Wikipedia to be banned in India? Here?s why the Modi government is angry

Earlier this week, reports surfaced that Wikipedia had allegedly received a notice from the Indian government's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, suggesting that Wikipedia should be regarded as a publisher rather than an intermediary. However, Wikipedia has since issued a statement clarifying that it has not received any notice from the Indian government, as reported by Moneycontrol.

For context, on 5th November, Indian news agencies reported that Wikipedia, a globally popular source of information, had received a notice from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The alleged notice said that Wikipedia should be considered an intermediary, rather than a publisher, due to its editorial structure. According to MoneyControl, this notice is contextually relevant to an ongoing legal case in the Delhi High Court, where ANI seeks information about users who edited a page labelling ANI as "a propaganda tool" of the Central government.

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Here's What Wikipedia Has To Say

"The Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia, has not received any official notice from the Indian government regarding editing practices or the accuracy of content on Wikipedia in the last two days," a Wikimedia Foundation spokesperson said.

Adding to this, the spokesperson said, "The Foundation stands behind its community of volunteers and core values, enabling millions worldwide to access well-sourced information at no cost. Wikipedia is an essential knowledge resource for the more than 850 million Indians who use it monthly; it has the fifth highest number of views from any country.” 

The spokesperson also highlighted the fact that around 2,60,000 volunteers are contributors to Wikipedia, and that "Indian Wikipedia editors are integral and valued contributors, constantly ranked as one of the top number of contributing editors from a single country globally.”

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ANI Vs Wikipedia: Legal Battle

Wikipedia has reportedly agreed to provide the names of the contributors who edited ANI's Wikipedia page to the Delhi High Court, where ANI filed a defamation case against Wikipedia. However, these names will not be made public and will be submitted in a sealed form.

Previously, Wikipedia also received warnings from Justice Navin Chawla. He stated, “It is not a question of defendant no. 1 not being an entity in India.” Bar and Bench further quotes him as saying, “We will close your business transactions here. We will ask the government to block Wikipedia... Earlier also you people have taken this argument. If you don't like India, please don't work in India.”

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