for, right, is the fair exchange of information, having a decentralized system where you have, you know, folks from all over the world participate.”
Cid said at first, he “didn’t think too much of it,” but then the more he thought about it, he questioned the impact it would have on his campaign.
He said he hopes this is not “a pattern for the future” because he thinks it’s “contrary to what our founders always wanted,” which he said is the free exchange of information, citing the First Amendment.
Florida’s Voice reached out to Cava’s office for a comment, as well as Wikipedia, but did not receive a response.
One of Cid’s top priorities, if elected as the Miami-Dade mayor, include to rollback property taxes. He said he has “already done that” in his current mayoral position in Miami Lakes.
“We were the only city to rollback property taxes 100%, which even the property appraiser, he called me and he was like, ‘how did you do that?’ And we had $2 million leftover,” Cid said. “It was a great story. And our residents were really appreciative of that.”
According to the Miami-Dade government website, so far, the other candidates running for the Miami-Dade County mayoral position include Carlos Garin, Alexander Otoala, Miguel Quintero and Eddy Rojas.
