This is a list of Wikipedia articles deemed controversial because they are constantly re-edited in a circular manner, or are otherwise the focus of edit warring or article sanctions.This page is conceived as a location for articles that regularly become biased and need to be fixed, or articles that were once the subject of an NPOV dispute and are likely to suffer future disputes. The divisive nature of disputed subjects has triggered arguments, since opinions on a given issue differ. These subjects are responsible for a great deal of tension among Wikipedia editors, reflecting the debates of society as a whole. Perspectives on these subjects are affected by the time, place, and culture of the editor.
- Articles listed here may need more work than usual to approach a neutral point of view. For articles that are currently unbalanced, see NPOV dispute instead.
- Articles on this list should be checked from time to time to monitor developments in the presentation of the issues. Use the "related changes" link to quickly review changes to these articles.
- Discussions about those controversies should be limited to the relevant Talk pages. For more information, see Wikipedia:Controversial articles.
Categories of past controversial issues
Many of these articles could be classified into multiple categories.
Politics and economics
- Artificial Intelligence
- 2003 invasion of Iraq
- Abortion
- Affirmative action
- African National Congress
- Alberta separatism
- American Civil Liberties Union
- American Hunters and Shooters Association
- History of the Jews in the United States – historical review of American Jews.
- Anarchism
- Anarcho-capitalism
- Anti-Americanism
- Anti-clericalism
- Anti-Irish racism
- Anti-semitism
- Asian American
- Atheism
- Austrian School
- Bashar Assad and the Syrian civil war
- Bidoon (social class)
- Black Lives Matter
- Black supremacy
- Boricua Popular Army – also known as Los Macheteros
- Brexit
- British National Party
- Capitalism
- Capital punishment
- Catalonia - Separatist activity.
- CBC News
- Centrelink
- Cherokee Americans – who have Cherokee ancestry.
- China – independence movements in Xinjiang and Tibet as well as its human rights
- Chinese spies
- Christian right – also known as the religious right
- CIA leak scandal, aka Plame affair (controversies include naming of articles)
- CIA leak scandal timeline, aka Plame affair timeline (controversies include naming of articles)
- Communism
- Communist Party of China
- Communist government
- Communist state
- CNN
- Conservatism in the United States
- Copyright, Free software, viral license, Copyright infringement of software, DMCA, copyright term extension, Inducement/Child Exploitation
- Corsica – separatism activity.
- Crime in the United States
- Criticism of Walmart
- Cuba
- Culture war in American politics
- Cyprus
- Cyprus dispute
- Deaf culture in the United States – rising self-identify among the hearing impaired as an "ethnic group".
- Democratic Party (United States)
- Demographics of Europe
- Demographics of the United States
- Domestic violence
- Detroit
- Economy of Japan
- Efforts to impeach George W. Bush
- European Union (EU)
- Fascism
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
- Federal Marriage Amendment
- Feminism
- Fox News
- Fractional reserve banking
- Free trade
- Freedom fighter
- Gay rights, LGBT rights
- Genocide denial
- Gentrification
- Gun control
- Gun politics
- Hamas
- Harry's Place
- Hate crimes
- Health care reform in the United States
- Health Services Union expenses affair
- Hezbollah
- Hispanics or Latinos
- Adolf Hitler – in regards to his biography, political career and personal issues (i.e. possible homosexuality or mental illness).
- Holodomor
- Hopi–Navajo land disputes
- Human overpopulation
- Immigration
- Immigration reform
- Immigration reform in the United States
- Immigration reform in the United Kingdom
- Insurance
- Ireland and Irish people – alleged anti-British sentiment and alleged British bias.
- Israel
- History of Israel
- Israeli–Palestinian conflict and all related issues.
- Italian American (anti-Italianism)
- Japan – history of being a world power.
- Jewish Americans as a lobbying interest group.
- Kashmir
- Killing of Harambe
- Korean War
- Kosovo
- Louisiana politics, as well alleged corruption (also the adage of "Chicago-way or New Jersey-style politics")
- Lebanon – ethnic/religious conflicts.
- Liberalism in the United States
- Libertarianism
- Macedonia, Republic of Macedonia, Macedonian Slavs
- Moldavia, Moldovans
- Masculism/Men's Rights
- Mexico – economic and political systems.
- Morality and ethics
- Multiculturalism
- Muslim Brotherhood
- NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
- National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) – (rel. bombing of Dresden)
- Native American name controversy
- National-anarchism
- National Rifle Association (NRA)
- Nazi Germany
- Nazi firearms regulation (for instance, as presented in the book Gun Control in the Third Reich)
- Neoconservatism
- Neoliberalism
- New World Order (conspiracy theory)
- North Korea and its nuclear program
- Politics of North Korea
- Northern Ireland
- Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine praevia lege poenali
- Occupy Wall Street and Occupy movement
- Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda.
- Open borders
- Pakkoruotsi
- Palestine
- Palestine Liberation Organization
- Park51 – a proposed (as of September 2010) Islamic community center and mosque to be built near the World Trade Center site
- Patriotism in the USA
- PEGIDA
- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
- Pioneer Fund – US racial research group.
- Polish people (Anti-Polish sentiment)
- Political correctness
- Political parties and partisan politics.
- Post-racial America
- Poverty in USA and worldwide
- Price–Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act
- Public education in the USA
- Puerto Ricans in the United States
- Quebec, Canada
- Race relations in the USA
- Racial quota
- Race/ethnicity issues in many countries, such as in Demographics of Chile.
