LONDON, England: Wikipedia has filed an appeal against a Moscow court decision forcing it to remove what it termed disinformation from Russian-language Wikipedia articles about the invasion of Ukraine.
The articles Russia has ordered removed include, “The Russian Invasion of Ukraine”, “War Crimes during the Russian Invasion of Ukraine” and “Massacre in Bucha.”
A Russian court has fined Wikimedia Foundation $88,000 for not taking down the articles.
“This decision implies that well-sourced, verified knowledge on Wikipedia that is inconsistent with Russian government accounts constitutes disinformation,” Stephen LaPorte, Associate General Counsel at the Wikimedia Foundation, said in a statement.
Wikipedia is one of the few remaining major fact-checked Russian-language sources of information for Russians, after a crackdown on media in Moscow.
“The government is targeting information that is vital to people’s lives in a time of crisis,” LaPorte said. “We urge the court to reconsider in favor of everyone’s rights to knowledge access and free expression.”
The Moscow court argued that what it cast as disinformation on Wikipedia posed a risk to public order in Russia and that Wikipedia, which is headquartered in San Francisco, California, was operating inside Russia.
Wikipedia was prosecuted under a law about the failure to delete banned information. The case was brought by Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor.
The Wikipedia appeal, which was filed on June 6 with details released this week, argues that removing information is a violation of human rights. It said Russia had no jurisdiction over Wikimedia, which was globally available in over 300 languages.
Wikipedia entries are written and edited by volunteers.
