The Delhi High Court, on Thursday, issued a warning to Wikipedia for not complying with a previous order to reveal the identities of subscribers who allegedly edited the page for Asian News International (ANI).
The caution came during a hearing of ANI's petition against Wikipedia, alleging false, misleading, and defamatory content on its page. Justice Navin Chawla's bench issued a contempt notice to the Wikimedia Foundation, which operates Wikipedia, and cautioned that the court might request the government to "block Wikipedia".
The court also ordered an authorised Wikimedia representative to attend the next hearing in October.
What is the ANI v. Wikipedia case about?
In July, ANI had complained that certain edits on its Wikipedia page labeled it as a "propaganda tool for the incumbent government". It argued that their efforts to update the content with accurate information, supported by reliable sources, were allegedly undone by Wikipedia, which restored the previously false and misleading information on its platform.
“This malicious conduct of the Defendants (Wikipedia) ex-facie establishes their ulterior motives of defaming Plaintiff (ANI) by publishing false and misleading content against Plaintiff,” the plea read.
On August 20, the court instructed Wikipedia to provide ANI Media with the details of the subscribers who made the alleged defamatory edits to the ANI Page within two weeks. ANI informed the court that despite reminding Wikipedia of this order, the platform had refused to disclose the information.
On Thursday, Wikipedia's legal team requested an extension to comply, citing its status as a non-Indian entity. Reportedly, Justice Chawla took strong objection to this submission.
The bench said, “We will not take it anymore. If you don't like India, don't work here. I will impose contempt…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.”
In its response to the contempt proceedings, the Wikimedia Foundation has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that people in India can freely share and access reliable information in a safe and open online space. Regarding the ANI page, the foundation noted that the edits were made by multiple secondary sources, and the article is currently under "extended confirmed protection".
What Wikipedia publications has ANI objected to?
ANI has filed a defamation suit against Wikipedia over allegedly defamatory description of the news agency. It has further sought Rs 2 crores as damages from Wikipedia.
Some of the publications on the Wikipedia page that ANI finds objectionable include:
- Under a new management, ANI has been accused of practicing an aggressive model of has over 500 Employees. Asian journalism focused at maximum revenue output, where journalists were easily dispensable with. Multiple employees have accused ANI of not having any human resource management system and ill-treating their ex-employees.
- On 20 July 2023, ANI falsely blamed Muslims for the sexual assault and rape of two Kuki women during the 2023 Manipur violence.
Alluding to these entries, ANI contended in the suit that Wikipedia "has resulted in a loss of its safe-harbour protection under section 79(1) of the Act, and made it liable for hosting and publishing defamatory content”.
ANI issued the notice on the grounds that Wikimedia, as an alleged "intermediary" under information technology law, must remove problematic content.
Intermediaries, broadly defined as entities that receive, store, or transmit electronic records or offer similar services, are protected by "safe harbour" provisions but must still meet certain obligations, such as due diligence and having a privacy policy. Failing to comply can lead to the loss of these protections, making them liable for content on their platforms.
Who can write and edit Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is a not-for-profit multilingual online encyclopaedia co-founded by Jimmy Wales and supported by the Wikimedia Foundation. The platform is created and maintained by a community of volunteers known as Wikipedians. Anyone is free to edit its pages, with no limitations on who can contribute. However, Wikipedia administrators have the ability to restrict editing on certain pages if they are prone to frequent vandalism.
English Wikipedia has over 40 million registered users, but less than a million made edits last year, with most contributing only a few times. It relies on its volunteer editor community to enhance the accuracy and quality of its pages, applying the "wisdom of crowds" principle.
The online encyclopedia encourages writers to support facts with verifiable references. While users can set up pseudonymous accounts to edit anonymously, misuse is often detected and corrected by other editors. Although logging in isn't required to read or edit articles, having an account allows users to create pages, upload content, and edit without revealing their IP address.
In case of dispute, Wikipedia allows users to "tag an article, or a section of the article, as subject of a dispute about a neutral point of view". In order to resolve the dispute, the interested editors can share their viewpoints on the article's talk page and work toward reaching a consensus that fairly represents all valid perspectives.
Furthermore, in case of a disputed publication, users can "consult the page history of an article in order to assess the number, and the perspective, of people who contributed to the article".
Mechanisms are also in place to monitor bad edits, supported by administrators and an arbitration committee that enforces rules and sanctions. The administrator roles are granted through peer approval, requiring a 75–80% acceptance rate. Wikipedia states that problematic edits are usually resolved swiftly through consensus and collaboration, leading to improved article quality.