- Racism – definition of
- Radical right (United States)
- Republican Party (United States)
- Right-wing populism
- Recession
- Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
- Salvador Allende
- Same-sex marriage
- Saskatchewan Party
- Saudi Arabia – use of Sharia law and human rights record.
- Laura Schlessinger
- School violence
- Seamus incident
- Republika Srpska, Republic of Serbian Krajina
- Sedition
- Separatism
- September 11 attacks also known as 9/11.
- Sexual harassment
- Ariel Sharon
- Silesia
- Social Credit System
- Social Issues
- Socialism
- Southeastern United States or Southern United States – regional/nationalistic feeling, including Texas secessionism.
- Southern Poverty Law Center
- Spain – autonomous movements in each province of the country.
- Sudan (South Sudan and Darfur).
- Banking in Switzerland — controversy over use of accounts in Swiss banks
- Synarchism
- Syrian Social Nationalist Party
- Tea Party movement and Tea Party protests
- Taiwan
- Taliban
- Terrorism
- Terrorist groups
- Tibet
- Tobin tax
- Torture (see also Medical torture)
- Universal health care proposals in the United States
- United Nations (UN)
- USA PATRIOT Act – also known as The Patriot Act
- The United States's War on Terror
- Valencian people (Valencianism) vs. Catalan people (Catalan nationalism) over whether to classify the Valencian language a "dialect" of Catalan language.
- Vector Marketing — controversy over hiring practices and business model
- War on Drugs
- Wells Fargo – controversy over fake accounts scandal.
- Wells Fargo account fraud scandal
- Western culture
- White Americans – non-racist white identity.
- White Anglo-Saxon Protestant — on talk page there are claims of non-neutrality.
- Wiretapping
- Paul Wolfowitz
- Womyn – alternative spelling of women.
- Xinjiang (Sinkiang).
- Xinjiang re-education camps
- Yugoslavia – breakup of the country.
- Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- Zimbabwe
History
- 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
- 1953 Iranian coup d'état
- 1963 South Vietnamese coup – theories abound on the US CIA involvement
- 1964 Alaska earthquake
- 1973 coup in Chile
- 1992 Los Angeles riots
- 9/11 or September 11 terrorist attacks
- American Airlines Flight 77
- American Revolution
- Apartheid
- Apollo Moon landing hoax accusations
- Armenian Genocide
- Aryan invasion theory
- Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- Battle of Cuito Cuanavale
- Berlin Wall
- Biafra
- Black Power
- Bloody Sunday (1972)
- Bosnia and Herzegovina – 1992–1995 war
- Bromberg Bloody Sunday
- Cambodian genocide
- Centre Party Germany
- Chicano nationalism – also see Mexican American
- Coandă-1910
- Cold War era – i.e. Cuban Missile Crisis
- Communism – histories of communist regimes
- Confederate States of America
- Jim Crow laws or racial segregation
- Constitutional law
- Intense holy wars, Crusades
- Cyprus dispute
- D-Day 1944 allied invasion of France
- East Germany (the German Democratic Republic 1949–1990)
- Issues pertaining to politics of Egypt from 2013 onward
- Falkland Islands
- French Revolution
- The Great Purge
- Genocide
- Great Depression
- Green Revolution
- Heimatvertriebene
- Iran hostage crisis
- Ireland – history, including 1850s Irish Potato Famine
- Irredentism in Italy, China, Mexico and elsewhere
- January 6 United States Capitol attack
- Japanese American internment during World War II.
- Jesus Christ – historical/biographical studies (the Bible and other sources)
- Jews in Ukraine and Poland, "Ukrainian and Polish antisemitism"
- Kennedy assassinations of 1963 and 1968
- Korean War
- Kosovo War
- Kurdish genocide
- Kuril Islands
- Libyan civil war
- Louisiana Purchase of 1803
- Majestic 12
- Maoism
- Marijuana – illegalization of the drug
- Mexican–American War (see also History of Mexican Americans).
- Native Americans in the United States
- Nazism
- Nordic race theories of global domination (see also Aryan race and white race)
- Okinawa – U.S. rule 1945–1972.
- Operation Wetback – mass deportation program of Mexicans (either illegal aliens, naturalized citizens and Mexican-Americans) from the US in the 1950s.
- Other Losses
- Panama Canal – US rule in Canal Zone 1903–1979
- Philippines under US rule 1898–1946
- Piprahwa
- Numerous episodes of Poland–Russia relations
- Numerous episodes of Poland–Ukraine relations
- Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust
- Prohibition in the US 1919–1933
- Prussia
- Puerto Rico's relationship with the US since the Spanish-American War in 1898
- Quebec sovereignty movement
- Radicalism
- Rape during the occupation of Germany – mostly by the Red Army
- Roswell UFO incident
- Numerous episodes of Russia–Ukraine relations
- Sanhedrin
- Scientology
- Silesia
- Slavery
- Soviet republics
- Soviet Russia
- Soviet Union or the USSR.
- Soviet war crimes
- Spanish–American War
- Spanish Civil War
- Spanish Inquisition
- Stem cell research
- Texas Revolution of 1836, known by the battle of the Alamo
- The Rape of Nanking (book)
- Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
- Trail of Tears
- TWA Flight 800
- U.S. Civil War
- U.S. Latinos or Hispanics
- U.S. War of 1812
- United States presidential election, 2000
- United States presidential election, 2016 – especially allegations of Russian involvement
- Unidentified flying objects or UFOs
- Ustaše
- Vietnam War
- Warsaw Pact
- Watergate scandal
- White supremacy
- Women's rights (cf. feminism above)
- Causes and effects of World War I
- Causes and effects of World War II
Religion
- 2012, 2012 phenomenon, and the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar
- Adventism
- Agnosticism
- American Family Association
- Answers in Genesis (AiG)
- Anti-clericalism
- Anti-Muslim violence in India
- Anti-semitism
- Apollo Quiboloy
- Atheism
- Baptist churches – differences among them, including fundamentalist and independent ones.
