The Wikipedia owner has filed an appeal against a Moscow court ruling that requires the organization to remove information related to Russia’s war against Ukraine from its service.
A Moscow court fined the Wikimedia Foundation 5 million rubles for refusing to remove what it called disinformation from Russian-language Wikipedia articles about the war, including “The Russian Invasion of Ukraine”, ” War crimes during the Russian invasion of Ukraine” and “Bucha Massacre”.
“This ruling implies that verified and well-provided knowledge on Wikipedia is inconsistent with the Russian government’s accounts of what constitutes disinformation,” Stephen LaPorte, associate general counsel for the Wikimedia Foundation, said in a statement.
Wikipedia is one of the few sources of information in Russian for Russians left, after a campaign of suppression of the media promoted by Moscow.
“The government is directing vital information into people’s lives in times of crisis,” said LaPorte.
“We urge the court to reconsider in favor of everyone’s rights to access to knowledge and freedom of expression.”
The Moscow court claims that Wikipedia’s content poses a risk to public order in Russia and that California-based Wikimedia was operating within Russia.
The case was brought by Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Wikipedia appeal, which was filed on June 6 with details released on Monday (13), claims that the removal of information is a violation of human rights.
The online encyclopedia said that Russia has no jurisdiction over the Wikimedia Foundation, which is available globally in over 300 languages.
Wikipedia entries are written and edited by volunteers.
Source: CNN Brasil
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