The court fined Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that
runs the free, publicly-edited online encyclopedia, 2 million rubles ($24,464)
for not removing a Wikipedia article titled “Russian occupation of the
Zaporizhzhia region,” a reference to one of four Ukrainian provinces that
Russia annexed last September. Most countries have condemned the annexation, as
well as that by Russia in 2014 of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, as illegal.
The state Tass news agency said the Wikimedia Foundation had
failed to heed the demands of Russia’s state communications watchdog
Roskomnadzor to remove articles containing “false information.” Tass said a
Wikipedia representative asked the court to reject the removal demand as vague.
President Vladimir Putin in recent years has increased his
crackdown on criticism and factual reporting that doesn’t correspond to his
government’s views or versions of events. The crackdown has widened since his
troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, focusing especially on information and
dissent against what he calls Russia’s “special military operation” in the
neighboring country.
Through Roskomnadzor, his government has also tried, with
mixed success, to technically limit Western news reports that can be seen in
Russia. The BBC and some Voice of America sites are among those it has blocked
but which Russians can access using virtual private networks.
This is not the first time Wikipedia has been fined for
refusing to delete “false” information about the war in Ukraine.
Last week, the same Moscow court issued a fine of 800,000
rubles ($9,785) to the Wikimedia Foundation for not removing materials linked
to a song by a Russian rock band called Psychea, which Russian authorities
consider to be extremist.
In November 2022, the organization was fined 2 million
rubles for refusing to delete “false” information in seven Wikipedia articles
about the “special military operation,” including information about atrocities
in Bucha and the destruction of Mariupol’s theater.
In a statement Thursday, Wikimedia’s senior legal manager,
Leighanna Mixter, said the organization has not taken down the disputed content
and will continue to challenge the rulings as without foundation. She said the
“the steady stream of takedown orders” Wikimedia has received in recent months
challenge information that is “well-sourced and in line with applicable
Wikipedia policies — improved by Wikipedia volunteer editors with more
citations and up-to-date information.”
Wikimedia has two active appeals for fines related to
takedown notices for topics regarding the invasion of Ukraine — and the latest
case “does not present any new legal issues,” she said.
“These orders are part of an ongoing effort by the Russian
government to limit the spread of reliable, well-sourced information in the
country,” she added, asserting that Wikimedia would resist all attempts to “try
to curb free knowledge.”
A Wikipedia page on the issue notes, “Since the early 2010s,
Russian Wikipedia and its editors have experienced numerous and increasing
threats of nationwide blocks and country-wide enforcement of blacklisting by
the Russian government, as well as several attempts to censor pages, spread
propaganda, and disinform.”
Tass said Roskomnadzor will label Wikimedia in search
engines as a violator of Russian law, and more action against specific articles
is planned. -AP