- Biblical literalism
- Book of Enoch
- Born-Again
- Buddhism
- Catholicism
- Christian Coalition
- Christian right – also known as the religious right
- Christian Science
- Christianity
- Christophobia
- Conservative Judaism and Criticism of Conservative Judaism
- Creationism
- Cult
- Deism
- Dhimmi
- Divorce – religious opposition to
- Dorje Shugden
- Dorje Shugden controversy
- Druze
- Eastern Orthodoxy
- Eckankar
- Evangelical
- Falun Gong
- Fundamentalism
- Gay Marriage – opposition of
- Gnosticism and the New Testament
- God
- Gospel for Asia (more critical than descriptive)
- Guru (structure and criticism)
- Hare Krishna
- Hate group (new religious movements)
- Historicity of Jesus
- Homosexuality and religion.
- Iglesia ni Cristo
- Imperium (Warhammer 40,000)
- Islamophobia
- Islam
- Jainism
- Jehovah's Witnesses
- Jesus Freaks
- Judas Iscariot
- Kabbala
- Kashrut and Kosher
- Kokuchūkai
- Ku Klux Klan
- Last Supper of Jesus
- Liberalism
- Liturgy
- Lutheranism
- Makkah/Mecca ('Offensive' spelling).
- Menachem Mendel Schneerson
- Mennonites – most notably the old order Amish.
- Modernism
- Mormonism – to a certain extent (subset of the Latter Day Saint movement).
- Neocatechumenal Way
- New Age
- New Kadampa Tradition
- Nondenominational churches.
- Ole Nydahl and Diamond Way Buddhism
- Opus Dei
- Pacifism
- Paganism – various sects
- Paul and Gnosticism
- Pentecostalism
- Politics and religion.
- Prem Rawat and Divine Light Mission
- Project Chanology
- Protestant Reformation
- Qu'ran
- Reincarnation research
- U.S. Republican Party connection with the religious right.
- Religion and sexuality and various related topics.
- Role of women in religion, Religious feminism, and related topics
- Separation of church and state
- Satanism
- Sathya Sai Baba – enduring dispute about the amount of space devoted to describing the views of proponents and critics as published on their homepages
- Scientology
- Seventh-day Adventist Church
- Sharia
- Sin
- Soka Gakkai
- Sufism
- Syncretism
- Taboo
- Temple Mount and related topics
- United Submitters International, Qur'an alone, Rashad Khalifa – peacock words, critical sources removed, lack of RS, failure to describe size and importance and relation to older Islamic groups, linkfarming
- Universal Life Church
- Universalism
- Westboro Baptist Church
Science, biology, and health
- Abortion
- ADD/ADHD
- AIDS
- AIDS denialism
- Alcoholism
- Allergy – causes of
- Allopathic medicine
- Alzheimer's disease
- Alternative medicine and closely related issues
- Anencephaly
- Answers in Genesis (AiG)
- Anthropology
- Assisted suicide
- Aspartame
- Aspartame controversy
- Asperger's syndrome and Autism
- Astrology as a "science"
- Bates method
- Bioethics
- Biology and sexual orientation
- Birth defect
- Black hole information paradox
- Blood transfusions
- Breast cancer
- Cancer cures
- Caesarean section
- Chakra
- Chiropractic
- Chromosome
- Circumcision
- Cloning
- Cochlear implant
- Cold fusion
- Conjoined twins
- COVID-19 pandemic
- Cryonics
- Creation science
- Depleted uranium
- Depression
- Disability
- Drugs
- Dyslexia
- Ebola virus
- Albert Einstein
- Electrical sensitivity
- Elitism
- Eugenics
- Euthanasia
- Evolution
- Extraterrestrial Life
- Family planning
- Female genital mutilation
- Modern flat Earth beliefs
- Genetic engineering
- Genetically modified foods (or GM food(s))
- Gender differences
- Glyphosate
- Heredity
- Heritability of IQ
- High Fructose Corn Syrup
- HIV – virus that causes AIDS
- HMO – US health care coverage
- Hodgkin's Disease
- Homeopathy
- Human cloning
- Human evolution
- Human longevity
- Huntington's disease
- Influenza strains like the H5N1 virus or bird flu
- Institute for Creation Research
- Intelligent design
- IQ and the Wealth of Nations
- Jewish people as a "race"
- Kombucha Tea
- Lactose intolerance as a genetic inherited trait
- Life extension
- Lupus
- Master race
- Medical torture
- Menopause
- Mental disorder
- Mental retardation
- Michio Kaku
- Mind control
- MS and treatments for it e.g. CCSVI or [1]
- Mucoid plaque
- Nutrition
- Obesity
- Organ donor and transplants
- Ovarian cancer
- Overpopulation
- Paternity testing
- Pharmaceutical industry in the USA
- Pluto demoted as a planet
- Poppers (the use of alkyl nitrites as a drug)
- Pregnancy
- Premature birth
- Prenatal care
- Psychiatry
- Race and science
- Race and intelligence
- Recapitulation theory
- Rh blood group system (origins of RH negative Blood type)
- Romani people as a race
- Schizophrenia
- Self-harm
- Sex differences in intelligence
- Sex differences in psychology
- Sexually transmitted diseases
- Smoking and tobacco
- Smoking bans
- Speciesism
- Sperm donor and Egg donor
- Stem cell research
- String theory — testability, validity, and viability
- Surrogate mother – child custody battles
- Tay–Sachs disease
- Nikola Tesla
- Test-tube babies
- Therapeutic touch
- Thiomersal
- Transgender, Transsexual, and BIID persons
- Twin paradox
- Universe – such as the Big Bang theory
- Warburg hypothesis
- Vaccination
- Veganism and Vegetarianism
- Vertebral subluxation
Sex, sexuality, and gender identity
- 69ing
- Abortion
- Adultery ("consensual sex outside marriage")
- Age of consent
- AIDS
- AIDS denialism
- Anal sex
- Anti-LGBT
- Antisexualism
- Asian fetish (also Racial fetishism of other races/ethnicities).
