A Moscow court has recently fined Wikipedia again for refusing to remove a Russian-language article regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the latest in a series of official measures to silence objective reporting or criticism of the war and restrict the Russian public’s access to information.
The court fined the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that runs the free, publicly edited online encyclopedia, 2 million rubles ($24,464) for failing to remove a Wikipedia article titled “Russian occupation of the Zaporizhzhia region,” a reference to one of four Ukrainian provinces annexed by Russia last September. Most countries have condemned Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 as illegal.
The Wikimedia Foundation has refused to comply with Roskomnadzor’s demand to remove articles containing “false information.” A Wikipedia official sought the court to dismiss the removal demand as vague.
President Vladimir Putin has strengthened his assault on criticism and factual reporting that contradicts his government’s views or versions of events in recent years. Since his soldiers invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the crackdown has widened, with a particular emphasis on information and dissent against what he refers to as Russia’s “special military operation” in the neighbouring country.
His government has also attempted, with varying degrees of success, through Roskomnadzor to technically limit Western news reports that can be seen in Russia. The BBC and some Voice of America websites have been blocked, although Russians can access them via virtual private networks.
This is not the first time that Wikipedia has been penalised for refusing to remove “false” content concerning the Ukraine conflict.
Last week, the same Moscow court fined the Wikimedia Foundation 800,000 rubles ($9,785) for failing to remove content related to a song by the Russian rock band Psychea, which Russian authorities consider radical.
The organisation was fined 2 million rubles in November 2022 for refusing to remove “false” information from seven Wikipedia entries about the “special military operation,” including details about atrocities in Bucha and the destruction of Mariupol’s theatre.
Wikimedia’s senior legal manager, Leighanna Mixter, said in a statement on Thursday that the group has not removed the disputed information and will continue to oppose the findings as unfounded.
She stated that “the steady stream of takedown orders” received by Wikimedia in recent months question information that is “well-sourced and in line with applicable Wikipedia policies — improved by Wikipedia volunteer editors with more citations and up-to-date information.”
Wikimedia has two active fine appeals for removal notices for content related to the invasion of Ukraine, and the latest case “does not present any new legal issues,” she stated.
“These orders are part of the Russian government’s ongoing effort to limit the spread of reliable, well-sourced information in the country,” she noted, adding that Wikimedia would reject any attempt to “curb free knowledge.”
According to a Wikipedia page on the subject, “Since the early 2010s, Russian Wikipedia and its editors have experienced numerous and increasing threats of nationwide blocks and country-wide enforcement of blacklisting by the Russian government, as well as several attempts to censor pages, spread propaganda, and disinform.”
