Wikipedia resists Russian court order to remove Ukraine 'disinformation'

Wikipedia is appealing a Russian court decision mandating it remove information related to President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine after it was fined 5 million rubles (about $65,000).

Wikimedia Foundation argued that information on Wikipedia should be protected by freedom of expression and does not constitute disinformation, as the court ruled, in a statement Monday.

“This decision implies that well-sourced, verified knowledge on Wikipedia that is inconsistent with Russian government accounts constitutes disinformation,” said Stephen LaPorte, Associate General Counsel at the Wikimedia Foundation.

“The government is targeting information that is vital to people’s lives in a time of crisis. We urge the court to reconsider in favor of everyone’s rights to knowledge access and free expression.” 

A Moscow court fined the Foundation for refusing to remove the “prohibited” information from the following Russian Wikipedia articles:  Russian Invasions of Ukraine (2022), Black powder, Battle for Kyiv, War Crimes during the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, Shelling of Hospital in Mariupol, Bombing of the Mariupol Theater, Massacre in Bucha.

The move comes among other moves by the Kremlin to cut the Russian population off from Wikipedia and other outside sources of information.

Russia’s censorship bureau threatened to block all of Wikipedia from Russia in early March because the “Russian Invasions of Ukraine (2022)” article listed Russian soldier casualty figures and described Ukrainian civilian casualties.

That agency, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media is known in Russia as Roskomnadzor (RKN). 

Putin has also hinted at a Russian alternative to Wikipedia, saying the project would run about 2 billion rubles ($30 million) and contained more than 80,000 articles from the 35-volume Great Russian Encyclopedia.

A panel of state-backed experts will have the final say on any new entries or edits.