Delhi HC issues contempt notice to Wikipedia, threatens ban
The Delhi High Court has issued a contempt of court notice to Wikipedia and threatened to request the Indian government to block the platform. The court was hearing a case filed by Asian News International alleging defamation by Wikipedia for allowing certain edits to the ANI's Wikipedia page. The alleged edit described the ANI as Indian government's "propaganda tool." The ANI also claimed that the Wikipedia was not allowing its page to be edited by anyone other than its representatives.
Court's response to Wikipedia's delay
The court had ordered Wikipedia to divulge information about the three accounts that made the edits, but the ANI claimed that this hadn't been done. Wikipedia's counsel attributed their delayed appearance in court to the fact that they are not based in India. Justice Navin Chawla responded, "Earlier also you people have taken this argument. If you don't like India, please don't work in India." The court has now ordered a representative of Wikipedia to be present on October 25.
ANI's defamation suit against Wikipedia
The ANI is seeking removal of the allegedly defamatory text and ₹2 crore in damages from Wikipedia. In response to the defamation suit, the Wikimedia Foundation on July 12 stated that Wikipedia's content is determined by its global community of volunteer editors. The foundation clarified that it generally does not add, edit or determine content published on Wikipedia. Addressing the agency's claim about restricted editing access, the foundation explained that the webpage had been set to "extended confirmed protection."
Court orders Wikipedia to disclose user information
According to Wikipedia, this category only provides edit access to volunteer user accounts that are at least 30 days old and have made 500 edits. On August 20, Wikimedia appeared before the court where the ANI argued that Wikipedia did not dispute that three individuals, who are also defendants in the defamation suit, were administrators on the platform. The court then directed Wikipedia to disclose these individuals' subscriber details within two weeks.