- Attraction to disability (a.k.a. Abasiophilia).
- Autoerotic Asphyxiation
- Autogynephilia
- BDSM
- Bestiality
- Biphobia
- Bisexuality
- Buggery
- Buggery Act 1533
- Child grooming – where perpetrators gain the trust of victims with the intent of sexually abusing them.
- Child pornography
- Child sexuality
- Chlamydia
- Circumcision
- Conversion therapy (also called "reparative therapy")
- Drawn pornography depicting minors (Lolicon, Shotacon)
- Ejaculation
- Fetishism
- Fingering and fisting
- Fornication
- G-Spot
- Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands
- Gay rights
- Genetic sexual attraction
- Genital modification and mutilation
- Gerontophilia
- Golden shower
- Hebephilia
- Hentai ("anime porn")
- Heterophobia
- Heterosexism
- Homophobia
- Homosexuality
- Incest
- Internet pornography
- Intersex rights
- Lesbianism
- Lesbophobia
- LGBT rights
- Masturbation
- Necrophilia
- North American Man/Boy Love Association
- Oral sex
- Orgasm
- Paraphilia
- Pederasty
- Paedophilia
- Polyamory
- Polygamy
- Pornhub
- Pornography
- Pregnancy fetishism
- Prostitution
- Rape
- Sadomasochism
- Safe Schools Coalition Australia
- Safe sex
- Semen
- Sex offender
- Sexual abuse
- Sexual acts
- Sexuality of Abraham Lincoln
- Sexuality of Adolf Hitler
- Sexually transmitted diseases
- Stalking
- Suicide among LGBT youth
- Surrogacy
- Swinging (sexual practice)
- Transgender rights
- Transphobia
- Transsexuality
- Women (see Women and Sexuality)
- X18+ rating
- Xenogender
- Zoophilia
Entertainment
- Bullfighting
- Bumfights
- Disc jockeys
- Duke Nukem Forever and other development hell games
- Entertainment Software Rating Board
- Gambling
- Gamergate controversy and related articles
- Girls Gone Wild
- Hip hop culture, hip hop music, and rapping (rap music)
- JBL Speakers - Concerns over public transport use
- List of best-selling albums
- MPAA film rating system
- Playboy magazine
- Pop punk
- Pornographic magazines (Hustler and Penthouse)
- Psytrance
- SeaWorld
- Smooth jazz
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi
- Strip club (stripping/strippers)
- Video game controversies
- Westfield
- World Star Hip Hop
Environment
- 2005 Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans
- Naming of Adlay (plant) in Australia
- Chernobyl – nuclear plant accident, April 25, 1986
- Deepwater Horizon – oil spill, April 20, 2010
- Deforestation vs Logging
- Dust Bowl vs intensive farming
- Ecofascism
- Eco-terrorism
- Environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing
- Environmental vegetarianism
- Fossil fuels vs air pollution and greenhouse gases
- Fukushima-Daiichi – nuclear plant accident after, caused by 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
- Global warming and Global cooling theories
- Hydraulic fracturing – industry vs environmental perspectives
- Hydraulic fracturing by country
- Hydraulic fracturing in the United States
- Hydrogen Bomb and Atomic Bomb testing effects
- An Inconvenient Truth – 2006 documentary movie on humanity's involvement in climate change
- Mercury poisoning and cause of Minamata disease in a Japanese fishing village during the 1960s.
- Mining and Deep sea mining
- Nuclear power vs Wind farms (and other largescale power generation)
- Oil drilling and ANWR petroleum reserves in Alaska's North Slope
- Overpopulation (see global human Population explosion)
- Ozone depletion leading to Ozone hole
- Pollution
- Recycling
- Sea level rise
- Three Gorges Dam and other (Hydroelectric) dams, vs Water shortages and droughts/floods
- Toxic waste and its disposal at Love Canal
- Volkswagen emissions scandal
- Weather modification
Law and order
- Crime in America
- Double jeopardy
- Illegal drugs
- Judicial system
- Jury duty
- Law enforcement
- Legal status of Minors and Juveniles (see Teenagers)
- Public education (also mandatory school attendance laws)
- Prisons
- Selective Service and Military draft
- Tax (see also the U.S. Internal Revenue Service)
Languages
- Afrikaans spoken by Afrikaners of South Africa
- Ancient Macedonian language
- Aramaic, one language or group of languages
- Balto-Slavic languages
- Basque language – unrelated to any Indo-European or any other language in the world
- Bilingualism in Canada
- Celtic Revival – the restoration of Celtic languages in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, England, and Brittany, France
- Chinese language policies
- Creole languages
- Dené–Caucasian languages
- Ebonics
- Filipino and Tagalog, Philippine languages
- French language in Canada
- Graeco-Armenian
- Indo-European (languages and the "Aryan" race theory)
- Japanese language and Korean language, theorized similarities and self-isolations from any other language
- Ladino
- Language revival
- Linguistics
- Macedonian language
- Norwegian language
- Occitan language, Occitania and vergonha (linguicide in France)
- Pidgin English
- Pig Latin - Use by Eshays
- Quebec (French as the official language of the province over English)
- Riksmål
- Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
- Sami language – spoken by the Sami people indigenous to Scandinavia.
