Government Issues Notice to Wikipedia Over Bias and Inaccuracy Complaints

Wikipedia is facing scrutiny over the quality of the content being displayed on the online platform. The government has issued a notice to the company after receiving multiple complaints around biases and inaccuracies in the content. Officials are also questioning if Wikipedia should be seen as a publisher instead of just an intermediary.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has also stated that a small group might have editorial control over Wikipedia's page.

Wikipedia positions itself as a free online encyclopedia where volunteers can create or edit content about people, topics and various other subjects. However, things are not looking well for the online platform as it faces headwinds over the quality of its content in India.

And interestingly, this is not the first time Wikipedia has faced the heat.

Problems Mount for Wikipedia

Just a few months back, ANI (Asian News International) had filed a lawsuit against the Wikimedia Foundation, which operates Wikipedia. The newswire claimed that the site published defamatory content about it.

ANI's petition to the Delhi High Court mentioned that a paragraph in its Wikipedia description inaccurately describes it as “a propaganda tool for the incumbent [federal] government” and accused it of “distributing material from fake news websites.”

The newswire has demanded the removal of this content from the page.

"If you are an intermediary, why are you bothered? If somebody else has edited and that addition is without basis, then it comes down. They are not here to protect..." Justice Subramonium Prasad said, as per Bar and Bench.

The court also expressed concern over the fact that Wikipedia identifies itself as an encyclopedia but concurrently states that it does not endorse the content it hosts.

While the court did recognised Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, it warned Wikipedia about its obligation to adhere to Indian laws. "if you don't like India, please don't work in India... we will ask government to block your site," the court stated.