Meet Ruviki: Russia's state-controlled version of Wikipedia
Russia has launched a state-controlled version of Wikipedia known as Ruviki. This platform is essentially a modified version of the Russian Wikipedia, Ruwiki, with all of its content edited, in order to comply with Russian laws. The development was first reported by Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russian news outlet now based in Latvia, following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
What are 'foreign agents'?
Ruviki's content notably excludes any mention of "foreign agents," a term used by the Russian government for individuals or entities expressing opinions about the government with foreign backing. Articles on Ruviki about these entities carry disclaimers about their foreign agent status. Meanwhile, high-profile "foreign agents" such as Alexei Navalny's foundation and Memorial, an organization dedicated to remembering victims of Soviet terror, are conspicuously absent.
Ruviki's distorted portrayal of 'foreign agents'
For instance, Navalny is described on Ruviki as a "video blogger" known for his "involvement in extremist activity or terrorism." The non-profit organization that operates Wikipedia in Russian, Wikimedia RU, was forced to cease operations in late 2023 due to political pressure. Vladimir Medeyko, former head of Wikimedia RU and current overseer of Ruviki, had previously expressed concerns about Wikipedia's "reliability and neutrality."
Omission and modification of Ukraine war articles
Medeyko initiated a project in June to replicate and censor nearly two million Russian-language Wikipedia articles, aiming to make them "trustworthy" for all Russian users. However, Bumaga, an independent outlet, reported that approximately 110 articles related to the Ukraine war were entirely absent from Ruviki. Other articles were heavily edited, with the article titled "Russian Invasion of Ukraine" on Wikipedia renamed "Military Actions in Ukraine (in 2022)" on Ruviki.
Ruviki's revised narrative of Ukraine conflict
The revised version of the article on Ruviki asserts that the war was initiated to "ensure the security of Russia" and "demilitarize Ukraine," citing Russian President Vladimir Putin early on. Medeyko has been a contentious figure within Wikimedia circles for some time. Yaroslav Blanter, a Russian physicist and member of Wikipedia's dispute arbitration committee, accused him on the Wikimedia-l listserv of primarily using Russian Wikipedia as a personal fundraising tool.
Ruviki's exclusion of controversial topics
Ruviki also omits articles about allegations of prison torture and scandals involving Russian government officials. For example, its article on Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya is significantly shorter than its Wikipedia equivalent. Graphic designer Constantine Konovalov discovered hundreds of thousands of discrepancies between similar topics on Wikipedia RU and Ruviki, highlighting the extent of content modification.
Extensive discrepancies found between Ruviki and Wikipedia
Konovalov identified 71,000 changes in articles about censorship in Russia, 205,000 modifications in articles about freedom of speech, 158,000 changes in human rights articles, and 96,000 changes in articles related to political prisoners. These figures underscore the extensive content modification undertaken on Ruviki. Interestingly, Ruviki's article about George Orwell's novel 1984 entirely omits any reference to the Ministry of Truth - a key element in Orwell's portrayal of propaganda and control over "truth."
