saw the title of this story on the BBC and was a bit surprised:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10104946.stm
A row over sexually explicit content on the web encyclopaedia Wikipedia and related sites has escalated.

Co-founder Jimmy Wales has given up some of his site privileges following protests by contributors angered that he deleted images without consultation.

Mr Wales had previously urged the removal of "pornographic" content from the user-generated site.

This followed a complaint about "child pornography" to the FBI from another Wikipedia co-founder.

In early April, the estranged co-founder, Larry Sanger, reported Wikimedia Commons to the FBI, alleging that the organisation was "knowingly distributing child pornography".

He later clarified that his concern was not about photographs of children, but "obscene visual representations of the abuse of children", which can include drawings and sculpture.
Last week, administrators of Wikimedia Commons, a media file store widely used for Wikipedia articles, deleted hundreds of images.

Some images deemed by the Wikipedia community to have educational merit have since been reinstated.

Mr Wales had earlier posted his support for the removal of "images that are of little or no educational value but which appeal solely to prurient interests", deleting many pictures himself.

Pressure on the organisation had increased after Fox News reported the story, contacting a number of high-profile corporate donors to the Wikimedia Foundation, which owns Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons and related sites....
It goes on, basically it sounds like he got pressured by the "big" donors keeping the site going, panicked. deleted a bunch of shit, pissed off the "big name" volunteers, and now took powers away from himself.