Wikimedia Fined In Russia For Misinformation, This Is Another Country That Has Protested Wikipedia

Screenshot of an article from Wikipedia about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (photo: screenshot/ary)

JAKARTA - The Wikimedia Foundation was fined 2 million rubles (Rp412 million) by a Russian court on Tuesday, February 28 after authorities accused it of failing to remove "misleading information" about the Russian military from Wikipedia.

Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Russia issued a new law limiting what people could report about the conflict, as well as imposing fines or blocking websites that disseminate information that is not in line with the Kremlin's official narrative.

Wikimedia, which owns Wikipedia, was fined last year after failing to remove two war-related articles, including one on the "evaluation of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine".

According to Russian Wikimedia, the latest fine was imposed after authorities accused Wikipedia of "spreading misinformation" in articles on Russian military units.

The organization said it might appeal but had not made a decision. "So far, in the history of courts in Russia, Wikipedia has had only one experience of successfully filing an appeal against the court's ruling," Stanislav Kozlovskiy, head of Russia's foundation told Reuters.

Wikimedia has faced several legal problems in various countries around the world. Some of the examples are:

Russia: Wikimedia has been fined twice by Russian courts for failing to remove "misinformation" related to the Russian military from Wikipedia.

China: Wikipedia has been blocked in China since 2015 for violating state laws on internet controls. Since then, the website has not been accessible to users in China without using a tool to access the internet regulated by third parties.

Turkey: In 2017, the Turkish government blocked access to all Wikimedia projects, including Wikipedia, as part of a broader campaign to suppress public opinion and press freedom.

Iran: Wikipedia has been blocked in Iran since 2009. Although some users can still access websites through assistive devices such as VPN, access to Wikipedia remains limited in this country.

United Arab Emirates: In 2007, Wikipedia was blocked in the United Arab Emirates for violating state laws on pornography and national security. Even though the blocking was lifted after several months, access to several Wikipedia pages is still limited in the country.

These are just a few examples of legal problems that Wikimedia has faced in various countries around the world.