Government issues notice to Wikipedia regarding bias and editorial control issues: report

Wikipedia has received a government notice over concerns of “bias and inaccuracy” on the website, according to a report. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting contacted the free encyclopedia, questioning why the platform should be treated as an intermediary and not a publisher. The government notice comes amid an ongoing case in the Delhi High Court where the online encyclopedia faces allegations of protecting users who added defamatory edits to Asian News International’s page ( ANI).

Wikipedia receives notice from Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

According to a report Writing in The Economic Times, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting raised several concerns, including instances of bias and inaccuracies on the website as well as editorial control being concentrated in the hands of a few people.

In addition, the ministry also asked the online encyclopedia why it should not be treated as a publisher rather than an intermediary, according to the report. Wikipedia does not consider itself an editor and instead claims to operate on a volunteer system in which users create, edit and manage pages on a wide range of topics.

The notice was issued after the Delhi High Court recently termed the platform’s open editing system as “dangerous”. The court was notably seized of a case in which the Wikipedia page on the ANI news agency was described as a “propaganda tool” of the government. The court noted that the open-ended nature of the platform’s editing function could potentially lead to harmful information being added to the pages of public figures and entities.

Despite a court order, Wikipedia reportedly refused to provide the names of the users who made the alleged edits to the page. At the same time, legal representatives of the online encyclopedia asserted that users with edit access must adhere to established policies regarding verifiable content as well as legal guidelines.