- Spanish in the United States
- Turanism of Turkic languages
- Welsh language
- Yiddish language
Philosophy
Psychiatry
Technology
- BitTorrent
- BitTorrent (protocol)
- Blu-ray Disc
- ChatGPT
- Criticism of Microsoft
- Criticism of Windows Vista
- Criticism of Apple Inc.
- Criticism of Google
- Cryptocurrency
- Console wars
- Cyberstalking
- Digital rights management esp re opening – see talk and archive
- Electric car
- Electronic voting
- Factory farming
- File sharing
- Ford Pinto
- GNU/Linux naming controversy – discussed extensively at Talk:Linux
- Han unification
- HD DVD
- Holography
- Indent style
- Myspace – online privacy and security issues
- Napster
- Net neutrality
- NFT
- Norton AntiVirus
- Nuclear power
- Object-oriented programming
- P2P
- Removal of Internet Explorer
- Smart meter – concerns about privacy and health effects
- Solar power
- Standardization of Office Open XML
- The Pirate Bay
- Unmanned combat air vehicle – use of unmanned drones for warfare
- Windows Vista
Media and culture
- 2b2t
- 4chan, 9gag and Reddit
- A Current Affair
- Anime
- Beavis and Butt-head
- Black Entertainment Television
- Black Metal
- Borat
- Bumbags
- Cancel culture
- CCTV (Closed-circuit television/public surveillance)
- Cable News: CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel, as well the BBC, RT and Al Jazeera
- Censorship laws
- Chinese television (CCTV news)
- Da Vinci Code
- Digimon – clashes among fans and critics over this and Pokémon
- Digital television conversion in US
- Diversity on prime-time TV
- Disco music
- Drawn Together
- Emo
- Eshays
- European culture
- Family Guy
- Federal Communications Commission or the US FCC
- Furry subculture
- Game of Thrones
- Gamergate controversy or GamerGate
- Gatorade - Concerns over bottles used as a bong
- Gay culture
- Google (privacy issues)
- Goth subculture
- Harry Potter
- Hard rock and heavy metal music, esp. the inclusion of misogynistic and Satanic lyrics in some songs
- Hippies
- Ima Korean
- The Innocence of Muslims
- Internet forum/message boards, esp, the anonymous nature of these boards leading to trolling, cyberbullying and hate speech
- KFC's Zinger Boxes
- MADtv
- The Marshall Mathers LP
- Media bias
- Me Too movement
- Murphy Brown – sitcom featuring a single mother
- Music Television (MTV)
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- Netiquette
- Nike TNs - Relation to Eshays, shoe fetishists and safety, fire and explosive concerns
- PAW Patrol
- Pentagon Papers of The New York Times 1971
- PewDiePie videos
- Political correctness
- Punk rock music
- Rap God
- Rap and hip-hop music
- Rave and Rave culture
- Razor (scooter)
- Rucka Rucka Ali music
- Sailor Moon – LGBT and adult themes.
- Sailor Mouth
- Saturday Night Live
- Sifl and Olly
- The Simpsons
- Sirius XM Radio – subscription to receive satellite radio
- Smooth jazz
- SpongeBob Squarepants
- South Park (see South Park controversies)
- Star Trek
- Star Wars anthology
- Steven Universe – LGBT and feminism themes
- Telemundo and Univision – Spanish language Television in the US
- Talk radio – limits on free speech
- The Little Mermaid (2023 film)
- Time Warner and Viacom as multi-corporate monopolies.
- TikTok
- Trinity Broadcasting Network and televangelists
- The Twilight Saga
- Twitter as a social trend.
- US culture (Americana) – the concepts of "American culture"
- Virgin Records.
- The Walt Disney Company
- Wikipedia
- Women-oriented television (Lifetime, Oxygen and WE).
- World Wide Web or the internet.
- YouTube (content issues).
- Yuppies
- Who Is America?
People
- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – President of Iran 2005–2013.
- Syed Ahmed
- Muhammad Ali – conversion to Islam and anti-Vietnam war comments.
- Kirstie Alley
- Idi Amin – Ugandan dictator.
- Criss Angel
- Yasser Arafat
- Jodi Arias
- Joe Arpaio – Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona
- Bashar al-Assad – President of Syria since 2000.
- Julian Assange
- Hans Asperger
- Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
- Gilad Atzmon
- Michelle Bachelet
- Michele Bachmann
- Brigitte Bardot
- Roseanne Barr (Arnold)
- Glenn Beck
- David Beckham
- Beyonce
- Joy Behar
- Silvio Berlusconi
- Art Bell – radio program discussions on conspiracy theories.
- Bruno Bettelheim
- Joe Biden – U.S. president
- Tony Blair
- Robert Blake – 2002 homicide defendant case.
- Hans Blix
- Christoph Blocher – prominent Swiss politician, former Federal Councillor.
