Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has slammed British newspaper The Daily Mail, accusing it of publishing fake news articles and "hyped up" headlines.

Speaking to CNBC on Friday, Wales, who has started up a new site called Wikitribune to tackle the problem of fake news, took aim at the Mail.

"I think what they've done brilliantly in this ad funded world (is) they've mastered the art of click bait, they've mastered the art of hyped up headlines, they've also mastered the art of, I'm sad to say, of running stories that simply aren't true," Wales told CNBC in a TV interview.

"And that's why Wikipedia decided not to accept them as a source anymore. It's very problematic, they get very upset when we say this, but it's just fact, so there you go."

In February, Wikipedia, the site which allows community members to contribute entries, banned the Daily Mail from being cited as a source on its pages, deeming the publication to be "generally unreliable".

Following Wales' comments, DMG Media, the owner of the Daily Mail, hit back claiming that it was, in fact, Wikipedia that struggled with accuracy.

"DailyMail.com is the very antithesis of click-bait and hype headlines. We just tell stories better than anyone else.



"Which is why we have such an astonishingly high proportion of people who visit our home pages and websites every day, almost half our global daily users.



"Mr. Wales' analysis is as inaccurate as any of the blunders for which his website has become notorious," a spokesman said via email Friday.

The former U.S.Congressman Anthony Weiner plead guilty Friday to charges of transferring obscene material to a minor, and DMG Media said it was this sort of journalism that the public appreciated.

"Only today Anthony Weiner has pleaded guilty to sexting with a minor as a direct result of an investigation last year by DailyMail.com. We will be interested to see who Wikipedia cites as the story's source," the media group added.