Delhi HC slams Wikipedia for its dedicated page on the ongoing lawsuit against it by ANI

The Wikipedia page is titled ‘Asian News International vs. Wikimedia Foundation’, and says, ‘The judge in the case has threatened to order the government of India to shut down Wikipedia in the country.’

The Delhi High Court on Monday (October 14, 2024) expressed serious displeasure over a dedicated Wikipedia page on the ongoing defamation lawsuit filed by Asian News International (ANI) against Wikimedia Foundation, which hosts Wikipedia.

The Wikipedia page is titled ‘Asian News International vs. Wikimedia Foundation’, and says, “The judge in the case has threatened to order the government of India to shut down Wikipedia in the country. His order to WMF to release the identities of the editors who made the edits has been called censorship and a threat to the flow of information.”

“You have put learned single judge in line of fire. This page will have to be taken down, otherwise we will not hear him... You may be world’s most powerful entity but we live in a country which is governed by the rule of law and we take pride in that,” a Bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela told Wikipedia’s counsel.

The court’s observation came while hearing an appeal filed by Wikipedia against a single judge order to disclose details of three individuals who edited the ANI Wikipedia page.

During the hearing, Wikipedia’s counsel said that Wikipedia was only challenging the single judge order directing the disclosure of the identity of the users who had made the edits.

As Wikipedia sought to protect the anonymity of the persons behind the edits, the court said, “The system cannot be a cloak to defame someone…You are accusing someone, a journalist, of being a State-sponsored agent...”.

“You (Wikipedia) are a service provider. You run the risk of your protection, your safe harbour being waived... You run the risk of your Section 79 [of the Information Technology Act] being waived. The filing of this appeal itself means there is a waiver,” the court orally remarked.

ANI’s counsel informed the court about the Wikipedia page, and a press statement given by Wikipedia to The Hindu on July 12 on the pending defamation case.

Before the single judge, ANI had complained that certain edits on the ANI page in Wikipedia claimed the ANI was a “propaganda tool for the incumbent government”. ANI contended that its attempts to edit the content “showcasing true and correct position, supported by trusted sources, were removed by Wikipedia to restore the false and misleading position earlier available on its platform”.

On August 20, the single judge had ordered Wikipedia to disclose to ANI Media the subscriber details that had made the defamatory edits to the ANI page.

On September 5, the single judge had cautioned Wikipedia for failing to comply with the court’s previous order to disclose details of the subscribers who had edited the ANI page.

“If you don’t like India, please don’t work in India,” the court had warned Wikipedia, saying if it did not comply with the court’s order, it might ask the government to block Wikipedia in India.

Published - October 14, 2024 09:39 pm IST