- Barry Bonds and the BALCO drug scandal (includes other Major League Baseball athletes Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire and Alex Rodriguez).
- Bonnie and Clyde
- Ruđer Bošković – ethnicity.
- Lorena Bobbitt – In 1994, mutilated her husband's penis in self-defense from alleged marital rape.
- Leonid Brezhnev
- Chris Brown – accused of domestic violence/abuse against girlfriend Rihanna
- Jerry Brown – California governor.
- Anita Bryant
- Kobe Bryant
- Pat Buchanan
- Ted Bundy
- George W. Bush and his father George H. W. Bush, U.S. Presidents.
- Jeb Bush
- Richard Butler – founder of the Aryan Nations group.
- Caligula – Roman emperor.
- George Carlin
- Jimmy Carter – U.S. president and peace negotiator.
- Fidel Castro and brother Raúl Castro, leaders of Cuba.
- Cesar Chavez
- Hugo Chávez
- Dave Chappelle – satirist and comedian.
- Dick Cheney, U.S. vice president and CEO of Halliburton.
- Cher and her ex-husband Sonny Bono and his widow Mary Bono Mack in politics.
- Jacques Chirac
- Margaret Cho
- Seung-Hui Cho – Virginia Tech University armed man killed himself and 32 others in 2007 massacre.
- Noam Chomsky
- Chris Christie – governor of the state of New Jersey.
- Ward Churchill – Colorado State professor known for comments about 9-11 survivors, and involved in radical left and American Indian political movements.
- Bill Clinton – U.S. President
- Hillary Rodham Clinton – U.S. Secretary of State
- Kurt Cobain – 1994 suicide (or murder) controversy.
- Sacha Baron Cohen – for his controversial live-action characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev and Brüno
- Christopher Columbus
- Sean Combs – aka "Puff Daddy".
- Nicolaus Copernicus – (Copernicus' nationality either Polish or German).
- Stephen Colbert
- The Completionist - allegations of charity fraud.
- Jon Corzine – governor of the state of New Jersey.
- Ann Coulter
- Tom Cruise – open advocate of the Church of Scientology.
- Miley Cyrus and her performance at the VMAs in 2013
- Salvador Dalí
- Jeffrey Dahmer
- Angela Davis – former Black Panther member in 1973 federal homicide case.
- Richard Dawkins
- Ellen DeGeneres
- Paula Deen – allegations of spoken racial slurs.
- Hassan Diab – alleged role in the 1980 Paris synagogue bombing.
- Andrew Dice Clay – satirist and comedian known for vulgar performances in the 1980s and early 1990s.
- Dixie Chicks – politically charged anti-Bush comments in 2003.
- Walt Disney – alleged antisemitism and alcoholism.
- Phil Donahue
- Jim Bob Duggar
- David Duke
- Andrea Dworkin
- John Edwards
- Marc Emery
- Eminem – real name Marshall Mathers, rapper
- PewDiePie — real name Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, YouTube gamer
- Jeffrey Epstein
- Pablo Escobar
- Jerry Falwell
- Melissa Farley
- Carly Fiorina
- Gerald Ford – 1975 Watergate pardons; U.S. President
- George Floyd
- Henry Ford
- Michael J. Fox and late Christopher Reeve – stem cell research advocates.
- Al Franken
- Kenny G – dispute over genre.
- Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan leader
- William Gaillard
- Galileo
- Janeane Garofalo
- Charles de Gaulle
- Ricky Gervais – British comedian and actor
- Mel Gibson – for verbal anti-Semitic and homophobic comments in DUI arrest
- Kathie Lee Gifford – 1995 children's sweatshop scandal involved her clothing brand, her ex-husband Frank Gifford's affairs, and her political and religious views spoofed in comedy
- Newt Gingrich – U.S. Speaker of the House (1995–99)
- Girls Aloud – numerous controversies
- Rudy Giuliani – Mayor of New York City and U.S. presidential candidate.
- Nancy Grace
- Wayne Gretzky and wife Janet Jones in sports gambling scandal.
- Joseph Goebbels
- Whoopi Goldberg – political comments as co-host on the show The View
- Barry Goldwater
- Mikhail Gorbachev
- Al Gore, U.S. Vice President
- Temple Grandin – Livestock handling architect diagonsed with autism involved in the redesign of the cattle/livestock industry and leading figure of the Autism community
- Alan Greenspan
- Woody Guthrie – His song lyrics endorsed leftism/socialism and portrayed farm workers as victims of the Great Depression.
- Guns N' Roses rock band – Axl Rose
- Ferenc Gyurcsány
- Ted Haggard
- Tarja Halonen
- Ken Ham – Young Earth creationist and the president of Answers in Genesis (AiG).
- Sean Hannity
- Jesse Helms – U.S. Senator.
- Phil Hendrie – radio comedian
- Patty Hearst – 1974 kidnapping/conversion by the Symbionese Liberation Army, bank robbery suspect with the group and arrested, convicted and released from prison.
