For many of us, Wikipedia is the No. 1 place to find information. Whether you’re rushing homework or finding a fascinating true crime case to read, Wikipedia is our trusty and pocket-sized encyclopaedia.
However, the credibility of the information conveyed on the website has constantly been up for debate.
Even some big powers are displeased with it.
On Tuesday, Wikipedia was fined 2 million roubles (SG$36,000) by a Russian court after authorities accused it of not deleting “misinformation” of the Russian military, according to the court’s service.
Fuelled by the Russia-Ukraine Conflict
A wave of restrictions came soon after Russia invaded Ukraine last year. New laws were implemented to restrict what information people could spread about the conflict.
Penalties such as fining and blocking websites could be imposed if they spread messages defaming the Russian government.
This is not the first time that Wikimedia Foundation, which owns Wikipedia, has been fined by Russia.
Not The First Fine By Russia
Last year, they were fined the same amount over several articles relating to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, according to the head of the foundation’s Russia chapter, Stanislav Kovlovsky.
The fines were imposed after Wikipedia did not delete the articles despite the Russian government’s demands.
The two articles published in Russian were called “Non-violent resistance of Ukraine’s civilian population in the course of Russia’s invasion” and “Evaluations of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.”
Then, Kovlovsky had said that there might be more cases against the Wikimedia Foundation by Russia.
Wikipedia May Not Back Down Just Yet
Wikimedia Russia has expressed intentions of appealing the court ruling but has not made a decision yet.
According to Kovlovsky, “Wikipedia has only had one successful experience of appealing court verdicts” in Russia.
The foundation had also appealed the court ruling when they were fined last year.
Kovlovsky had mentioned that Wikimedia still has a “fairly legal procedural position”, so there was a possibility that the fine last year and earlier ones totaling up to 5 million roubles (~SG$90,000) could be overturned.
Unfortunately, in light of the restrictions, Wikimedia may face more fines for as long as the conflict continues.
Not The Only Media Site Targeted
In July 2022, Russia slapped Google with a 21.1bn rouble (S$377 million) fine for “illegal content”. This ultimately led to the company’s local subsidiary declaring bankruptcy.
In August 2022, Twitch was hit with a 2 million rouble (~S$35.7K) fine over a 31-second short video. Russia denounced the video, which shows alleged war crimes in the Ukranian town of Bucha, as fake.
Top Image: Image: Aleksei Ignatov / Shutterstock.com (left) pixinoo / Shutterstock.com (right)
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