The Wikimedia Foundation, which owns Wikipedia, has appealed a Moscow court decision demanding the removal of information about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, arguing that people have a right to know the facts of the war.
A Moscow court has fined the Wikimedia Foundation five million rubles ($122,400) for refusing to remove what it called disinformation from Russian-language Wikipedia articles about the war, including “The Russian invasion of Ukraine,” “War crimes committed during the war.” the Russian invasion of Ukraine” and “Bucha massacre”.
“This decision implies that well-researched, verified knowledge on Wikipedia that is inconsistent with the statements of the Russian government constitutes disinformation,” Stephen LaPorte, Associate General Counsel at the Wikimedia Foundation, said in a statement.
Wikipedia, which says it offers “the second version of history,” is one of the few remaining significant fact-checked Russian-language sources of information for Russians after the media crackdown in Moscow.
“The government is focusing on information vital to people’s lives in times of crisis,” LaPorte said. “We urge the court to reconsider in favor of everyone’s right to access knowledge and free expression.”
The Moscow court argued that what it threw as disinformation on Wikipedia posed a risk to public policy in Russia and that the Foundation, headquartered in San Francisco, California, was operating in Russia.
The Foundation was prosecuted under a non-deletion of prohibited information law. The case was brought by Russian communications regulator Roskomnadzor, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wikipedia.
The Wikipedia appeal, filed on June 6 with details released Monday, argues that removing information is a human rights violation. It said Russia had no jurisdiction over the Wikimedia Foundation, which was available in more than 300 languages worldwide.
Wikipedia articles are written and edited by volunteers.
Stories of the war, Europe’s largest ground invasion since World War II, vary widely – and have become highly politicized, with journalists in both Moscow and the West routinely accused of misreporting the war.
Ukraine has been the victim of Russia’s unprovoked imperialist land grab and will fight to reclaim the territory Russian forces have occupied.
President Vladimir Putin and Russian officials do not use “war” or “invasion”. They called it a “special military operation” to prevent the persecution of Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine.
Putin also says the conflict is a turning point in Russian history: a Moscow uprising against the United States, which he says has humiliated Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 and pushed for the expansion of the military alliance of the United States. NATO.
Ukraine and its western backers deny Moscow’s claims that Russian speakers were persecuted. Kyiv says Russian troops have committed war crimes, including murders, torture, and rapes in places like Bucha.
Russia says the alleged evidence of war crimes consists of carefully constructed counterfeits and that Ukraine and its Western backers have been spreading disinformation about Russian troops.