- Hideki Tojo – leader of WWII Imperial Japan, executed by International Court tribunal for war crimes and crimes against humanity in 1948
- Kamala Harris
- Paris Hilton
- Anita Hill in the 1991 Clarence Thomas sexual harassment case
- Heinrich Himmler
- Emperor Hirohito – involvement in WWII Imperial Japan policy
- Christopher Hitchens
- Adolf Hitler, German Führer and responsible for the Holocaust to exterminate nearly all of European Jews and other victims (i.e. Roma people, Slavs, homosexuals and communists), remains an infamous emotionally charged figure when it comes to associated issues of racism and antisemitism
- Erich Honecker – Communist leader of the last years of East Germany (1971–89)
- Jimmy Hoffa – 1975 kidnapping/disappearance
- J. Edgar Hoover
- Katie Hopkins
- John Howard
- L. Ron Hubbard
- Mike Huckabee
- Rock Hudson
- Saddam Hussein – Iraqi dictator and secular leader against the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the Middle East
- Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens)
- Andrew Jackson – U.S. president and designer of federal government policy on American Indians and the Trail of Tears
- George Jackson
- Jesse Jackson
- Michael Jackson – People v. Jackson case in 2005, and several other controversies
- Jay-Z
- Thomas Jefferson – U.S. president and drafter of the U.S. Declaration of Independence
- Sheila Jeffreys
- Caitlyn Jenner – U.S. Olympian who came out as transgender
- Elton John
- Magic Johnson – HIV diagnosis
- Angelina Jolie and former husband Brad Pitt
- Alex Jones
- Jenny Jones due to the murder of Scott Amedure
- Michael Jordan
- John F. Kennedy – with brothers Robert F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy – U.S. president, U.S. presidential candidate, and U.S. Senator, respectively.
- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis – widow of John F. Kennedy, remarried to Greek billionaire Aristotle Onassis.
- Colin Kaepernick
- Kim Kardashian
- Andy Kaufman
- John Kerry
- Khomeini
- Nikita Khrushchev – Soviet leader
- North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung, his son Kim Jong Il and successor (son of Jong Il) Kim Jong-Un
- Martin Luther King Jr.
- Rodney King
- Pia Kjærsgaard
- Philip J. Klass
- Polly Klaas child abduction case in 1993
- Shosei Koda
- Junichiro Koizumi – Japanese leader
- Chris Kyle – United States Navy SEAL and most lethal sniper in U.S. military history
- Lady Gaga
- k.d. lang – homosexuality and animal rights activism
- Ricki Lake
- Lyndon LaRouche
- Carlos Latuff – controversial cartoonist.
- Norman Lear – producer of groundbreaking 1970s TV comedies on social satire.
- Jean-Marie Le Pen and daughter Marine Le Pen in French politics.
- Heath Ledger
- Vladimir Lenin – Soviet leader.
- John Lennon – US CIA investigations in the early 1970s
- Lewis Libby
- G. Gordon Liddy
- Lil Wayne
- Rush Limbaugh
- Abraham Lincoln – U.S. president during the American Civil War.
- Jennifer Lopez
- Lil B
- Trent Lott
- Courtney Love
- Martin Luther
- Catharine MacKinnon
- Winnie Madikizela-Mandela – South African civil rights activist and leader who spent time in prison
- Bernie Madoff
- Madonna
- John Major
- Nelson Mandela – South African civil rights activist and leader who spent years in prison
- Charles Manson
- Marilyn Manson
- Mao Zedong – Chinese leader, may have been responsible for the deaths of up to 80 million.
- Ferdinand Marcos, Imelda Marcos, and their son Bongbong Marcos, Philippine leaders.
- Rachel Marsden
- Karl Marx
- Jackie Mason
- John Mayer – allegations of spoken racial slurs.
- John McCain
- Paul McCartney – alleged domestic abuse of ex-wife Heather.
- Jenny McCarthy – TV show hostess turned activist for autism research and mother of a son diagnosed with autism.
- Steve McNair – his murder-suicide by girlfriend.
- Timothy McVeigh
- Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev
- Golda Meir
- Carlos Mencia – satirist/comedian.
- Angela Merkel, German prime minister.
- Freddie Mercury – rumours of homosexuality proven after his death from AIDS.
- Harvey Milk
- Billy Mitchell – disputed video game-related world records
- Kenji Miyazawa
- Demi Moore and her ex Ashton Kutcher.
- Michael Moore
- Henry M. Morris – prominent Young Earth creationist, coauthor of The Genesis Flood.
- Jim Morrison – his mysterious death in 1971 at Paris.
- Mother Teresa
- MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson)
- Elon Musk – business magnate
- Benito Mussolini – Italian founder of fascism.
- Napoleon – French leader.
- Nero – Roman emperor
- Olivia Newton-John – environmental activism.
- Richard Nixon, U.S. president.
- Notorious B.I.G.
- Rosie O'Donnell
- Opie and Anthony (formally of The Opie and Anthony Show)
- Bill O'Reilly.
- Barack Obama – U.S. president.
- Keith Olbermann
- Ozzy Osbourne
- Donny Osmond – singer and actor
- Marie Osmond – singer and actor
- Terrell Owens – recent near-death, suicide attempt claims.
- Sarah Palin – U.S. vice presidential candidate.
- Nancy Pelosi – U.S. Speaker of the House 2007–10.
- Katy Perry
- Juan Perón and wife Eva Perón, Argentine leaders
- Markus "Notch" Persson - anti-LGBT views.
- Scott Peterson – convicted of murder of his missing pregnant wife Laci.
- Augusto Pinochet – Chilean general became presidential dictator.
- Valerie Plame
- Nicole Polizzi – "Snooki" of MTV reality show Jersey Shore and the show's portrayal of Italian Americans condemned as ethnic stereotypes.
- Pope Benedict XVI
- Pope John Paul II
- Pope Pius XII
- Elvis Presley and his highly publicized death in 1977.
- Prince
- Charles III – ex-wife Princess Diana and new wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, British royals.
- Prince Harry and Prince William (and his wife Princess Kate), heirs of the British crown.
- Pol Pot, Cambodian leader.
- Richard Pryor
- Vladimir Putin – Russian leader.
- Ray Rice
- Richard Ramirez
- JonBenét Ramsey – unsolved homicide case.
- Ronald Reagan – U.S. president.
- Janet Reno – U.S. Attorney General.
- Michèle Renouf – associate of Holocaust deniers
- Condoleezza Rice – U.S. Secretary of State.
- Michael Richards – Due to the Laugh Factory incident.
- Yvonne Ridley
- Alberto Rivera
- Geraldo Rivera
- Geshe Michael Roach
- Oral Roberts
- Pat Robertson
- Phil Robertson
- John Rocker – baseball pitcher renowned for comments about New York City, racial minorities and homosexuals in a 1999 Sports Illustrated interview.
- Kid Rock
- Alex Rodriguez
- Romário
- Mitt Romney – U.S. presidential candidate.
- Linda Ronstadt – Political activism and lesbianism.
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his cousin Theodore Roosevelt, U.S. Presidents.
- Ben Roethlisberger
- Pete Rose
- Karl Rove
- Babe Ruth
- Donald Rumsfeld – U.S. Secretary of Defense.
- Bobby Sands
- Nicolas Sarkozy
- Linda Sarsour
- Michael Savage
- Terri Schiavo case
- Laura Schlessinger (Dr. Laura).
- Dan Schneider - allegations of sexual misconduct.
- Gerhard Schröder
- Arnold Schwarzenegger as California state governor, rather than as actor.
- Teofilo Vargas Sein
- Selena – disputed theories over her 1995 murder.
- William Shakespeare – in regards to additions and deletions of references to the "authorship question."
- Tupac Shakur and his shooting death in 1996.
- Al Sharpton – African American civil rights activist.
- Charlie Sheen
- Matthew Shepard – media-publicized 1999 hate crime murder victim.
- Sherlock Holmes
- O. J. Simpson – accused of notorious crimes (double murder of his ex-wife and boyfriend in 1994).
- Anna Nicole Smith
- Joseph Smith – founder of the Latter Day Saint movement and Mormonism in the 1820s.
- Edward Snowden
- Eddie "Piolín" Sotelo – US talk host of Spanish-language radio program.
- Sonia Sotomayor
- Snoop Dogg – real name Calvin Broadus.
- Britney Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline.
- Spice Girls – numerous controversies.
- Jerry Springer
- SSSniperWolf
- Joseph Stalin, Soviet dictator who lead the USSR during the Depression and WWII, main perpetrator of The Great Purge and other Soviet atrocities.
- Gloria Steinem
- Erika Steinbach
- Howard Stern – radio "shock jock" and liberal activist.
- Jon Stewart
- Sting – political activist.
- John Stossel
- Barbra Streisand
- Jimmy Swaggart
- Andrew Tate - far-right internet personality involved with several controversies, including sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
- Tim Tebow
- Nikola Tesla (his nationality being Serb vs. Croat).
- Margaret Thatcher – U.K. Prime Minister.
- Justin Trudeau - Canadian Prime Minister
- Pierre Trudeau – Canadian Prime Minister.
- Harry Truman – U.S. president; also, decision while in that office to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan to end WWII.
- Donald Trump – President of the United States
- Ted Turner
- Mike Tyson
- U2 – Irish rock band involved in political activist causes.
- Joran van der Sloot
- Michael Vick due to his involvement in illegal dogfighting.
- Varg Vikernes
- Barbara Walters
- John Walsh – Anti-crime activist/child safety advocate after his son Adam Walsh was kidnapped, later found dead in 1981.
- Andy Warhol
- Kanye West – Rapper, also as ex-husband of Kim Kardashian.
- Ruth Westheimer
- Brian Williams
- Joseph C. Wilson
- Woodrow Wilson – U.S. president.
- Oprah Winfrey
- Susan Wojcicki - former CEO of YouTube from 2015 to 2023, is speculated to be behind controversial changes of the website.
- Tiger Woods
- Malcolm X
- Xi Jinping – Chinese paramount leader.
- Andrea Yates – Mass murderer of her 5 children in her home, claimed to have mental illness and post-natal depression.
- Boris Yeltsin – Russian leader.
- Yoko Ono – accusations of breaking up The Beatles when she married John Lennon.
- Zinedine Zidane
- George Zimmerman acquitted of murdering Trayvon Martin
- Jacob Zuma
- Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale – Sikh militant leader
Sports
- 1919 World Series (Chicago White Sox vs Cincinnati Reds).
- Barry Bonds – Mark McGwire and other MLB players in the 2000s doping scandals.
- Esports
- Fantasy sports
- Golf
- Hope Solo
- Jesse Owens
- Jim Thorpe
- Olympics
- Pete Rose in 1989 team gambling controversy.
- Ryan Lochte
- Student athletes and compensation
- Super Bowl XXXVIII; Janet Jackson Wardrobe Malfunction
- Tonya Harding
- Larry Nassar
See also
- Wikipedia:Describing points of view (essay)
- Wikipedia:Don't teach the controversy (essay: that phrase doesn't mean what you think it means)
- Wikipedia:Creating controversial content (essay)
- Wikipedia:Criticism (essay)
- meta:2010 Wikimedia Study of Controversial Content
External links
- *Emerging Technology from thearXiv (July 17, 2013). "Edit Wars Reveal The 10 Most Controversial Topics on Wikipedia". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved March 7, 2022.